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| Iraq-Jordan |
| Confessions of a Fallujah embed |
| 2004-11-21 |
| Interesting read. Not long, but here are a couple of excerpts: This was the attack on the rebel-held city. It was going to be a big battle and we would be part of it. First, we had to agree to behave. In addition to forswearing all illegal substances, we promised not to print or broadcast details of battle plans, troop numbers or force locations. The names or images of dead American soldiers were not to be published until their next of kin had been informed. In return, we would have a soldier's-eye-view of the conflict. I was assigned to the US army's Task Force 2-2. On the Thursday, I was told that the battle would start at 7pm on Monday. I knew that 24 hours earlier US Special Forces would seize the hospital on the Fallujah peninsula and secure the bridges on the west of the city. I could not report any of this. I could not even reveal where I was. "Near Fallujah" was as specific as I could get. None of us had much difficulty with any of this. After all, anything that put the lives of soldiers at risk would be potentially just as dangerous for us. In Fallujah, I was essentially a member of the platoon. When clearing buildings, I was an extra pair of eyes. If a room had been overlooked or there was a possible sniper position nearby, I would tell the sergeant. Before becoming a journalist, I served in the British armed forces. Last week, if the distinction between journalist and soldier was becoming blurred, it was part and parcel of being an "embed". On one occasion, I spotted a copper wire that could have been the trigger for a booby trap. The sergeant thanked me and we all stepped over it. When we heard the fighting was over, we were in an abandoned house after spending the night sleeping on the floor. Spontaneously and joyfully, the soldiers began to smash up the place. It had been wrecked already but there were a few windows and doors still intact. They jumped, trying unsuccessfully to pull down a cheap fan hanging from a high ceiling. Seeing it was on a hook, I grabbed a piece of wood. As they watched, I gave it a sharp prod and it came crashing to the floor. There was a hearty cheer from the platoon. I had become one of them. But relations did sour towards the end, when a photograph of a dead soldier - whom I had been speaking to minutes before he was killed - appeared in a German newspaper. It was a haunting image of the body lying in a dusty kitchen, blood seeping from a bullet wound to the head. For me it summed up much of what had happened in Fallujah and was also a memorial to a brave American who died for his country. In the pain of the moment, Task Force 2-2 saw it differently. "Grab your stuff, asshole, and come with me," was how a captain addressed Stefan Zaklin, of the European Picture Agency, when news of the picture reached the unit. Zaklin was placed under armed guard and told he had violated the rules of propriety. Nothing in the rules had been broken. The soldiers had seen Zaklin snapping away in the kitchen - but it seemed that this was where the military and the media parted company. |
| Posted by:Bulldog |
| #8 "placed under armed guard" I really like that one. Is there such a thing as an unarmed soldier? |
| Posted by: gromky 2004-11-21 2:28:54 PM |
| #7 I just couldn't help myself, the germans were looking for a anti-us photo and would pay! WHat could i do, i'm such an asshole, I forgot about the solidiers family! I'd sell photos of my dead mother for the right price, I don't see the problem here, someone please explain to me! |
| Posted by: Phitle Pherese4694 2004-11-21 1:24:57 PM |
| #6 "None of us had much difficulty with any of this. After all, anything that put the lives of soldiers at risk would be potentially just as dangerous for us." Doesn't it strike anyone as odd that the threat of danger to American troops wasn't enough for this shithead to abide by the rules? But it required his own life to be in the crosshairs in order to follow basic rules of common sense to keep our troops safe! Strikes me as more than odd - he's no better than the goddamn enemy. |
| Posted by: Curious1 2004-11-21 1:16:58 PM |
| #5 But relations did sour towards the end, when a photograph of a dead soldier - whom I had been speaking to minutes before he was killed - appeared in a German newspaper. It was a haunting image of the body lying in a dusty kitchen, blood seeping from a bullet wound to the head. Oh, maybe the idea that you were exploiting them like a gladhanding lawyer or agent who pockets the money and disappears the next day, sort of ran through their minds. That you exist off their pains and commitments so that you can get that byline, that pulitzer, or that personal rush. You can pack it in, go back to the Baghdad Inn, take a shower, catch a ride out of country and be safe at home in a day at your choosing. They only have each other for months on end, to cover their backs, to be there to console the survivors, or to have someone gently place them into a vehicle to take their last remains to be shipped home. Where are the photos of the good days, when they opened that school they help build with their own hands, or with the children they handed out shoes to after asking folks back home to send because they didn't believe any kid should go without. Oh, but your buyers don't want good news. They only want blood and guts. If it bleeds it leads. It might have just entered their minds, that you are just like the carrion fowl which circle after any battle to pick at the remains for their meal. Of course, they might just have had a bad day at work and didn't have a dog to kick. |
| Posted by: Don 2004-11-21 10:36:03 AM |
| #4 Sounds like the embed writer did a fairly good job, it was the photog who queered it. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2004-11-21 10:11:03 AM |
| #3 Do a Google on Zaklin. It seems he belongs to a group that celebrates anti-war photography. |
| Posted by: surrounded 2004-11-21 9:57:54 AM |
| #2 Last week, if the distinction between journalist and soldier was becoming blurred, it was part and parcel of being an "embed". On one occasion, I spotted a copper wire that could have been the trigger for a booby trap. The sergeant thanked me and we all stepped over it. *scoff* I don't even know where to begin scoffing at this insight into this reporters myopic, mini-brain - so I'll just say a big sarcastic, oh thank you!. I had become one of them. I have never met this guy or the platoon, but just from reading his own words, it's hard for me to believe that the soldiers would have accepted this condesending, holier-than-thou, I'm-here-to-watch-over-the-the-animals, reporter. when a photograph of a dead soldier - the body lying in a dusty kitchen, blood seeping from a bullet wound to the head. You can just picture this guy, with a adolescent, smug. smirk on his face, acting all coy and telling his CO..."I don't understand, it was art". I guess it made ya famous, so what the F?, ey, Stefan? |
| Posted by: 2b 2004-11-21 7:48:45 AM |
| #1 But in fact, something in the rules had indeed been broken. A photo of a dead US soldier was printed before his family was notified. I can't tell if he could have been id'd by the photo, but it was against the rule none the less. |
| Posted by: rkb 2004-11-21 7:46:24 AM |