| Submit your comments on this article |
| Fifth Column |
| President of the Newspaper Guild asserts U.S. troops deliberately killing journalists in Iraq |
| 2005-05-19 |
| Echoing a claim that led to CNN executive Eason Jordan's resignation, the president of the 35,000-member Newspaper Guild asserted U.S. troops deliberately are killing journalists in Iraq. Linda Foley, speaking Friday in St. Louis, said the American attacks are focused particularly on Arab journalists, according to a tape aired by Sinclair Broadcasting's "The Point," a commentary segment by Mark Hyman... According to a tape of her remarks, Foley said: "Journalists, by the way, are not just being targeted verbally or 
ah, or 
ah, politically. They are also being targeted for real, um 
in places like Iraq. What outrages me as a representative of journalists is that there's not more outrage about the number, and the brutality, and the cavalier nature of the U.S. military toward the killing of journalists in Iraq." Foley continued, "They target and kill journalists 
uh, from other countries, particularly Arab countries like Al -, like Arab news services like al-Jazeera, for example. They actually target them and blow up their studios with impunity. ..." Hyman called on Foley to immediately present evidence to support her claims or resign. "Unfortunately, the damage may have already been done," he said. "Her remarks could lead to further bloodshed, including against Americans." Hyman concluded: "The question is whether Newspaper Guild members will hold Foley accountable or will they give her a free pass in endangering American lives with inflammatory remarks without any proof?" The Newspaper Guild posted an April 15 article on its website that blames the U.S. for the deaths of journalists José Couso and Taras Protsyuk, April 8, 2003, at the Palestine Hotel. They were on a balcony watching the Third Infantry tank division exchange fire with Iraqi forces, the report said. After a lull in the battle, a U.S. tank fired an incendiary shell at the hotel. U.S. officials say the troops believed they were taking fire from the hotel. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose |
| #21 The Newspaper Guild is a division of the Communication Workers of America, affiliated with AFL-CIO, CLC, and IF3. They have an article essentially endorsing Foley's claims. This gang is the very heart of the institutional media culture, the belly of the beast and it should be treated accordingly. |
| Posted by: Atomic Conspiracy 2005-05-19 21:30 |
| #20 Hear, hear! |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2005-05-19 19:12 |
| #19 and quit doing agitprop for the enemy. |
| Posted by: Frank G 2005-05-19 18:56 |
| #18 These lefty reporters ahve never been in that TC's hatch - never carried a rifle, never had to meet the gomers face to face. Thats why they hat ethe military: the military shames them by being everything they are not. And FYI, before someone here calls me on it, HEAT is whats called for on buildings, thats why the call would not have been for the beehive/flechette cans (nor the sabot). These reporters have to realize: peole get killed in wars - thats what they are all about. And if you put yourself in the way of either side, you will die. THere is no magic "journalism" shield. The sooner they realize that bumping aroudn in a combat zone is not like reporting on the LA Riots, the sooner they will quit getting killed. I was a soldier once, and still am in many ways. We are soldiers. We break shit, we kill bad guys. You get in our way and are not immediately recognizable, you will get your shit borken and you will die. If you dont want your shit borken and do not want to die, stay the hell out of our way. |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2005-05-19 18:45 |
| #17 OS, exactly right. The TC in the Palestine Hotel incident was Sgt. Shawn Gibson, who's been pilloried by every left-wing asshat on the globe for taking a righteous shot. |
| Posted by: Matt 2005-05-19 18:34 |
| #16 I'm in combat as the TC or Company Cdr. I know someone out there is directing fire on my troops. So Im unbuttonted in partial (head only thru the cdrs hatch, hanging one had off the Ma Deuce to steady myself and the other holding the binocs), looking for the bad guys... I see glint of from an elevated positon with agreat field of view. I use my binocs and that reflection turns out to be a big lens looking thing (like a spotting scope). I figure either a sniper or a spotter. Either way he has to go. Too far for me to be sure wiht the coax or deuce, so gotta go main gun. Grab the traverse and swing the gun in that direction (until the gunner takes it after my call) while I yell: "Gunner! Goblins on the roof Front LEFT!" Loader "HEAT Up!" Gunner "On The WAY" And that's how some dumbass reporter buys his farm. |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2005-05-19 18:22 |
| #15 For our lawyers out there, would this qualify as slander or libel, cause I'm thinking a $50 billion class action lawsuit against the guild would be rather amusing. |
| Posted by: Silentbrick 2005-05-19 16:54 |
| #14 "How can you kill civilian journalists?" "It's easy! You just don't lead them as much!" |
| Posted by: BH 2005-05-19 14:36 |
| #13 "President of the Newspaper Guild asserts U.S. troops deliberately killing journalists in Iraq" Seems a fair tit-for-tat, since journalists have doing their best to get our troops killed... |
| Posted by: Hyper 2005-05-19 14:15 |
| #12 I can just hear the US military now: Thanks, bitch, for the additional gunnery practice. |
| Posted by: badanov 2005-05-19 13:06 |
| #11 Maybe she should get her buddies the terrorist to stop hiding in crowds, behind woment and children, and as journalists. Its hard enought telling the terrorists from the alledged journalists as it is.... |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2005-05-19 13:01 |
| #10 I wonder which prize she selected when she ordered her Newsweak subscription. A travel mug is always useful... |
| Posted by: john 2005-05-19 12:38 |
| #9 I would do the same thing. If I saw someone pointing something at me in a combat zone, I would shoot first and ask questions later. If I saw it was a reporter I shot, I would shoot again. |
| Posted by: mmurray821 2005-05-19 11:40 |
| #8 After a lull in the battle, a U.S. tank fired an incendiary shell at the hotel. U.S. officials say the troops believed they were taking fire from the hotel. That's all screwed up. The incident is discussed in detail in the book Thunder Run by Mark Zucchino. IIRC, what the troops thought (from radio intercepts) was that there was a spotter about to call down artillery or mortar fire on a bridge that their tanks were about to cross. They scanned the buildings on the opposite bank and saw someone pointing what looked like an optical scope in their direction. The scope turned out to be a camera. Moral of the story: be damned careful about pointing things at an Abrams tank on the attack. (BTW, the tankers, from the 3ID, had been in combat for about 24 hours straight and were the first ones to roll into the government area.) |
| Posted by: Matt 2005-05-19 11:35 |
| #7 "when ya embeds with da enemy, ya pays da consequences" Popeye |
| Posted by: Frank G 2005-05-19 11:22 |
| #6 The lack of journalist casualties with respect to the numbers |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2005-05-19 11:12 |
| #5 I think she has this premise backwards. Might've been a typo... |
| Posted by: tu3031 2005-05-19 10:44 |
| #4 Well, if they're doing it, they need to improve their aim. There are journalists crawling all over Iraq. Wake me up when the journo body count goes over 1000. |
| Posted by: Zhang Fei 2005-05-19 10:37 |
| #3 I WISH we were targeting journalists. They ARE the enemy along with the terrorists. |
| Posted by: mmurray821 2005-05-19 10:16 |
| #2 Just targeting the propaganda wing of al-Qaeda, is all. I got no sympathy for journalists. |
| Posted by: BH 2005-05-19 10:16 |
| #1 Note to Linda, the 'guild', et al: IF the military was targeting journalists, there would be a lot more of them dead. It's just that simple. |
| Posted by: Cyber Sarge 2005-05-19 10:12 |