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2007.05.30 Iraq/Iran/Afghanistan/"The media sucks." Roundup
See previous: 2007.05.29 Iraq/Iran Roundup
Below the fold (newest items at the top):
- Five U.S. Soldiers Killed When Taliban Apparently Downs NATO Helicopter in Afghanistan
- Iraqi, U.S. Forces Raid Sadr City in Search for 5 Kidnapped British Citizens
- Al-Sadr militia suspected of kidnapping Britons
- 'We Are the Only People Preventing Them From Telling the Story'
- 5 Brits kidnapped in Baghdad
- Five Britons seized by Iraqi insurgents
- Westerners kidnapped in Baghdad — with 40 Iraqi police cars on the scene
- Private guards seized in swift operation by unknown gang
- Stop here and load weapon: another day’s work for the bodyguards
Just read 'em:
*** *** *** Fold (but please don't spindle or mutilate) *** *** ***
Five U.S. Soldiers Killed When Taliban Apparently
Downs NATO Helicopter in Afghanistan
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — Five U.S. soldiers were among seven people killed when a Chinook helicopter was apparently shot down Wednesday evening in Afghanistan's most volatile province, a U.S. military official said. The Taliban claimed responsibility.
Initial reports suggested the helicopter was hit with a rocket-propelled grenade, the U.S. military official said on condition of anonymity because the crash was being investigated.
NATO's International Security Assistance Force said seven ISAF soldiers were killed after the CH-47 Chinook went down in Helmand province near Kajaki, the site of a major hydroelectric damn and scene of fierce battles in recent months.
The crew of five and two military passengers died, NATO said. It did not release nationalities, but a U.S. official said the two passengers were not American. There were no survivors. ...
Iraqi, U.S. Forces Raid Sadr City in
Search for 5 Kidnapped British Citizens
BAGHDAD — Hundreds of Iraqi and U.S. troops cordoned off sections of Baghdad's Sadr City slum early Wednesday and conducted a series of raids in an apparent effort to find five British citizens whom Iraqi officials believed were abducted by the Shiite Mahdi Army militia.
British Embassy officials held ongoing talks Wednesday with Iraqi officials to discuss the situation, Britain's Foreign Office said. Britain's COBRA crisis committee was also to meet for the second day.
The five men were pulled out of a Finance Ministry office by about 40 heavily armed men in police uniforms in broad daylight Tuesday and driven in a convoy of 19 four-wheel-drive vehicles toward Sadr City, according to Iraqi officials in the Interior and Finance ministries.
A top Interior Ministry official, who refused to be named because he was not authorized to speak to the media, said the authorities were working on the assumption the five men were abducted by radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army, because the area they were taken from is controlled by the militia. ...
Al-Sadr militia suspected of kidnapping Britons
Iraq's most prominent Shia militia has emerged as the chief suspect in the kidnappings of five British nationals in Iraq.
Negotiations with the Mahdi Army are already under way after one of several spokesmen for the armed force under the command of the Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr claimed responsibility for the kidnappings at the finance ministry in Baghdad.
Hundreds of Iraqi and American troops raided Sadr City, Baghdad’s largest Shia neighbourhood, in an operation that ended early today. Residents said areas of Sadr City were sealed off and several arrests were made.
Iraqi forces have established a special battalion of soldiers and police officers to search for the kidnapped men. “We are conducting search operations near the site where the abduction took place,” said Brig Gen Qassim al Musawi, an Iraqi army spokesman. ...
'We Are the Only People Preventing Them From Telling the Story'
James Taranto
In a Memorial Day column, David Carr of the New York Times complains about a U.S. military rule requiring that embedded reporters "obtain a signed consent from a wounded soldier before the image can be published. Images that put a face on the dead, that make them identifiable, are simply prohibited."
Why is it so important to show images of hurt and dead Americans? A fellow Timesman gives away the game: James Glanz, a Baghdad correspondent who will become bureau chief for The New York Times next month, said that although he and others had many great experiences working with the rank-and-file soldiers, some military leaders seem determined to protect something besides the privacy of their troops.
"As the number of reporters there dwindles further and further because of the difficult conditions we work under, the kind of work they are able to publish becomes very important," Mr. Glanz said. "This tiny remaining corps of reporters becomes a greater and greater problem for the military brass because we are the only people preventing them from telling the story the way they want it told."
Hmm, we thought the job of a reporter was to tell stories, not to prevent others from doing so. Furthermore, is it even possible to imagine a Times correspondent saying his job is to prevent the enemy from telling its story?
And here's an example of the kind of journalism the Times's Baghdad bureau produces. This is from a news account, also in yesterday's Times: ...
Five Britons seized by Iraqi insurgents
Deborah Haynes and Stephen Farrell in Baghdad
Whitehall was facing the prospect of a lengthy hostage stand-off last night after five Britons were kidnapped in central Baghdad in one of the most brazen abductions of Westerners since the fall of Saddam Hussein.
Those seized, a computer consultant and his four security guards, were taken in daylight by dozens of armed insurgents dressed in the fatigues of Iraqi police commandos.
The Cobra emergency committee, with representatives from MI6, the SAS and the Metropolitan Police, met at the Cabinet Office yesterday to consider options for gaining the release of the five men.
Tony Blair, on a trip to Libya, said: “We will do everything we possibly can to help.” ...
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