You remember the breaking story Tuesday about a CBS journalist shot by U.S. troops. He is now held because he poses “an imperative threat to coalition forces.” More below …
Friday April 08, 2005
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) A cameraman carrying CBS press credentials was detained in Iraq earlier this week on suspicion of insurgent activity …
The cameraman suffered minor injuries Tuesday during a battle between U.S. soldiers and suspected insurgents … He was standing next to an alleged insurgent who was killed …
The military issued a statement then saying the cameraman was shot because his equipment was mistaken for a weapon.
But on Friday, the military said the cameraman was detained because there was probable cause to believe he posed “an imperative threat to coalition forces.”
“He is currently detained and will be processed as any other security detainee,” the statement said.
CBS News spokeswoman Leigh Farris said, “We’re looking into the situation.”
A spokesman for Task Force Freedom, Capt. Mark Walter, said the reporter suffered minor wounds and was with “a number of people” involved in the shootout.
Walter said the reporter was detained immediately after the incident, in part because of statements from witnesses to the battle.
Officials are investigating the man’s previous activities as well as “his alleged support of anti-Iraqi insurgency activities,” …
Who knows. But it seems odd that the military’s story has changed so significantly. I hope CBS means it when they say they’ll investigate. After all, CBS and the rest need these Iraqis to go where they can’t.
Someone’s got dirt. And now that someone has a whole heap of trouble.
Yeah, that was my very first thought also. It took them some 4 days to cook up this rather lame story and if it’s true I’ll eat my hat..if I had one. Or give up chocolate for a week…………..well no guess I wouldn’t go that far.
being an Iraqi standing next to an “alleged insurgent” didn’t help his chances.
Mistook his equipment for a weapon, my eye.
Question: was he rolling? Where is that footage now?
Stay on the Susanhbu!
It appears that the government is claiming that the film in his recorder showed that the cameraman got to several sites too quickly, indicating that he knew before hand when action was going to take place.
Implicit in this story is what we forget: It is too dangerous for the networks to send American nationals to do this work, so they are using Vietnam hiring practices – using local people who have some chance of blending with their surroundings.
Minor wounds? I saw an earlier report, but don’t remember where, that said he’d been shot in the hip. A hip injury is not a minor wound.
And four days to cook up a new story? He must have some really incriminating footage.
This is only one of several cases in which a news person was shot by U.S. forces supposedly because of a “mistaking” a camera for an automatic weapon, or an RPG, or whatever. Perhaps the U.S. military should school its troops in video-camera recognition. That would come right after the session in which they apply adequate armor to all vehicles used in the war zone.