Police fire at reporters as US tanks roll up to shrine

[aneerkoinos]

"Police fire at reporters as US tanks roll up to shrine
By Adrian Blomfield in Najaf
(Filed: 16/08/2004)

"(...)

Shortly after the deadline expired, the first bullets struck the building. But the sniper was almost certainly an Iraqi policeman, given that the Mahdi army fighters were more than two miles away.

Then armed police raided the hotel and tried to arrest the journalists, before imposing a new two-hour deadline to leave the city.

A deputation of journalists was denied an audience with Najaf's governor, Adnan al-Zurufi. The policeman outside his office was brusque. "If you do not leave by the deadline we will shoot you," he said.

That was enough for all but a handful of British and American journalists who hunkered down in the hotel as the deadline expired.

As night fell, shots were fired at the roof of the hotel, from where reporters file their stories.

(...)"


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/08/16/wirq216.xml&sSheet=/news/2004/08/16/ixnewstop.html

[osaMABUSh]

1. WTF is going on?

We are trashing the shrine but don't want any to know?

Everyone will know and it will get very, very ugly.

[Tight_rope]

2. "WTF is going on?" Bush the bully is in the house..that's what's going on

[snippyMcNippy]

5. It was Iraqi action

We as the USA have nothing to do with this action.

[Junkdrawer]

6. Perish the thought...

The 140,000 American troops are there to attend a friend's wedding...

[SOS]

10. The headline seemed pretty clear

"Police fire at reporters as US tanks roll up to shrine"

[tblue37]

14. Well, they'd better be careful!

Weddings are routinely shot up and bombed these days in Iraq.

[madrchsod]

8. are you being sarcastic?

we tell them what to do and they do it..

[bahrbearian]

9. Gee ,,,I'll take you word Snippy, It makes no sense why we

would have a thing to do with it.

[UpInArms]

11. Hahahahahahahahaha!

you are a comedian!!!!

[frylock]

12. We as the USA have nothing to do with this action.

do you have a mouse in your pocket?

[Doug Decker]

15. Can we get a hint of the source of your...

great inside information? Your post on Chavez was similarly insightful.

Thanks, and welcome.

[frylock]

25. do a search of our friend snippy's posts..

very insightful indeed.

[Doug Decker]

33. Maybe he's just lost....

maybe.

[MichiganVote]

16. They won't see it that way

[CHIMO]

19. Maybe You

Should invade the country and implement democracy and the right for reporters to report the news.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

21. Oh stop.

Just stop. Please.

[snippyMcNippy]

24. I call them as I see them

To hide the facts is to deny the truth.

[DrWeird]

26. You mean like hiding the fact that...

the US has everything to do with this?

Yup, I agree. That's denying the truth.

Kind of like denying the holocaust in intellectual and moral honesty.

[frylock]

27. and the best way to hide the facts is to prevent any documentation

shorty.

[Ladyhawk]

38. I feel like I'm in an episode of ATHF

DrWeird, Frylock and snippy as Master Shake.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

29. So, with several hundred...

Highly-trained US snipers ringing the mosque, we are to believe that an Iraqi policeman took the first shots?

Oh man...I think I just wet myself laughing.

[UpInArms]

30. please see post #23 ............. eom

[nolabels]

40. Do we need to have some grasp of it, before we "deny the truth"

RON: ‘‘I have a question. I’m awake! (Laughter) I know that through all of the sessions you have mentioned certain truths, and I would just like to hear sort of a run-down of the truths that have come up in our sessions, as opposed to belief systems. I’m aware of some, but I know I’ve missed some as well. You could give me some that you haven’t talked about too, if you want!

ELIAS: Some truths. (Pause) Truths are constants that may not be eliminated or annihilated. Energy is a truth. Color is a truth. Vibration is a truth. Reality is a truth. You creating your reality is a truth. Consciousness and its different areas of awareness are truths. You are a truth. Belief systems incorporate a much wider area, for they incorporate much imagination, but even within this you incorporate truth, for all thought becomes imagination and all thought is energy, which is truth, which is also reality. Therefore, all imagination is a reality, which is also a truth! (Smiling)

RON: I guess I didn’t want to be that confused! (Laughter)

ELIAS: You are wishing me to give you a small box that is saying, ‘This is Ron’s box of truths.’

RON: Well, yeah!

ELIAS: I will put this box.... (Here, Elias picks up a box of tissues and holds the box up in front of him, looking at Cathy) Did you notice? (He then places the box in front of Ron, who is sitting to his right) To Ron: This is Ron’s truths box! (Amidst much laughter, he proceeds to pluck tissues out, labeling them one by one and giving them to Ron) This is reality truth! This is essence truth! This is (this tissue gets tossed over his left knee) belief systems! This is color! This is music! This is ... (here, he pulls out quite a few, placing the entire pile in front of Ron) essence! (We are all cracking up) This is a very big pile of truths!
(snip)
http://www.eliasforum.org/digests/truth.html

:cry:

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

32. And it tingles HARDER

[Junkdrawer]

39. "America would prefer the fledgling Iraqi security services

to carry out the attack, but they are poorly equipped and trained and unlikely to succeed."

Perhaps this is why the reporters are being *ahem* asked to leave. :shrug:

[0007]

42. Who has control over the Iraqis snippy McNippy?

BTW how old are you? This is the second post I've read this morning by you that is rather ignorant.

[Junkdrawer]

43. Shhhh McNippy is taking a dirt nap.

:evilgrin:

[janx]

56. All kinds of hell going on. And not just in Najaf, but the reporters

are definitely not welcome there. Read some of the other breaking news threads.

[acmavm]

3. I would hazard a guess that if they start shooting reporters things will

get ugly as well.

[prolesunited]

4. Wouldn't be the first time a reporter was killed in Iraq

IIRC, more media people have died in this war than any other. I'll check to see if I can find something on that.

[aneerkoinos]

20. Not first time

US bombed Al-Jazeera's office in Afganistan.

US bombed Al-Jazeera's office in Iraq, and murdered at least one person.

Those were not accidents.


How many journalist's have been killed by Coalition fire? How many by resistance?

[UpInArms]

23. here's a list of journalists who have died in Iraq since 3/20/03

as of 4/19/04

http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/news/nation/8469090.htm?ERIGHTS=-1742605226431556198twincities::[e-mail]&KRD_RM=8opxuruqwvqqxouoxptooooooo|Noah|N

(free registration or try www.bugmenot.com)

Posted on Mon, Apr. 19, 2004

List of Journalists Who Died in Iraq

A list of news organization employees killed in Iraq since the start of war March 20, 2003:

_ Correspondent Asaad Kadhim and driver Hussein Saleh of the U.S.-funded television station Al-Iraqiya shot by U.S. troops, April 19.

_ Burhan Mohamed Mazhour, Iraqi cameraman freelancing for ABC, killed in Fallujah, reportedly by U.S. troop fire in his direction, March 26.

_ Ali Abdel Aziz and Ali al-Khatib, of the United Arab Emirates-based news channel Al-Arabiyya, shot by U.S. military near checkpoint in Baghdad, March 18.

_ Nadia Nasrat, news anchor with Coalition Provisional Authority's Iraq Media Network/Diyala TV, killed by unidentified assailants in Baqouba, March 18.

<snip>

_ Mazen Dana, Reuters cameraman, shot while working near U.S.-run Abu Ghraib prison on outskirts of Baghdad, Aug. 17.

...more...

and here's another story (not as comprehensive as the first link)

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/world/ny-journalistcasulist,0,258140.story?coll=ny-worldnews-headlines

List Of Journalists Killed in Iraq

April 8, 2003, 9:54 AM EDT

News organization employees killed in combat situations during the war in Iraq, which began March 20:

-- Tareq Ayyoub, Jordanian journalist for Al-Jazeera, Qatar, April 8, at the Al-Jazeera office in Baghdad

-- Jose Couso, cameraman for Spanish television network Telecinco. April 8, at the Palestine hotel in Baghdad.

-- Kaveh Golestan, Iranian freelance cameraman for the BBC, northern Iraq, April 2

-- Michael Kelly, editor-at- large, The Atlantic Monthly, U.S.A., April 3, near Baghdad.

...more...

and just so eveyone reading this will know that prior to the invasion, the Pentagon threatened to kill un-imbedded journalists:

http://www.gulufuture.com/news/kate_adie030310.htm

PENTAGON THREATENS TO KILL INDEPENDENT REPORTERS IN IRAQ

10th March, 2003

The Pentagon has threatened to fire on the satellite uplink positions of independent journalists in Iraq, according to veteran BBC war correspondent, Kate Adie. In an interview with Irish radio, Ms. Adie said that questioned about the consequences of such potentially fatal actions, a senior Pentagon officer had said: "Who cares.. ..They've been warned."

According to Ms. Adie, who twelve years ago covered the last Gulf War, the Pentagon attitude is: "entirely hostile to the the free spread of information."

"I am enormously pessimistic of the chance of decent on-the-spot reporting, as the war occurs," she told Irish national broadcaster, Tom McGurk on the RTE1 Radio "Sunday Show."

Ms. Adie made the startling revelations during a discussion of media freedom issues in the likely upcoming war in Iraq. She also warned that the Pentagon is vetting journalists according to their stance on the war, and intends to take control of US journalists' satellite equipment --in order to control access to the airwaves.

...more...

[bemildred]

7. Nobody likes bad news, I guess.

Sorta tells you how it's going, who wants the word to get
out and who does not.

[Junkdrawer]

13. Well, looks like we'll see just how bad the Shia will react to an..

invasion of the shrine.

All I've read has said it won't be pretty.

[daleo]

17. It must be bad - Telegraph has generally been invasion friendly

"The authoritarian stance towards the press seems redolent of the days of Saddam Hussein. The Iraqi government has closed the offices of al-Jazeera, the most important Arab satellite station, accusing it of inciting the insurgents."

"It was not hard to see why Iraq's interim government might prefer journalists out of the city.
....
The options facing the US marines and their Iraqi allies are grim. An offensive on the shrine, burial place of Imam Ali, cousin of the prophet Mohammed and inspiration for Shia Islam, is likely to push moderate Shias over to Sadr's side."

I know the Telegraph is no longer controlled by Conrad Black, but I didn't think they had changed that much. Things must be bad for the Telegraph to be taking such a dim view of the situation. The story is worth reading, just for that.

[Barrett808]

36. My thoughts exactly n/t

[minkyboodle]

37. good point

the same thought crossed my mind as I read the article. Things are really winding up and are going to come to a head in the next week. Time to get all the witnesses out of town :(

[grytpype]

18. Setting the stage for a massacre...

... I think Karl Rove has given orders for the pacification of Iraq ASAP by any means necessary...

In a way, it's a good thing. Because if the Iraq policy is going to completely fail, and I think it will, I want that to happen on Bush's watch. I don't want any Repugs being able to say that Kerry lost Iraq. I want it to be absolutely clear that George W. Bush lost Iraq.

[sattahipdeep]

22. Why else would they want no witnesses?

Gonna Do Somethin' Shameful...

http://news.scotsman.com/politics.cfm?id=941632004

[2Design]

28. interesting ...no witnesses.....

being unsafe for reporters in much of iraq...allows usa to do things without witnesses....like the torture...except the pictures..capture it and the red cross knew...but it is all whitewashed.

[Junkdrawer]

35. My guess is that the US troops will do the dirty deed and CLAIM Iraqis...

invaded the shrine.

[2Design]

31. interesting....and al jareez was shut down......someone doesn't

want us to know what is going on...and to do this during the olympics is trying to do this under the radar.....wonder who is behind this...

[LiberalFighter]

34. Well... gw* wanted democracy for Iraq... they have it now

[Junkdrawer]

41. Kick

:kick:

[0007]

44. Keep an eye on this poll

Should journalists be forced to leave Najaf?
Yes :
11%

No :
86%
Unsure :
3%

[Junkdrawer]

45. Where's the poll?

:shrug:

[Aidoneus]

46. here..

bottom of the right column:
http://english.aljazeera.net/HomePage

Their readership/polls are pretty consistant, though:--whatever the question, the answer is usually 70/20/10 for Y/N (or N/Y) and Unsure.

[0007]

50. I'm sorry

http://english.aljazeera.net/HomePage

[struggle4progress]

47. 10 Downing Street: Press Briefing 11AM Monday 16 August 2004

Asked for a reaction to the Iraqi Interim Government's threat to shoot journalists if they did not leave Najaf, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) said that we were in touch with the Iraqi authorities and the UK media about these reports. It was important not to be too hasty in turning this issue into a debate about free speech. This was especially so in the light of the fact that we were seeing a relatively 'lively' free media operating in Iraq for the first time in many years. The foreign media in Iraq was also enjoying greater freedom to report than ever before under Saddam's regime. Decisions about the presence of the media in Najaf was a matter for the Iraqi authorities. We were sure that any action taken by them would be consistent with the prevailing security situation. The PMS added that no one should be complacent about the security risks in Iraq under the current circumstances. The Foreign Office's travel advice was very clear: it advised against all but the most essential travel to Iraq.

Asked if the Prime Minister agreed with Sir Jeremy Greenstock's view that the Coalition's occupation of Iraq should be seen as a failure if the security situation had not improved in eighteen months' time, the PMS said that Sir Jeremy was entitled to his view. We were clear that there was an important democratic process currently underway in Iraq. The Iraqi National Congress, which was meeting at the moment, was playing a very important role in the country's political future and was part of the process which would lead to democratic elections next year.
<snip>

http://www.number-10.gov.uk/output/Page6244.asp

[aneerkoinos]

51. Blair is fascist

"important not to be too hasty in turning this issue into a debate about free speech."

Shooting at journalist is not freedom of speach issue?

Fuck Blair.

[lumpy]

48. Blowing up the Mosque

The scuttlebut: The 'insurgent' religious forces have the mosque filled with explosives to be blown up in event of attack as reported by US military. The plan: US plus Iraq government police will plan to attack in such a manner that it will appear that the clerics will have destroyed the mosque themselves thereby absolving US and Iraq government forces of responsibility. Crucial: No reporters on the scene. The aim: Destroy the holy shrine.

[Junkdrawer]

52. The next step: Iraq Iran War II

:scared:

[allemand]

49. Iraqi police release reporter in Najaf

Iraqi police have released an Arab journalist they arrested this week in Najaf, where they have threatened to kill other foreign reporters if they left a hotel where many are staying.

Dubai-based Al Arabiya television says police have released its correspondent Ahmed al-Saleh, who along with many other reporters has been covering fighting between US forces and Shiite militiamen loyal to radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.

<...>

Witnesses say police who went to the hotel threatened the reporters.
"We will kill you if you leave the hotel. I will put four snipers on the roof to shoot anyone who leaves," a police lieutenant said.
Police then fired into the air and pointed their guns at the hotel, witnesses said.

<...>

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200408/s1178045.htm

[maxsolomon]

53. attacking the shrine doesn't make tactical sense

just cordon it off. no one gets in, no one gets out with any weapons, snipers pick off the sentries.

starve them out. should take 2 weeks.

[aneerkoinos]

54. stupid tactic,

luckily. It takes less than two weeks to have the whole Shia south in open revolt, it's halfway there already.

Yankee go home.

[MRDU]

55. Bush* Police State...

A deputation of journalists was denied an audience with Najaf's governor, Adnan al-Zurufi. The policeman outside his office was brusque. "If you do not leave by the deadline we will shoot you," he said.

It's YOUR future USA.....