Obama Administration Demands Amnesia From Reporters Covering Gitmo

[IndianaGreen]

Published on Saturday, May 8, 2010 by Huffington Post

Obama Administration Demands Amnesia From Reporters Covering Gitmo

by Dan Froomkin

Jack Newfield, the legendary investigative reporter, once wrote that if government officials had their way, journalists would be "stenographers with amnesia."

The "amnesia" part, at least, was generally considered a bit of an exaggeration.

But now, the Pentagon has banned four reporters from covering the military commissions at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, because they refused to forget something that had already been reported to the world.

The four reporters were covering military commission hearings at which defense attorneys for Canadian detainee Omar Khadr argued that confessions he made as a gravely wounded 15-year-old shouldn't be admissible in his upcoming trial because they were made under duress.

And indeed, witnesses earlier this week described how Khadr's interrogation began when he was still sedated and lying wounded on a stretcher. A medic testified that he once found Khadr chained by his arms to the door of his cage-like cell, hooded and in tears

But the defense's star witness, on Thursday, was the first U.S. Army interrogator to question Khadr. The interrogator admitted that in an attempt to get Khadr to talk, he told the boy a "fictitious" tale of an Afghan youth who was gang-raped in an American prison and died.

And it wasn't just what he said that was significant, it was also who he was. The interrogator was Army Sgt. Joshua Claus, who pleaded guilty in September 2005 to mistreatment and assault of detainees at the Bagram prison in Afghanistan.

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/05/08-3

[amborin]

1. rec'd to zero

[Name removed]

2. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

3. Judge Issues Order...

Reporters Defy Order...

Reporters Get Spanked...

I'm sure there some is part of this that is hard for some people to understand. But when a trial judge says, "Don't do that" and your response is, "Naw, I think I'm going to do it anyway," you're going to face some consequences.

The four newspapers in question can still cover the trial, and I imagine with an appropriate mia culpa from the reporters in question, they can probably go back to covering the commissions in person.

Yet another non-story...

[tekisui]

5. The info had already been widely reported.

It wasn't from the trial that the identity was known.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

6. Judge Issues Order

Reporters Defy Order...

Reporters Get Spanked...

Keep repeating that until it sinks in.

The judge has the power to determine who can (and cannot) be present in his courtroom. The reporters defied his order and they got the boot. This ain't rocket science.

[tekisui]

7. The orders were an exercise in absurdity. We all know who the witness is.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

8. Judge Issues Order

Reporters Defy Order...

Reporters Get Spanked...

The reporters' opinion on the subject is not relevant. The dude with the gavel? He's relevant.

[tekisui]

9. Good on the reporter's for defying the ridiculous orders.

It was nothing but a power trip order, as the info is known. Sure the judge is in charge, but that doesn't make them right.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

10. Judge Issues Order

Reporters Defy Order...

Reporters Get Spanked...

It's not up to the reporters (and even less so to you) to determine which of the judge's orders are "ridiculous" and not to be obeyed, and which ones are not "ridiculous" and are to be obeyed.

They decided to ignore him, and they got the boot. They (and even less so you) have not grounds to complain.

[tekisui]

11. We all have grounds to complain.

Jeezus this place has gone crazy.

[zenprole]

12. Complete Fascist

Your obedience won't save you. And it won't, either.

Keep repeating that until it sinks in.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

13. Complete Imbecile....

When a judge issues an order, it's meant to be followed. And not just if you damned well feel like it.

This concept is often referred to as "The Rule of Law," and it means that people like you are often (gasp) required to do things that you don't want to do.

Grow up.

[spiritual_gunfighter]

4. K&R The more things change the more they stay the same n/t