4,000 U.S. Deaths, and a Handful of Images
More Photos–>
By MICHAEL KAMBER and TIM ARANGO
BAGHDAD — The case of a freelance photographer in Iraq who was barred from covering the Marines after he posted photos on the Internet of several of them dead has underscored what some journalists say is a growing effort by the American military to control graphic images from the war.
Zoriah Miller, the photographer who took images of marines killed in a June 26 suicide attack and posted them on his Web site, was subsequently forbidden to work in Marine Corps-controlled areas of the country. Maj. Gen. John Kelly, the Marine commander in Iraq, is now seeking to have Mr. Miller barred from all United States military facilities throughout the world. Mr. Miller has since left Iraq.
If the conflict in Vietnam was notable for open access given to journalists — too much, many critics said, as the war played out nightly in bloody newscasts — the Iraq war may mark an opposite extreme: after five years and more than 4,000 American combat deaths, searches and interviews turned up fewer than a half-dozen graphic photographs of dead American soldiers.
It is a complex issue, with competing claims often difficult to weigh in an age of instant communication around the globe via the Internet, in which such images can add to the immediate grief of families and the anger of comrades still in the field.
While the Bush administration faced criticism for overt political manipulation in not permitting photos of flag-draped coffins, the issue is more emotional on the battlefield: local military commanders worry about security in publishing images of the American dead as well as an affront to the dignity of fallen comrades. Most newspapers refuse to publish such pictures as a matter of policy.
But opponents of the war, civil liberties advocates and journalists argue that the public portrayal of the war is being sanitized and that Americans who choose to do so have the right to see — in whatever medium — the human cost of a war that polls consistently show is unpopular with Americans.
Journalists say it is now harder, or harder than in the earlier years, to accompany troops in Iraq on combat missions. Even memorial services for killed soldiers, once routinely open, are increasingly off limits. Detainees were widely photographed in the early years of the war, but the Department of Defense, citing prisoners’ rights, has recently stopped that practice as well.
And while publishing photos of American dead is not barred under the “embed” rules in which journalists travel with military units, the Miller case underscores what is apparently one reality of the Iraq war: that doing so, even under the rules, can result in expulsion from covering the war with the military.
“It is absolutely censorship,” Mr. Miller said. “I took pictures of something they didn’t like, and they removed me. Deciding what I can and cannot document, I don’t see a clearer definition of censorship.”
The Marine Corps denied it was trying to place limits on the news media and said Mr. Miller broke embed regulations. Security is the issue, officials said.
“Specifically, Mr. Miller provided our enemy with an after-action report on the effectiveness of their attack and on the response procedures of U.S. and Iraqi forces,” said Lt. Col. Chris Hughes, a Marine spokesman.
News organizations say that such restrictions are one factor in declining coverage of the war, along with the danger, the high cost to financially ailing media outlets and diminished interest among Americans in following the war. By a recent count, only half a dozen Western photographers were covering a war in which 150,000 American troops are engaged.
In Mr. Miller’s case, a senior military official in Baghdad said that while his photographs were still under review, a preliminary assessment showed he had not violated ground rules established by the multinational force command. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation was ongoing, emphasized that Mr. Miller was still credentialed to work in Iraq, though several military officials acknowledged that no military unit would accept him.
Robert H. Reid, the Baghdad bureau chief for The Associated Press, said one major problem was a disconnection between the officials in Washington who created the embed program before the war and the soldiers who must accommodate journalists — and be responsible for their reports afterward.
“I don’t think the uniformed military has really bought into the whole embed program,” Mr. Reid said.
“During the invasion it got a lot of ‘Whoopee, we’re kicking their butts’-type of TV coverage,” he said.
Now, he said the situation is nuanced and unpredictable. Generally, he said, the access reporters get “very much depends on the local commander.” More specifically, he said, “They’ve always been freaky about bodies.”
The facts of the Miller case are not in dispute, only their interpretation.
On the morning of June 26, Mr. Miller, 32, was embedded with Company E of the Second Battalion, Third Marine Regiment in Garma, in Anbar Province. The photographer declined a Marine request to attend a city council meeting, and instead accompanied a unit on foot patrol nearby.
When a suicide bomber detonated his vest inside the council meeting, killing 20 people, including 3 marines, Mr. Miller was one of the first to arrive. His photos show a scene of horror, with body parts littering the ground and heaps of eviscerated corpses. Mr. Miller was able to photograph for less than 10 minutes, he said, before being escorted from the scene.
Mr. Miller said he spent three days on a remote Marine base editing his photos, which he then showed to the Company E marines. When they said they could not identify the dead marines, he believed he was within embed rules, which forbid showing identifiable soldiers killed in action before their families have been notified. According to records Mr. Miller provided, he posted his photos on his Web site the night of June 30, three days after the families had been notified.
The next morning, high-ranking Marine public affairs officers demanded that Mr. Miller remove the photos. When he refused, his embed was terminated. Worry that marines might hurt him was high enough that guards were posted to protect him.
On July 3, Mr. Miller was given a letter signed by General Kelly barring him from Marine installations. The letter said that the journalist violated sections 14 (h) and (o) of the embed rules, which state that no information can be published without approval, including material about “any tactics, techniques and procedures witnessed during operations,” or that “provides information on the effectiveness of enemy techniques.”
“In disembedding Mr. Miller, the Marines are using a catch-all phrase which could be applied to just about anything a journalist does,” said Joel Campagna, Middle East program coordinator for the Committee to Protect Journalists.
New embed rules were adopted in the spring of 2007 that required written permission from wounded soldiers before their image could be used, a near impossibility in the case of badly wounded soldiers, journalists say. While embed restrictions do permit photographs of dead soldiers to be published once family members have been notified, in practice, photographers say, the military has exacted retribution on the rare occasions that such images have appeared. In four out of five cases that The New York Times was able to document, the photographer was immediately kicked out of his or her embed following publication of such photos.
In the first of such incidents, Stefan Zaklin, formerly of the European Pressphoto Agency, was barred from working with an Army unit after he published a photo of a dead Army captain lying in a pool of blood in Falluja in 2004.
Two New York Times journalists were disembedded in January 2007 after the paper published a photo of a mortally wounded soldier. Though the soldier was shot through the head and died hours after the photo was taken, Lt. Gen. Raymond T. Odierno argued that The Times had broken embed rules by not getting written permission from the soldier.
Chris Hondros, of Getty Images, was with an army unit in Tal Afar on Jan. 18, 2005, when soldiers killed the parents of an unarmed Iraqi family. After his photos of their screaming blood-spattered daughter were published around the world, Mr. Hondros was kicked out of his embed (though Mr. Hondros points out that he soon found an embed with a unit in another city).
Increasingly, photographers say the military allows them to embed but keeps them away from combat. Franco Pagetti of the VII Photo Agency said he had been repeatedly thwarted by the military when he tried to get to the front lines.
In April 2008, Mr. Pagetti tried to cover heavy fighting in Baghdad’s Sadr City. “The commander there refused to let me in,” Mr. Pagetti said. “He said it was unsafe. I know it’s unsafe, there’s a war going on. It was unsafe when I got to Iraq in 2003, but the military did not stop us from working. Now, they are stopping us from working.”
James Lee, a former marine who returned to Iraq as a photographer, was embedded with marines in the spring of 2008 as they headed into battle in the southern port city of Basra in support of Iraqi forces.
“We were within hours of Basra when they told me I had to go back. I was told that General Kelly did not want any Western eyes down there,” he said, referring to the same Marine general who barred Mr. Miller.
Military officials stressed that the embed regulations provided only a framework. “There is leeway for commanders to make judgment calls, which is part of what commanders do,” said Col. Steve Boylan, the public affairs officer for Gen. David H. Petraeus, the top commander in Iraq. For many in the military, a legal or philosophical debate over press freedom misses the point. Capt. Esteban T. Vickers of the First Regimental Combat Team, who knew two of the marines killed at Garma, said photos of his dead comrades, displayed on the Internet for all to see, desecrated their memory and their sacrifice.
“Mr. Miller’s complete lack of respect to these marines, their friends, and families is shameful,” Captain Vickers said. “How do we explain to their children or families these disturbing pictures just days after it happened?”
Mr. Miller, who returned to the United States on July 9, expressed surprise that his images had ignited such an uproar.
“The fact that the images I took of the suicide bombing — which are just photographs of something that happens every day all across the country — the fact that these photos have been so incredibly shocking to people, says that whatever they are doing to limit this type of photo getting out, it is working,” he said.
Michael Kamber reported from Baghdad, and Tim Arango from New York.
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U.S. panel authorizes subpoena of Cheney aide
source: http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSN06386500
Tue May 6, 2008 4:16pm EDT
(Updates with comments by Conyers, paragraphs 5-6)
By Thomas Ferraro
WASHINGTON, May 6 (Reuters) - A Democratic-led U.S. congressional panel on Tuesday authorized a subpoena of Vice President Dick Cheney’s chief of staff in its probe of possible U.S. torture of suspected terrorists.
House of Representatives Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers of Michigan was expected to move within days to subpoena David Addington, who the administration maintains is immune from being required to testify to Congress.
If Addington refuses to show up, a court fight is likely, but it may not be resolved until after President George W. Bush and Cheney end their terms in January and leave office.
Regardless, Conyers pushed ahead.
“The administration’s use of harsh interrogation methods — with approval of the Justice Department and other administration lawyers — requires the strictest scrutiny and oversight,” Conyers said.
“In the view of the many reports that Mr. Addington played a key role in shaping interrogation policy and drafting legal memos on the subject, it is very important to hear from him,” Conyers said.
Without debate, a subcommittee of Conyers’ panel approved a resolution authorizing him to subpoena Addington.
Cheney spokeswoman Megan Mitchell said: “We have not yet received a subpoena. Once we do, we will review and respond accordingly.”
Bush maintains that the United States does not torture, but he has refused to discuss interrogation techniques, saying he does not want to tip off the enemy.
The CIA has acknowledged using a simulated drowning technique known as waterboarding on three terrorism suspects, but says it stopped using that method in 2003.
Waterboarding has been condemned by human rights groups, foreign countries and many U.S. lawmakers as torture.
The subcommittee authorized the subpoena shortly before beginning a hearing on treatment of enemy combatants.
Those who testified were primarily legal and academic figures who discussed what amounts to torture and the scope of the administration’s power to establish interrogation methods.
Former Attorney General John Ashcroft has agreed to testify at a yet-to-be scheduled hearing. John Yoo, a former deputy assistant attorney general, also agreed to testify at a later date after facing a possible subpoena.
Bush has invoked executive privilege in rejecting congressional subpoenas for a number of current and former administration officials, many sought as witnesses in the 2006 firing of nine federal prosecutors.
In March, the House Judiciary Committee filed suit in U.S. District Court asking it to direct White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten to produce subpoenaed documents and order former White House counsel Harriet Miers to comply with a subpoena and testify about the ousted prosecutors.
A ruling is not expected for at least several months.
Cheney’s counsel, Kathryn Wheelbarger, in a letter to the subcommittee, argued Addington cannot be required to testify.
“The office of the vice president remains of the view that the courts, to protect the institution of the vice presidency under the Constitution from encroachment by committees of Congress, would recognize that a chief of staff or counsel to the vice president is immune from compulsion to appear before committees of Congress,” Wheelbarger wrote. (Editing by David Alexander and Eric Walsh)
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Getting the word out about your screening
If you’re reading this post, then you more than likely came across this website with some interest in the film and/or issues surrounding it. Maybe you even thought about hosting a screening in your community but decided you don’t have the time or energy to do so. MediaRights recently featured an article on their website that contains some useful tips to help promote your screening. They used the IMAP film, Ghosts of Abu Ghraib as an example.
After choosing a film to screen, be sure to register your screening on the Iraq Media Action Project’s Screening Headquarters so that other visitors to the site can find your event!
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Winter Soldiers. Iraq Veterans Against the War
When: Thursday March 13 to Sunday March 16
Where: National Labor College, 10000 New Hampshire Avenue,
Silver Spring, MD (just outside of Washington, DC)
Winter Soldier: Iraq and Afghanistan will feature testimony from U.S. veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, who will tell the hard truth about what is really happening, day in and day out, in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The four-day event will bring together veterans from across the country to testify about their experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan - and present video and photographic evidence. In addition, there will be panels of scholars, veterans, journalists, and other specialists to give context to the testimony. These panels will cover everything from the history of the GI resistance movement to the fight for veterans’ health benefits and support.
In 1776, Thomas Paine wrote: “These are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of his country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.”
In 1971, a courageous group of veterans exposed the criminal nature of the Vietnam War in an event called Winter Soldier. Once again, we will create a space for veterans to make their voices heard.
Americans have heard from the generals, they’ve heard from the politicians, they’ve heard from the media - but they haven’t heard the truth. Americans must understand the reality of the wars our government is spearheading in order for our democracy to truly function. When we tell our stories, it is America’s duty to listen.
Click here to sign a statement of support for Winter Soldier: Iraq & Afghanistan
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Meet the “non-existant” homeless vets
Bill O’Reilly has claimed that homeless veterans do not exist.
There are over 200,000 homeless veterans in the United States. The film, When I Came Home, is a documentary about one man’s story of coming back from Iraq to no place to call home.
Iraq War veteran Herold Noel suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and lives out of his car in Brooklyn. Using Noel’s story as a fulcrum, this doc examines the wider issue of homeless U.S. military veterans-from Vietnam to Iraq-who have to fight tooth-and-nail to receive the benefits promised to them by their government.
Please, watch the film or host a screening in your community to educate people about the thousands of homeless veterans sleeping under bridges.
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Screening in New London, CT
On October 26th 2007, a screening of Ghosts of Abu Ghraib was held at the All Souls Unitarian Universalist Congregation in New London, CT. The host of the screening, Carolyn P, had this to say about the screening:
“I think it went very well. Initially I was disappointed with the turnout
(@25 came) but then heard from colleagues that in fact, this was a good
showing. The conversation that followed was thoughtful and thought
provoking. I am confident that we all left having learned something about
human nature and the conditions by which our military is being asked to
serve.
The film is excellent. I believe that folks stayed away because they were
afraid of the subject matter. Who could blame them? But I have emphasized
to people that the film really is an examination of what moves ordinary
people to engage in such practices. I wish more people would see it.”
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Former US Soldiers meet with the Syrian Ambassador
December 12, 2007
CONTACT:
Elliott Adams (518) 441-2697
Frank Houde (518) 465-0582
Veterans For Peace: www.veteransforpeace.org
Four former US soldiers and Veterans For Peace members, met Thursday, Dec. 6, 2007 with the Ambassador of Syria, Dr. Imad Moustapha, in an effort to advance good relations between the people of our two nations.
“Having seen war close-up, I and many members of Veterans For Peace believe that all diplomatic solutions should be exhausted in dealing with global conflicts and differences before resorting to war” said Frank Houde, Chairman of VFP International Liaison. Since the Bush administration has proven unwilling or incapable of using meaningful diplomacy, it is our responsibility as citizens to explore diplomatic alternatives to war.
Dr. Imad Moustapha, said that Syria is not an enemy of the United States and will continue to work for serious dialogue with the current administration to resolve issues diplomatically and civilly.
The Veterans For Peace delegation met the Ambassador as a first step in people-to-people diplomacy, and to discuss a forthcoming VFP Delegation to Syria. “Bridges of peace must be built on strong foundations, built from the solid rock of the people of one nation to the solid rock of the people of another nation,” said Ellen Barfield a VFP Board of Directors member and VFP United Nations Delegate.
In the hour-long meeting, the group also discussed the Iraq refugee crisis, the need for all governments to respect human rights, torture, extraordinary rendition and Israel’s occupation of the Golan Heights.
The most pressing concern centered around the approximately four million Iraqi refugees currently in exile with 1.9 million living in Syria. The need for immediate and adequate relief from the United States and the world community is considered essential to mitigate this humanitarian crisis.
Download a PDF Version here.
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Veterans Group Admonishes Members of Gathering of Eagles and pledges full support for gold star father
Saint Louis, MO - On 09/15/07, near the end of a peace march to end the U.S. occupation of Iraq in Washington DC, Carlos Arredondo, a Gold Star Father who loss his Marine son in Iraq, pulled behind him a rolling memorial dedicated to his son. The solemn memorial consisted of a flag draped coffin, boots, poster sized pictures of the Marine, a Massachusetts Gold Star license plate and a copy of a street sign that the City of Boston named after the fallen Marine. Carlos’ son Lance Cpl Alexander Scott Arredondo from Boston was killed on 08/25/04.
As Carlos passed a group of pro war protesters who call themselves the Gathering of Eagles, one of the “eagles” ripped a secured picture off the memorial. When Carlos went to retrieve the picture, he was assaulted by five or six people standing with the group. According to many witnesses on the scene, he was then kicked repeatedly until the police showed up.
The man who grabbed the picture, Fred Peterson, wrote that when he “saw the photo-image of a proud young Marine in dress blues being held hostage in company not of his own choosing and affixed to a coffin not his own…I liberated his image from the midst of the hostile crowd.” His account of the incident can be read on a Gathering of Eagles web forum page.
National Executive Director of Veterans For Peace, Michael McPhearson commented, “This incident is an example of how the invasion and occupation of Iraq is tearing our nation apart. I am disappointed that some people who support the war and say they support the troops have forgotten that the troops serve to protect ideals like freedom of speech. It is one thing to disagree with each other. It is all together different thing to physically attack a person with whom you disagree. To deface a memorial created by anyone is wrong, but to vandalize a memorial made by a parent of the fallen is an outrage. Those who attacked Mr. Arredondo should be held accountable and he and his family should be given an apology immediately.”
Elliott Adams, National President of Veteran For Peace commented, “Veterans For Peace has been working closely with and in support of Military and Gold Star Families. We understand that not all military families agree with our position against the war. But that does not change our respect for them as people who make huge sacrifices everyday. They hold a special place of honor whether they agree with us or not. We ask that those who support the war also remember to honor Military and Gold Star Families who disagree with them. Carlos Arredondo and his family have the full support of VFP.”
In September Carlos Arredondo was in DC meeting with elected officials, attending press conferences and hearings related to the war in Iraq and displaying the memorial of his son. He sets up the memorial and often steps aside. Arredondo watches and states that “Many people want to find out more information on what they are seeing. That’s when I introduce myself, tell them about Alex and give them a copy of one of the letters that Alex wrote while he was deployed.” ”
Carlos travels throughout the United States in an effort to make sure that the citizens of the US do not forget Alex and the costs of war. “I don’t want my son to simply be a statistic. I want people to know who he was” states Arredondo.
For more information, please visit www.veteransforpeace.org
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Screening of When I Came Home
The Unitarian Universalist Church of Oak Cliff Social Action Committee hosted a screening of When I Came Home on September 4th 2007 in Dallas Texas. The film screening was a part of their First Tuesday Social Action Films. On the first Tuesday of every month, a film is shown as a part of a free community service (although, they do request a donation to help cover the expenses for their newly purchased projector and screen).
According to Stephen Betzen, the Co-Chair of the Social Action Ministry, there were about 25 people in attendance. They experienced some technical difficulties with their DVD player which resulted in them only viewing approximately 30 minutes of the 70 minute film. After the screening, they had a lively discussion and they hope to bring in more people to the film screenings each month.
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CIA Bans Water-Boarding in Terror Interrogations
ABC News: The Blotter
CIA Bans Water-Boarding in Terror Interrogations
September 14, 2007 5:00 PM
By Brian Ross, Richard Esposito & Martha Raddatz
The controversial interrogation technique known as water-boarding, in which a suspect has water poured over his mouth and nose to stimulate a drowning reflex, has been banned by CIA director Gen. Michael Hayden, current and former CIA officials tell ABCNews.com. (Image above is an ABC News graphic.)
The officials say Hayden made the decision at the recommendation of his deputy, Steve Kappes, and received approval from the White House to remove water-boarding from the list of approved interrogation techniques first authorized by a presidential finding in 2002.
The officials say the decision was made sometime last year but has never been publicly disclosed.
THE BLOTTER RECOMMENDS
Blotter Investigator: ‘High-Value Targets’ Imprisoned by High-Level ‘Cover-up’
Exclusive: Sources Tell ABC News Top Al Qaeda Figures Held in Secret CIA Prisons
CIA’s Harsh Interrogation Techniques Described
Full Blotter Coverage CIA Secret Prisons
One U.S. intelligence official said, “It would be wrong to assume that the program of the past moved into the future unchanged.”
A CIA spokesman said, as a matter of policy, he would decline to comment on interrogation techniques, “which have been and continue to be lawful,” he said.
Click Here for Full Blotter Coverage.
The practice of water-boarding has been branded as “torture” by human rights groups and a number of leading U.S. officials, including Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., because it amounted to a “mock execution.”
Today, in New Hampshire, Sen. McCain told ABC News, “I have sought that result for years. Water-boarding is a form of torture. And I’m convinced that this will not only help us in our interrogation techniques, but it will also be helpful for our image in the world.”
While new legislation reportedly gave the CIA the leeway to use water-boarding, current and former CIA officials said Gen. Hayden decided to take it off the list of about six “enhanced interrogation techniques.”
While welcoming the move, some critics say the CIA did not go far enough.
“I can say it’s a good thing, but the fact remains that the entire program is illegal,” John Sifton of Human Rights Watch told ABCNews.com.
As a result of the decision, officials say, the most extreme techniques left available to CIA interrogators would be what is termed “longtime standing,” which includes exhaustion and sleep deprivation with prisoners forced to stand, handcuffed with their feet shackled to the floor.
“It is a very severe form of torture which causes tremendous psychic toll to people,” said Sifton.
It is believed that water-boarding was used on fewer than five “high-value” terrorist subjects, and had not been used for three to four years.
Its most effective use, say current and former CIA officials, was in breaking Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, known as KSM, who subsequently confessed to a number of ongoing plots against the United States.
A senior CIA official said KSM later admitted it was only because of the water-boarding that he talked.
Ultimately, KSM took responsibility for the 9/ll attacks and virtually all other al Qaeda terror strikes, including the beheading of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl.
“KSM lasted the longest under water-boarding, about a minute and a half, but once he broke, it never had to be used again,” said a former CIA official familiar with KSM’s case.
Kappes’ role at the CIA puts him in charge of day-to-day CIA operations.
A career intelligence officer, he left the CIA in disagreement with the leadership of Porter Goss, the former Republican congressman, who George Bush chose to replace George Tenet in 2004.
When Goss in turn was replaced in May 2006 by Gen. Hayden as director of Central Intelligence, he moved quickly to get Kappes to return.
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