Detaining the Press in Iraq
by TChris
The favorable coverage that the president expects from AP may disappear now that AP has skin in the game. The administration hasn't endeared itself to AP by detaining one of its photographers for the last five months.
"We want the rule of law to prevail. He either needs to be charged or released. Indefinite detention is not acceptable," said Tom Curley, AP's president and chief executive officer. "We've come to the conclusion that this is unacceptable under Iraqi law, or Geneva Conventions, or any military procedure."
Well, yes, but that's true of all the 14,000 detainees, not just the one AP happens to employ. Still, the detention of journalists suppresses a free press and is therefore particularly offensive. What better way to stem the flow of information than to arrest the messenger?
The military in Iraq has frequently detained journalists who arrive quickly at scenes of violence, accusing them of getting advance notice from insurgents, Lyon said. ... Several hundred journalists in Iraq have been detained, some briefly and some for several weeks, according to Scott Horton, a New York-based lawyer hired by the AP to work on Hussein's case.
Western journalists can't venture into the streets, making it impossible for them to tell the story of the Iraq war. Iraqi journalists have access to the story, but they aren't trusted by the military -- or, in this case, by right wing bloggers who had it in for the photographer.
Hussein has been a frequent target of conservative critics on the Internet, who raised questions about his images months before the military detained him. One blogger and author, Michelle Malkin, wrote about Hussein's detention on the day of his arrest, saying she'd been tipped by a military source.
After behind-the-scenes negotiations were unproductive, AP decided to go public. Its own investigation casts significant doubt on the case against the photographer, but the problem with cases built on "secret evidence" is that they can never be disproved. Perhaps, in this administration, the crazed rantings of the likes of Michelle Malkin are enough proof to provoke a journalist's indefinite detention.
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