Matthias: blog
Das Logfile über mein Leben im Netz.

Right-wing blogger feeding frenzy Montag, 14. Februar 2005, 21:45:13

So they got Eason Jordan's head. Rony Abovitz probably didn't forsee this development when he posted his very first blog post ever, titled Do US Troops Target Journalists in Iraq?. And he's quite shocked at it. Swarms of bloggers, in a furious feeding frenzy that I have only seen before in sharks, are tasting blood and moving in for the kill., he writes in Are Bloggers Targeting CNN News Chief Eason Jordan?.

Of course nobody cares to check for the context of Jordan's alleged remark. From a post titled Eason Jordan clarifies comments:

To be clear, I do not believe the U.S. military is trying to kill journalists in Iraq. But the U.S. military has killed several journalists in Iraq in cases of mistaken identity. The reason the word "targeted" came up at all is because I was responding to a comment by Congressman Franks, who said he believed the 63 journalists killed in Iraq were the victims of "collateral damage." Since three of my CNN colleagues and many other journalists have been killed on purpose in Iraq, I disputed the "collateral damage" statement, saying, unfortunately, many journalists -- not all -- killed in Iraq were indeed targeted. When someone aims a gun at someone and pulls the trigger and then learns later the person fired at was actually a journalist, an apology is appropriate and is accepted, and I believe those apologies to be genuine. But such a killing is a tragic case of mistaken identity, not a case of "collateral damage." That is the distinction I was trying to make even if I did not make it clearly at the time. Further, I have worked closely with the U.S. military for months in an effort to achieve a mutual goal: keeping journalists in Iraq safe and alive.

So, killing journalists is collateral damage? That's disgusting and callous. In that context, I'm not sure I can blame Jordan for his reply. Would Bring me the head of Congressman Franks be going too far?