PDA

View Full Version : Afghan Media: U.S. Troops Deleted Images



LiberalNation
03-04-2007, 06:56 PM
http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/03/04/ap3483025.html

Afghan journalists covering the aftermath of a suicide bomb attack and shooting in eastern Afghanistan Sunday said U.S. troops deleted their photos and video and warned them not to publish or air any images of U.S. troops or a car where three Afghans were shot to death.

Afghan witnesses and gunshot victims said U.S. forces fired on civilians in cars and on foot along at least a six-mile stretch of road in Nangarhar province following a suicide attack against the Marine convoy. The U.S. military said militants also fired on American forces during the attack.

The U.S. military and Afghan officials said eight Afghans died and 34 were wounded in the violence. One Marine was also injured.

A freelance photographer working for The Associated Press and a cameraman working for AP Television News said a U.S. soldier deleted their photos and video showing a four-wheel drive vehicle in which three people were shot to death about 100 yards from the suicide bombing. The AP plans to lodge a protest with the American military.

The photographer, Rahmat Gul, said witnesses at the scene told him the three had been shot to death by U.S. forces fleeing the attack. The two AP freelancers arrived at the site about a half hour after the suicide bombing, Gul said.

"When I went near the four-wheel drive, I saw the Americans taking pictures of the same car, so I started taking pictures," Gul said. "Two soldiers with a translator came and said, 'Why are you taking pictures? You don't have permission.'"

It wasn't clear why the accredited journalists would need permission to take photos of a civilian car on a public highway.

Gul said the U.S. troops took his camera, deleted his photos and returned it to him. The journalists came across another American, showed their identification cards, and he agreed that they could take pictures.

A Western military official who asked not to be identified because he was not authorized to release the information said the troops were Marine Special Operations Forces, the Marine Corps component created in February 2006 of the U.S. Special Operations Command.

"The same soldier who took my camera came again and deleted my photos," Gul said. "The soldier was very angry ... I told him, 'They gave us permission,' but he didn't listen."

Gul's new photos were also deleted, and the American, speaking through a translator, warned him that he did not want to see any AP photos published anywhere. The American also raised his fist in anger as if he were going to hit him, but he did not strike, Gul said.

Lt. Col. David Accetta, a U.S. military spokesman, said he did not have any confirmed reports that coalition forces "have been involved in confiscating cameras or deleting images."

Khanwali Kamran, a reporter for the Afghan channel Ariana Television, was in a small group of journalists working alongside Gul. Kamran said the American soldiers also deleted his footage.

"They warned me that if it is aired ... then, 'You will face problems,'" Kamran said.

Taqiullah Taqi, a reporter for Afghanistan's largest television station, Tolo TV, said Americans were using abusive language.

"According to the translator, they said, 'Delete them, or we will delete you,'" Taqi said.

A freelance cameraman for AP Television News said that about 100 yards from the bomb site, a U.S. officer told him that he could not go any closer to the scene but that he could shoot footage. The cameraman asked not to be named for his own safety.

"Then I started filming the suicide attack site, where there was a body and U.S. soldiers, and farther away, there was a four-wheel drive vehicle in which three people were shot to death," he said.

As he was filming, he said, a U.S. soldier and translator "ordered us not to move." The cameraman said they were very angry and deleted any footage that included the Americans, as well as part of an interview from a demonstration. Hundreds of Afghans had gathered to protest the violence.

Reporters Without Borders condemned the actions of the U.S. forces, saying they dealt with the press poorly.

"Why did the soldiers do it if they don't have anything to hide? The situation is very tense in Afghanistan, and the media should be able to report about it freely and safely," said Jean-Francois Julliard, a spokesman for the Paris-based Reporters Without Borders.

CSM
03-04-2007, 07:08 PM
What's your point?

Also, I just have to ask how the the three could have been shot by Americans "fleeing" the scene but Americans are ( supposedly Marines) are still on the scene...something doesn't add up.

LiberalNation
03-04-2007, 07:10 PM
The point is this is looking like another conspiracy in the works that's gona be in the news in the coming days so lets have a thread to cover it. Things are about clear has mud right now and I don’t know how right the Afghan media is.

CSM
03-04-2007, 07:20 PM
The point is this is looking like another conspiracy in the works that's gona be in the news in the coming days so lets have a thread to cover it. Things are about clear has mud right now and I don’t know how right the Afghan media is.

You may be correct but I suspect this will turn into a non-news event.

LiberalNation
03-04-2007, 07:25 PM
I don't know, these types of things on US troops tend to balloon out if the media can get information.

Gaffer
03-04-2007, 07:26 PM
First thing I noticed is that these were AP reporters. That in itself would be enough for me to delete their photos which I'm sure they would doctor up as soon as they could get to a computer with photoshop.

I have noticed that all reports out of afganhistan discribe the people shot as civilians. But there was an exchange of gunfire so they couldn't have all been civilians. And our military doesn't make a habit of just running down the street shooting anyone they see. So these reporters are suspect to me and probably were to the troops they were dealing with as well.

It's a poorly written article where they are trying to get as much anti-miliatry slamming in in the first few paragraphs before going on with the story which is not about the attack but about the Marines deleting the pictures. Typical AwtP bullshit (AwtP Associated with terrorists Press).

LiberalNation
03-04-2007, 07:34 PM
There are plenty of news agencies carrying this story now. Apparently the marines were ambushed on a busy road and killed some civilians has they fired back and fled the scene. This thing about the pictures is just breaking but is on all the news agencies now.

CSM
03-04-2007, 07:49 PM
There are plenty of news agencies carrying this story now. Apparently the marines were ambushed on a busy road and killed some civilians has they fired back and fled the scene. This thing about the pictures is just breaking but is on all the news agencies now.

I think I'll stick with "innocent until proven guilty" instead of embracing "all Americans are evil so it must be true"...

LiberalNation
03-04-2007, 07:51 PM
Of course they are innocent until proven guilty but not in the court of public opinion. people will form there own opinions based on information provided not set on the bench waiting to see what happens. That is human nature.

CSM
03-04-2007, 07:55 PM
Of course they are innocent until proven guilty but not in the court of public opinion. people will form there own opinions based on information provided not set on the bench waiting to see what happens. That is human nature.

True, but we all know how much public opinion means don't we! Besides, wiser heads will wait for the evidence ...

Gaffer
03-04-2007, 08:02 PM
Sounds like some civilians got caught in the cross fire. That happens when the enemy hides among them and takes shots at you.

glockmail
03-04-2007, 09:03 PM
Of course they are innocent until proven guilty but not in the court of public opinion. people will form there own opinions based on information provided not set on the bench waiting to see what happens. That is human nature.


In my public oinion our guys are innocent until proven guilty.