Restrepo

[dysta 10]

Sometimes, camera is also a weapon. A footage of reality does worth a shell of nuclear warfare.

[ricbar89 0]

The actions of that Apache were despicable, the pilots had no consideration at all for the innocents caught up in the middle.

[STALKERGB 6]

Journalists and photographers in war zones are esssentially no different the Private military contractors...... money

So the fact that they both earn money makes them the same?

If every journalist and photographer wore their press vests and stayed in "safe" areas you'd never hear or see what's actually happening.

Most journalists covering things like Libya and Iraq aren't doing it for the money, they do it because they love being journalists and showing people what is going on.

[jblackrupert 14]

So the fact that they both earn money makes them the same?

The opportunity to make a shitload of cash in a short period of time

doing risky business to feed an industry that demands more and more

up close, down and dirty footage while at the same time leaving their common sense at the door.

I'd suggest you check out some of the footage of the PMC's working in Iraq and Afghanistan... The majority of them are less equipped then most backwater police forces in the US.

Some of them look like they arrived with nothing and looted a dump

to get equipment and weapons.

Stupid risk taking on the cheap driven by greed gets a lot of these people killed.

The men with the photographers in Iraq were insurgents

Al-jazeera has had a cosy partnership with them since the beginning.

The press get their juicy up close and personal footage

The insurgents get propaganda points when the footage

hits the TV.

Al-Jazeera is 90% footage shot by insurgants themselves.

Thats the thing about when people get killed.

Regardless of how reckless and stupid they were getting themselves and others killed it's a big taboo to "Speak ill of the dead".

Edited April 24, 2011 by jblackrupert

[STALKERGB 6]

Al-Jazeera is 90% footage shot by insurgants themselves.

Al Jazz is not mainly footage shot by insurgents, that's a very old fashioned (and completely incorrect) view of what they are. Propagated by the US government during the Iraq war (although not all elements of it).

To quote AJ-English figures it can cost up to a $1,000,000 to send one team somewhere to report on an event. Hardly on the cheap.

But thats not the point of any of this, Tim Hetherington and Chris Hondrus were both very knowledgeable and experienced in dealing with these kinds of situations. It's just bad luck that they ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time. They will both be missed.

[Steakslim 1]

Yeah well they still gunned down the unarmed civilian who came to help. Let them explain that.

It was my understanding that a common tactic for the insurgency was to retrieve the dead and weapons which was what it looked like they was doing to a point, however they were retrieving probably the only wounded, still living person from the attack. Also while the gunner mentioned they were picking up weapons, I did not really notice them doing so within the frame of the video. Ultimately the gunner was given permission to fire on the van and that was that. Plus the gunner and pilot had no idea there was children in the van until the convoy moved up on the scene and discovered them. Showing up to the aftermath of that attack within minutes and try to snatch up bodies into your van would throw up red flags to surrounding military personnel. BTW those children survived attack thank goodness as confirmed by one of the soldiers on the ground who found them as per news report following up the the apache video after thew hole wikileaks thing.

Anywho before the Reuters journalist fell under fire from the apache, the convoy they were trying to get images of WHILE surrounded by men with rifles and one confirm-able rpg, peering around the corner with a long tube like camera lens, was taking gunfire moments before (can be heard being discussed in the full 45 min video). What happened to them was unfortunate, but almost entirely Darwinian in it's own way as the result of taking huge risks being in that very kind of situation. As for the apache crew, while I've defended their actions in this post up to that particular attack, I did find their attitudes and their bumbling around afterwards in the video, particularly with some other fleeing insurgents in another building a few blocks away with hellfires to be giving me some serious red-ass. I wish more people who actually watch the full raw video and not the edited wikileaks version as it really tries to distort what's going on in an almost Michael Moore fashion, and does a good job off it. I've ran into people who try their hardest to claim there was no rpg, even when it's pointed out they rationalize it as being something else (one tried to claim it was a camera tripod....yeah).

Also on the subject of Al-Jazeera, or at least the english version, it's probably one of the better news groups I've wondered upon despite the reputation they've received.

[grub 10]

I nearly started this thread a month or so back. I'm glad I didn't now. Just remember the title has anyone seen it not what is your opinion on tactics and attitudes toward civilians ;) May get a little heated.

Armadillo was better IMO. Restrepo had some good footage but as Animal said, saddening.

Edited May 14, 2011 by Grub

[BronzeEagle 2]

After that episode in Iraq with those guys taken out by the Apaches a few months ago

you'd think the press guys would be extremely careful especially if you are imbedding yourself with the weaker side.

Those guys in in Iraq were begging for trouble imbedding with insurgants and dressing in the same style of clothes with no PRESS markings.

Their stupidy and careless behavior got other innocents killed.

You can't be too hard on em though, they're doing it for the sake of informing the public and ive spoken with a former army soldier who was in iraq and he told me, even showed me pictures and he said, when with reporters they often pumped up the show by turning the cameras off and giving the soldiers love after making kills. I might like that if i were a soldier! :D He did. Btw admins, im not sure if this thread qualifies as too old to bring up, but maybe you would like to close it now. Thanks.

Edited May 14, 2011 by BronzeEagle

[jblackrupert 14]

You can't be too hard on em though, they're doing it for the sake of informing the public

More like ratings and big price tags for such closeup footage the western media cannot get.

Magazines and networks pay large amounts of money just for a shot of some star picking their nose.

I can only imagine the pricetag on footage looking over the shoulder of insurgents + the danger pay involved in getting it.

Edited May 15, 2011 by jblackrupert