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U.S. Military Returns Confiscated Video to AP
After five days, the AP finally got back its confiscated video of a Wednesday Baghdad bombing. U.S. troops briefly detained the AP cameraman who shot the footage, Ayad M. Abd Ali, for no stated reason.
The U.S. military returned a videotape and digital camera memory card Monday that American soldiers had seized last week from an AP Television News cameraman.The tape and card were taken without explanation from Ayad M. Abd Ali at the scene of an insurgent attack against the Polish ambassador in Baghdad. The ambassador, Gen. Edward Pietrzyk, suffered burns and was evacuated by helicopter.
After photographing the attack's aftermath and the rescue activities, Abd Ali was detained by U.S. troops for about 40 minutes in spite of having shown the soldiers a valid U.S.-issued press credential and identification.
Abd Ali is an Iraqi, which might explain why he was detained at the scene of the bombing. Two U.S. military public affairs officers, Lt. Colonels James Hutton and Scott Bleichwehl, have not responded to my repeated requests for comment.
Bleichwehl was initially paraphrased as saying that U.S. troops took the footage as line with an Iraqi law restricting media coverage of insurgent attacks. Today the AP reports that, on Thursday, he said that he never meant "to imply American soldiers were enforcing Iraqi laws."
The AP isn't too happy about what happened.
An attorney for The Associated Press said he was dismayed by the incident. "We're glad to have it back, but it should never have been seized in the first place," said Dave Tomlin, associate general counsel for the news cooperative. "We plan to ask for assurances that soldiers aren't actually being told to harass journalists and interfere with newsgathering."Maj. Sean Ryan, a spokesman for the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, arranged the return of the tape and memory card. He said he hoped it would not happen again.
Iraqi police have been known to confiscate materials from photographers who arrive after an attack or bombing has occurred, but it has been rare for U.S. troops to seize journalists' materials.
Comments (17)
EH wrote on October 8, 2007 5:33 PM:Yes, let's just hope it doesn't happen again. Let's hope with all our might...hope like the wind!
za wrote on October 8, 2007 5:43 PM:You know, shit like this would have been swept under the rug before blogs started picking it up.
This Burden Shall Pass wrote on October 8, 2007 5:54 PM:AP gets their footage back after DoD, State and Blackwater have a chance to review it. The fact that wasn't lost, mis-filed or accidentally erased means it wasn't as incriminating as someone feared.
But, it took quite a while for them to tell, frame by frame, that they could allow its release. AP may want to have some lab work done to see which parts of the tape took the most views to comfortably release. Other sources that viewed the same scene from different angles would want to pay special attention to those seconds.
DCE wrote on October 8, 2007 6:47 PM:Maybe this will be the wake-up call that the AP needs to stop carrying water for Bush and start doing a little critical thinking before they send stories around the wire.
DCE wrote on October 8, 2007 6:47 PM:Maybe this will be the wake-up call that the AP needs to stop carrying water for Bush and start doing a little critical thinking before they send stories around the wire.
StuporMundi wrote on October 8, 2007 10:21 PM:"Maybe this will be the wake-up call that the AP needs to stop carrying water for Bush and start doing a little critical thinking before they send stories around the wire."
Regrettably, I doubt it. Intimidation doesn't make craven institutions bolder, it makes them more cowardly.
j swift wrote on October 8, 2007 11:47 PM:"he said that he never meant "to imply American soldiers were enforcing Iraqi laws."
That's right, he lied through his f'ing teeth in case he had to cover his ass.
abitshy wrote on October 9, 2007 12:34 AM:If the blogs hadn't started picking this "shit" up how on earth would we find out what's going on, with our current media being what it is and all?
abitshy wrote on October 9, 2007 12:36 AM:If the blogs hadn't started picking this "shit" up how on earth would we find out what's going on, with our current media being what it is and all?
abitshy wrote on October 9, 2007 12:36 AM:If the blogs hadn't started picking this "shit" up how on earth would we find out what's going on, with our current media being what it is and all?
abitshy wrote on October 9, 2007 12:37 AM:If the blogs hadn't started picking this "shit" up how on earth would we find out what's going on, with our current media being what it is and all?
abitshy wrote on October 9, 2007 12:43 AM:Sorry, can you tell I'm new at this?
abitshy wrote on October 9, 2007 12:46 AM:This is just so full of details that don't make sense, I'm glad there are those who are catching 'em and passing them on to those of us who are interested in seeking facts.
Sorry, can you tell I'm new at this?
intrepid wrote on October 9, 2007 12:47 AM:This is just so full of details that don't make sense, I'm glad there are those who are catching 'em and passing them on to those of us who are interested in seeking facts.
My suspicion is that the U.S. call was out to find a situation that would feature Blackwater as an essential part of the war to counter the bad publicity. Katie Couric and CBS gave them that chance by featuring the Polish ambassador rescue story as the lead story that night. CBS said the U.S. embasssy told them NO OTHER helicopters were available making Blackwater look like a necessity in Iraq. I wish someone in the press or blog world would check out that statement made by the U.S. embassy to CBS. No where else was this statement reported. The film shot used by CBS was a closely cropped shot of a seemingly empty street with the Blackwater helicopter landing and assisting the wounded ambassador onboard. In reality U.S.and Iraqi soldiers had already secured the area. I think the fear was this video could be shown elsewhere and show the realilty on the ground that many other soldiers and rescue vehicles were already there before the helicopter arrived. Blackwater was not at great risk then. I noticed on the web several photos of Lara Logan from CBS take by the same Lt. Col. Bleichwehl as quoted in the story above on the film's confiscation. I suspect a cozy relationship with CBS through this military spokesman. That's why the military don't want to elaborate on this story. Their sole aim was to get good PR for Blackwater and CBS gave them that opportunity. Shame on CBS and Katie Couric. I no longer watch that news station.
sally wrote on October 9, 2007 12:54 AM:Please post a link where we can see the AP video that the U.S. military DID NOT WANT us to see. Is it available anywhere on the web?
moondancer wrote on October 9, 2007 2:07 AM:intrepid@12:47AM
I'm not so sure. I don't think the armed forces are big fans of BW. Possibly they were simply trying to control the story. I think they are more interested in keeping action off American TV than covering for the mercenaries.
intrepid wrote on October 9, 2007 2:59 AM:I dont doubt CBS in any complicity to censor anything from Iraq. All these networks are duly cowed and have little interest in keeping Americans properly informed of events.
I watched Courics coverage from Iraq online. It was a disgrace. If you told me Karen Hughes wrote the script, I wouldnt be suprised.
Sorry, I did not mean our military was protecting Blackwater. I meant the U.S. embassy and White House were interested in getting a "good news" story on Blackwater out. The military has to follow commands from above. Also, I wonder if the video segment shown on CBS was the film taken from the confiscated ap photographer. Would they be allowed to do that without crediting the source?