Greyhawk has more on the arrest of a CBS Cameraman suspected of taking part in "insurgent" activities. Here is an excerpt:
CBS News' Lee Cowan, reporting from Baghdad on the courage of the cameramen CBS uses to bring the war to your living room:
"...if they are caught carrying around an American press ID in some of the places we ask them to go they will certainly be less than popular in those places."
As Greyhawk points out: If cameramen take part in terrorist (sorry..."insurgent") activities, then they certainly would not be welcome by weeping relatives and Iraqi civilians.
I would add...these cameramen would also be "less than popular in those places" if they use their Press IDs to gain access to U.S. installations in order to collect intelligence for the terrorists (dang..."insurgents"). This is a huge counterintelligence problem.
I am still waiting for CBS to answer (since the public has a "right to know") questions posed by Greyhawk yesterday (see previous post).
Aiding and abetting terrorist activity is against U.S. Policy. CBS has some explaining to do.
More to follow.
UPDATE: I can barely keep up with all the updates...I have to finish my research paper...anyway:
Here are other bloggers with scores of updates (HT: Mudville Gazette):
Random Probabilities (with more great insight and other links to "tendentious reporting")
ScrappleFace (with more dark humor...it is funny and scary)
RantingProfs (with an account of how widespread and dangerous the practice of using Iraqi stringers is for our troops)
Clive Davis (with a very interesting link)
Other bloggers can be found by reading this previous post.
I'll post an update once I finish the bulk of my research paper.
UPDATE II: Check out Power Line's latest post on a related subject...Scott Johnson takes apart the Pulitzer-winning photograph in great detail. The post also has the following which is where the two stories converge:
Instead of denying that the photographer was on the scene because the terrorists wanted him there, the AP acknowledged that he was likely "tipped," but only to a demonstration, not to a murder. And a second AP spokesman, Jack Stokes, certainly seemed to confirm the symbiotic relationship between photographer and terrorists that Wretchard had alleged:
Several brave Iraqi photographers work for The Associated Press in places that only Iraqis can cover. Many are covering the communities they live in where family and tribal relations give them access that would not be available to Western photographers, or even Iraqi photographers who are not from the area.
Insurgents want their stories told as much as other people and some are willing to let Iraqi photographers take their pictures. It's important to note, though, that the photographers are not "embedded" with the insurgents. They do not have to swear allegiance or otherwise join up philosophically with them just to take their pictures.
Okay, break is over...back to my research paper.