Congressman: Pull CNN From Iraq Embeds

(AP)  A leading Republican lawmaker on defense issues has asked the Pentagon to bar CNN reporters from traveling with military units in Iraq because the network showed insurgent snipers shooting at U.S. troops.

"Does CNN want America to win this thing?" Rep. Duncan Hunter asked in an interview on the network Monday. In past wars, he said, the press was more pro-American.

"You can't be on both sides of the war," Hunter said.

CNN issued a statement saying the decision to air the insurgents' video was "a difficult one, but for a news organization, the right one. Our responsibility is to report the news."

In a letter released Monday, Hunter asked Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld to remove CNN from the military embedding program, in which journalists spend time with combat units in Iraq.

Hunter, a staunch defender of the Bush administration and its handling of the war in Iraq, said the decision to show the video was irresponsible because it could encourage more attacks on U.S. troops.

"CNN has now served as the publicist for an enemy propaganda film featuring the killing of an American soldier," wrote Hunter, chairman of the Armed Services Committee of the House of Representatives. California Republican Reps. Darrell Issa and Brian Bilbray also signed the letter.

The footage last week aired after it was obtained through a contact with an insurgent leader.

The footage does not show the actual death or wounding of any service member. In one instance, the tape shows a service member milling around a public area. A shot rings out, and the tape fades to black.

Hunter's fury over the video underscores the tightrope often walked by news media in the war. Critics of the war say Americans see very little of the daily violence in Iraq because of television's reluctance to show gory footage. Dangerous conditions also keep journalists from reporting independent of military units that provide them protection.

[marmaven]

Hunter and Rumsfeld are absolutely correct. CNN hates America and everything it stands for. They would rather see and film Americans getting shot than defend the liberties they profess to adore. Journalistic hypocrisy, moral cowardice, and treasonous hatred for the U.S. demands these traitors be removed as embeds in Iraq. Just say NO to CNN! I will NEVER watch another CNN news story again.

[teapotjr]

AS A MARINE CORPS PHOTOGRAPHER FOR 11 YEARS AND A NEWS & TV PHOTOGRAPHER FOR FIVE YEARS I CAN NOT EVEN IMAGINE FILMING OUR ENEMY SHOOTING AT OUR TROOPS, I WOULD HAVE SACRIFICED MY LIFE TO PROTECT THEM FIRST. I UNDERSTAND THAT THESE FILMS WERE SHOT BY THE INSURGENTS BUT TO PUBLISH THEM IS THE SAME AS IF THEY WERE PULLING THE TRIGGER. I DO BELIEVE THEY CALL GIVING ADIE AND ASSISTANCE TO THE ENEMY, 'TREASON', IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH 'FREEDOM OF THE PRESS' AND THOSE DECISION MAKERS NEED TO BE CHARGED AND TRIED FOR TREASON.

[staff2--2008]

"SHAME ON THE MEDIA!! I WOULD CALL THIS CLOSE TO TREASON." Posted by duckydave1
...so you would rather not have a free press?
With what I see on the news it is no wonder the war has no support. Posted by duckydave1
...hey lets not watch the news so we can support the war!!!
ARE YOU EVEN CLOSE TO BEING SANE?

[staff2--2008]

"You can't be on both sides of the war," Hunter said...and yet another brilliant thought from one of our leaders...it's about time that reality was given it's due...what Mr. Hunter wants is a Nazi type of patriotic hype that will put the thrill of victory into the American public...

[giovannipico]

Rep. Hunter is quite right. The First Amendment ensures no pre-emptive censorship but does not guarantee any news agency subsidy by the government.CNN can air whatever it chooses but it clearly does not regard itself as "American" in any sense; rather it thinks itself a citizen of the world. Both in agreeing to publish falsehoods by Saddam in return for access to the Iraqi regime before the war and, now, by airing propaganda, it has forfeited any special right granted to American media.

The real issue is that it allowed the insurgent tape to air purported concern for the safety of innocents whereas the fact is that there has been no such concern and, actually, innocents are targeted. This is the propagation of falsehood and, as such, is propaganda. If CNN wishes to do so, as it has in the past, so be it but embedding CNN with Coalition forces, and having to protect them, is now improper and unnecessary.

[truth832-2009]

Herein lies the problem with the current Republican party controlling the Presidency and both houses.

Can one imagine requiring that only fiction writers report on the Iraq war and then their fiction to be approved by guys like Mr. Hunter!?!

[abbe7]

I fully agree, pakaal ...

"Researchers from the Program on International Policy at the University of Maryland found that those who relied on Fox for their news were more likely than those who relied on any other news source to have what the study called "significant misperceptions" about the war in Iraq"

And now ... what's the best media for educating people ? A study showed it too: The Daily Show.

[abbe7]

I fully agree, pakaal ...

"Researchers from the Program on International Policy at the University of Maryland found that those who relied on Fox for their news were more likely than those who relied on any other news source to have what the study called "significant misperceptions" about the war in Iraq"

And now ... what's the best media for educating people ? A study showed it too: The Daily Show.

[abbe7]

duckydave1. What are you calling the good things ?
The 500,000+ Iraqis they killed ???

Mr Hunter should read the constitution ... there is something called "freedom of the press". Well, what's left of the constitution ...

[duckydave1]

I say remove them all. All they do is report the bad stuff. How many died today!!!! True we need to know this but, what about the good things that are happening is that not news as well. If I need to know who and how many of our soldiers died at least show me what they are accomplishing for these lost lives. Then let me decide if it is worth it. With what I see on the news it is no wonder the war has no support. SHAME ON THE MEDIA!! I WOULD CALL THIS CLOSE TO TREASON.