Congressman: Pull CNN From Iraq Embeds

Rep. Duncan Hunter Chastises Cable Network For Showing Video Of Snipers Firing At U.S. Troops

(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.

[tibu987]

Correction to my previous message.
NOT Hines as shown, but, Californians, vote Congressman Duncan Hunter out of office. Hunter is precisely the type of person we do not want in Washington. One who whitewashes everything to disguise the truth.

[tibu987]

Man, I am getting ticked off at those out-of-touch people in Washington. They had better leave CNN in Iraq to report whatever is happening. We Americans are entitled to the truth and not just what the pols want us to hear. It is precisely the lies, the deceit, the corruption, of the people in Washington that are doing the damage, not the honest reporting of news. The politicians are the ones that are abetting the enemy by using their influence to juggle the news and to manipulate the American public. That is not the "American Way".
Vote the incumbents out, Dems and Repubs.
Vote for term limits when possible.
Let's get rid of these creeps, and soon.
Californians, vote Rep. Hines out of office.

[cruzn66]

Good Heavens, do they really thinks that Americans are so stupid as to believe that our troops "aren't" being fired at????? Just another example of the Republicans hoping to manipulate the media into covering all of the "Good News" coming out of Iraq!!!

[kaliveotin]

The Military is obviously having trouble finding the snipers, maybe CNN was just trying to help.

[pakaal]

Watch Fox? Sadly, yes, I have. But here's a good reason NOT to:

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.

Pollsters asked more than 9,000 Americans about three commonly held canards: that the United States had hard evidence Saddam Hussein had been working closely with al-Qaida; that weapons of mass destruction had been found in Iraq; and that world public opinion was in favor of the U.S.-led war. Overall, 60 percent believed at least one of these fallacies. Eight percent believed all three.

The most commonly held was - unsurprisingly - regarding the Iraq/al-Qaida link. No less than 48% of respondents believed in the non-existent Iraq/Al-Qaeda link. The totals for the other two were in the 20 percent to 25 percent range.

But among those who get their news from Fox, 80 percent had at least one "misperception" and 45 percent - nearly six times the overall average - had all three.

[alphaa10-2009]

janem4 said, "All of you who knock FOX, have you ever watched them? They are not pro-Bush, if you bothered to watch, they have been knocking him for the past 2 years. Also, they do have those from the left, and they don't spit on them like Mathews. They are civil and allow decent discourse. I, for one, do not need to see one of our soldiers killed to bring the war home to me."
--

Franken quotes FOX personality O'Reilly in the full splendor of his appeal and moral argument-- "Shut Up!" And this is civil discourse?

Methinks, Madam, you watch a different network than FOX, which is all too warm and fuzzy to Bush policies, if not to Bush himself. FOX is the video version of what passes for conservative radio, and if Bush has become the magnet for disgrace and inconsistency in his faltering final years, count on FOX to give him as many free passes as it can generate without hearing laughter in the audience track.

On a different note, I am sorry to hear your son is headed to that military and political debacle known as Iraq. Naturally, I sincerely hope he is spared the harm that has come to so many of our soldiers already-- apparently for no purpose except to perpetuate the career of that consumate opportunist and moral weathervane, George Bush.

[jw218389]

They can pull CNN as soon as they rename FOX NEWS' slanted coverage with the name it derserves: GOP TV!

It rhymes and it more accurately names the network.

As far as censorship goes we've been under Bush's thumb since he reinstated the "no flag draped coffins" policy that forbids our "free media" from photographing what really is going on: 2,800 dead Americans.

It's the ultimate insult to our heroic veterans: They die fighting in our armed forces and then Bush makes it seem like nothing happened because no one sees it!!!

SHAME ON BUSH for the mess he has created!

[b4815]

You don't think there would be any pro Bush statements on a left wing idiotic CBS news page do ya?

[webdepot]

So, someone tell me... what is the difference between CNN's video footage (which by the way, is also available on any of a half dozen video sites)and every network in the world showing live coverage of thousands of Americans dying on 9-11.
Was that not terrorists killing Americans also.??
How about every network in the world showing President Kennedy's head being blown apart from an assassin's bullet.. There was no outcry then, because everyone realized it was the news, good bad or otherwise.
No, it's only since the wacko right has been in power that everything should be censored... they don't want to see anything bad, they don't want to hear anything bad, they don't want to know anything bad... Well, fine... keep your heads up your butts and be ignorant... but don't deny those who can still think for themselves the opportunity to see, hear and know the facts so we can make intelligent decisions, like kicking the jerks out of office that got us into this mess.

[firststate]

CNN presented real events, ignoring them doesn't make the events go away. BasilKatz said, "They have won a psychological battle - that they can shoot and kill any American at any time or place because they are that good." I can't say they are good, but they are capable. The people here should be aware of these capabilities and actions. The snipers weren't put there by CNN, but not reporting the sniper attacks doesn't mean they don't happen. Our military personnel are bravely doing their jobs in the face of these attacks. The pictures show the horrors our troops face better than mere words ever could. Instead of sniping at CNN, maybe we should be praying for our military personnel and their families. We might even try to work together to find a way to get them out of Iraq with both the honor and speed that they deserve.