The Multi National Force Iraq (MNF-I) upholds my rights to keep my credentials, minus the ability to document U.S. Marine operations. I would like to thank all of these senior officials for refusing to make decisions based on unsubstantiated claims.
The Media Hold Harmless Agreement Journalists Sign to Embed:
Please read my contract before posting comments that I have violated any rules. You can download the contract here: Download media_hold_harmless_ground_rules_updated_1feb08.pdf
THE FACTS SURROUNDING THE ANBAR PROVINCE SUICIDE BOMBING POST:
The Marine Corps now makes a claim that I posted the blog before the families had been notified, when in reality I posted nearly three days after the public announcement. They also claim that in the original post a name tag was visible on one of the Marines, which I know to be untrue as I removed the name from the image in Photoshop long before the release of the post.
My dear friend and partner in this blog, Laurel, has been able to produce other documentation for MNF-I which proves that the post was made days after family notification and that the images have not been changed since the initial upload (except for three images of Iraqi casualties that were added this week which do not relate to the controversy).
The military knew I had a blog and Laurel has written since March about the fact that she is the person who taught me how to blog, and has publicly continued her tech support. The blog post was uploaded from Laurel's computer because she has a high speed internet connection, she works as my copy editor. Also, in Anbar dust storms make uploading image files problematic for satellite communications. Laurel started a blog draft of my initial layout in her computer on the evening of the 27th. We worked on copy edits by email on June 30th. Laurel clicked the publish button just after 12 noon EST. This is easily proved to everyone in my blog's RSS feed. We have other proof we've turned over for safe keeping.
30 June, 2008: The Anbar Suicide Bombing entry is posted on this site HERE
1 July, 2008: The U.S. Marine Corps terminated my embed because they claimed I broke a rule by posting images to my blog that depicted killed or injured Marines. By the time they realized that was not actually a rule, I had already been pulled away from my Platoon in Garma/Karmah.
5 July, 2008 The official statement of the Marines was that the reason for terminating my embed was that my images could help the enemy with future attacks on U.S. Marines and soldiers, by showing the damage that the bombing had inflicted. There were no images or information published in this blog that portrayed (or allowed reconstruction of) the aftermath of a suicide blast, that had not been previously covered by news media. Nor did any of my images, or text of the Marines response to the scene jeopardize operational security.
7 July, 2008: An official within the Marine Corps claims that my eye-witness post was made the day after the incident, and that one image had an identifiable name tag in it. I have proof these claims are false. As I stated before, I sent the files to Laurel to upload to TypePad because a dust storm was predicted. Many of you may recall, that was the reason the ceremonies in Anbar Province were delayed. To protect ourselves, we have turned over files of all email correspondence regarding the post to a representative for safe keeping.
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EDIT:
LAUREL: "Zoriah and I agree it that it would have been in poor taste to publish the images just after the families were notified of the deaths, though not against embed rules. We didn't.
I put the photos into the draft page just before midnight on the 27th. We've been able to prove I am telling the truth. Also, look at the post RSS feed to see that the publication to the internet of the Garma/Karmah post was on the 30th. I've been able to prove that in multiple ways and turned the documentation over to someone who could keep it safe. There never were photos with identification marks later swapped out."
TYPEPAD EXPLAINS THE LINK DATE AT THE TOP OF IMAGES
The date at the top link of images in each post is a TypePad file format.
"On Jul 7, 2008 6:48:41 AM, TypePad Customer Support said:
"Hi Laurel,
"We apologize for the delay in our response, and any inconvenience that is has caused. As it's the Holiday weekend we are limited as to what we can do until we open for business on Monday.
"It looks like the issue may lie in the fact that a draft of the post was created. When this happens, any images you insert will be uploaded to a folder, dated the date of upload. This is not an indication of when the image was published on the website, of course, merely when it was uploaded for use in the account."
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The U.S. Marine Corps has been unable to provide any evidence whatsoever to support their claims. MNF-I and the senior public affairs leadership again for upholding my rights to keep my credentials. The ban from covering the Marine Corps is still in place and I am not allowed in any areas controlled by the Marines, or on any of their operations.
There are a few people posting comments on this blog who do not seem to understand what an embedded journalist such as myself actually is. I would like to clarify:
I do not work for the U.S. Military, the Marines, the Department of Defense, or any other government, public, or private organization. I work as a freelance journalist in Iraq under the umbrella of (but not for) a major media organization. This is the standard form of operation for embedded freelance journalists.
Because of the extreme dangers of working in Iraq, it is impossible to for a independent journalist to move freely from place to place without an incredible amount of security and financial resources.
Embedding allows journalists to live with soldiers or Marines and document their lives and their struggles. It also allows interaction, to some degree, with the local population, while remaining somewhat protected. Embedding is not considered ideal to most journalists, but we find ourselves with few choices because it has become so dangerous for us during the past few years of the war. You can easily do a Google search to find out more about the number of killed and injured journalists during this conflict.
Without the option to embed, journalists would have to pay literally thousands of dollars a day for security and transportation. To lose the ability to embed is the equivalent of losing your ability to report from Iraq. This is the reason it is important to fight for the rights of embedded journalists to document freely.
The Media Hold Harmless Agreement
Please read my contract before posting comments that I have violated any rules. You can download the contract here: Download media_hold_harmless_ground_rules_updated_1feb08.pdf
