On Thursday, June 26th, I witnessed the immediate aftermath of an Al-Qaeda suicide bomb attack. Several dozen people lost their lives... children, old men, civilians, police, and military men. The scene was horrific beyond words, even for someone like me who has a fairly high threshold for such things.
I found it nearly impossible to look through the viewfinder. What I saw was abhorently graphic, yet far too important for the world to ignore. I present images that provide an uncensored view of a terrible event, and some small measure of dignity to those who lost their lives.
WARNING: The images that follow are very graphic and include images of death.
We are on a patrol in an outlying suburb, or slum area of Fallujah. It has been home to many violent attacks recently. We are searching homes for weapons and information regarding Al Qaeda in Iraq, when a message comes over the radio. “We have one killed in actions (KIA), and two wounded in action (WIA)… stand by.”
The soldiers begin to talk amongst themselves when a commander runs in. “Let's move… NOW! LETS MOVE!!!!”
We grab our gear, throwing on our body armor, Kevlar helmets, gloves, goggles, and other proactive gear as we run out of the house.
© Zoriah/www.zoriah.com All rights reserved. No unauthorized use permitted.
We jog down the street as the soldiers aim their weapons at moving cars, screaming for them to stop.
I have nearly 70lbs. (31kg.) of equipment strapped to my body and, although I am in good physical shape, I feel the heat burning my lungs every time I inhale. We see people running down the street in panic.
© Zoriah/www.zoriah.com All rights reserved. No unauthorized use permitted.
The soldier who is running next to me glances onto the pavement at the same time as I do. There is an ear on the ground. About five feet away, we see a chunk of scalp with hair on a palm sized piece of skull. We look at each other, realizing that we are walking into true madness …and this is just the beginning.
© Zoriah/www.zoriah.com All rights reserved. No unauthorized use permitted.
Turning the corner off the main street towards the entrance to the building we walk into a staging for the dead and watch as Iraqi’s carry the bodies and parts of bodies out of the doors in sheets, often slipping on the blood that is covering the tile stairs.
© Zoriah/www.zoriah.com All rights reserved. No unauthorized use permitted.
When the body bags run out, bed sheets are used to cover and move the bodies.
© Zoriah/www.zoriah.com All rights reserved. No unauthorized use permitted.
© Zoriah/www.zoriah.com All rights reserved. No unauthorized use permitted.
Another dirt parking lot houses growing number of bodies.
© Zoriah/www.zoriah.com All rights reserved. No unauthorized use permitted.
© Zoriah/www.zoriah.com All rights reserved. No unauthorized use permitted.
We walk through the front door of the building and into nightmarish scene. The courtyard is filled with bodies and limbs. An elderly man is sitting dead in a plastic lawn chair directly in the center of the commotion as if asleep during an afternoon nap.
© Zoriah/www.zoriah.com All rights reserved. No unauthorized use permitted.
There are dying people strewn around like limp dolls along with lifeless bodies of all ages. People are screaming and crying running as if they have something important they have to do, only they can’t figure out what that important thing could possibly be. The air smells of burnt flesh and sweat is pouring off of my body. My lungs are still on fire from the run and I have to concentrate to see through the sweat coating my ballistic goggles and dust on my camera’s viewfinder.
© Zoriah/www.zoriah.com All rights reserved. No unauthorized use permitted.
I continue shooting pictures as fast as I can. I know the soldiers do not want me in the building photographing their dead friends. I also know that, in case of a secondary blast, my time to document the scene will be extremely limited. It seems like the building is packed with bodies and people are literally frantic removing the dead, as if their pace may bring some of them back.
© Zoriah/www.zoriah.com All rights reserved. No unauthorized use permitted.
© Zoriah/www.zoriah.com All rights reserved. No unauthorized use permitted.
I turn around and face the courtyard and notice an Iraqi soldier who was obviously in such a state of shock he could barely function.
© Zoriah/www.zoriah.com All rights reserved. No unauthorized use permitted.
I aim my camera one more time to snap a shot of some of the dead American Marines, before being told by one of the soldiers that they are under orders to remove me from the scene.
© Zoriah/www.zoriah.com All rights reserved. No unauthorized use permitted.
They claim it is for my own safety and take me out to one of the armored vehicles. I watch out the window as U.S. soldiers collect body parts from the street and place them in a tarp.
© Zoriah/www.zoriah.com All rights reserved. No unauthorized use permitted.
After a total of not more than five or ten minutes with my camera out, my chance to take photos was gone. Whatever I was able to capture in that chaos will be the only photographic documentation of this event.
© Zoriah/www.zoriah.comAll rights reserved. No unauthorized use permitted.
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Zoriah's Photography Portfolio
THE ATTACK ON JUNE 26th AS REPORTED BY THE NEWS MEDIA:
New York Times: click here
Associated Press: click here
Washington Post: click here
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I am a veteran of the Dominican Republic civil war and of the Vietnam war 1965/66. Have seen these results first hand . Friendly and foe casualties .There is nothing glorious about war but civilians must see what soldiers go through when they are ordered to perform their duties as liberators ,protectors and warriors.
Posted by: Frank J. Luna | July 11, 2008 at 08:48
The majority of you ignorant defeatist have neither the courage to join or the capacity to understand that you will soon be the ones in these pictures if we do not continue the fight against the Islamic Terrorist who by the way are the source of the destruction in these pictures. It is not George Bush planting bombs to blow up innocent Iraqis. We went there to liberate them from a tyranical dictator and did the job. The power vacume that was created brought in the suicidal maniacs (most of whom are brainwashed Jihadist with no education) and funded by Iran or Al Quada. If we do anything but fight to win this war on every front where it exposes the will to fight we are opening the door for it to come into our house Just like 911. Because this Commander in Chief was tired of pacifying and emboldening the terrorist with inaction like Bill Clinton did for 8 years we are now in it to win it. If you don't want to win it then get the F out of my country. You don't deserve any of the freedoms paid for in blood by my fellow Marines and serviceman. Take your left wing education to Venezuala or Cuba or some other commie country that refuses to stand up for itself and take it's freedom and protect it's interests. I only hope that there will be a day when those who are so cowardly and despicable as to be invested in our countries defeat against the evil of Islamic terrorism and to proudly speak out about it will be judged and hanged. You who think your opinions are helpful in saving lives by bringing us home and out of harms way are only short-sighted cowards and bloggers with wanabe harvard mouths. Nobody thinks that war is clean and everybody who's been in that shithole will be forever scared by what we've seen, but that doesn't mean it's the wrong thing to do.And it doesn't help the cause to show the bodies of American who paid the ultimate price. It's the most honorable thing a man can do to lay down his life for your fellow man against an evil enemy that has no reason to live but to oppress others. Now if you don't have the courage or conviction to see what must be done fine, move to France they have a whole country full of guys like you and a Muslim population that will soon over-throw them until we bail their sorry asses out again! But don't ever let me catch you saying your anti American crap out in public or you'll get the beatdown your daddy should've givin you a long time ago. That stuff might fly up north where the liberals have their filthy hands in everything that happens, but try your little so called peace rally down here in the south and you'll get an American fistfull of Shaming that you rightously deserve.
Posted by: Matt | July 11, 2008 at 18:22
Fair enough laurel.
I don't know why you feel a need to reiterate whom I should direct posts at or that you will delete personnel attacks...being that you don't even know what I was posting to begin with.
Best of luck in you moderation.
Posted by: A US Army SGT | July 11, 2008 at 20:39
Zoriah Miller.. I will remember your name forever. It will be engrained in my mind as the name of a traitor and a coward. You are a sick demented man that gains fame from the death and suffering of others.
You say that you have abided by the procedures. Fuck you. I can identify each of the fallen Marines.
You say that you have the support of the lower ranking Marines in 2/3. You are now a liar as well. We dispise you. The opposite is true. You have no support here.
You fucking liberal pig. Live your life in such a shameless denial of morality and your will face the reprocussions of your actions.
And to all those that think this is art... get a life and get a mind that can sort out art from demented trash.
Posted by: Martyn | July 11, 2008 at 22:03
To paraphrase Edward R. Murrow, "A nation of sheep begets a government of wolves."
"The best argument against democracy is to have a five minute conversation with the average voter." - Winston Churchill
Keep on keeping on.
ILLEGITIMI NON CARBORUNDUM
Thank you very much Zoriah.
Posted by: Tabula rosa | July 12, 2008 at 13:29
I listened to you Democracy now this morning. Do not stop the work you do and find a way to get back there. Please.
Posted by: Dan C | July 14, 2008 at 16:31
thank you so much for the work you've done to help bring these images home. i also believe as do many, that if the war were shown as it really is many more would change their tune.
Posted by: TS | July 14, 2008 at 18:29
Thanks for your brave journalism, upholding your right to free speech, and our right to have access to Honest News!
Posted by: Jay | July 14, 2008 at 18:30
Thank you for displaying these very hard to digest images. Hopefully your images and word will spread, so more people will realize how much danger our soldiers are put in every day and how horrific the war really is so we can put an end to it. I hope the military & public see your point of view (only respect by publishing the images) that you are trying to expose the horrors and dangers of what our government has them involved in on a day to day basis. Peace to their families.
Posted by: marie | July 14, 2008 at 18:53
I say thank you for your journlism. I am the mother of a soldier that has been twice in Iraq and is in Afganistan now. Many of my friends have also been in all of the armed forces and my nephews too ( three of them). I thank you for your honesty.
Posted by: karen | July 14, 2008 at 19:49
It is absolutely necessary that these images are available to the public. American taxpayer dollars (billions and billions and billions) are funding this horroric war, against the wishes of the vast majority of Americans. People must see the reality of this awful war. Perhaps then they will be motivated to speak out against it.
We must all be made aware of the realities of war. We are all a part of this.
I have read the interview with Zoriah on DemocracyNow, and it is clear that he did not violate any terms of his embed contract. The military does not want the truth shown. This is the truth.
May God help everyone caught in this horror.
Posted by: msr | July 14, 2008 at 20:21
Of course I support the publishing of these photos. Although the scenes they show us are undeniably tragic, horrible, and disgusting... that is, on some level, the very reason that the photos need to be seen by a larger audience.
Several persons have previously criticized Zoriah, claiming these photos are published just to further his career at the expense of the dead. I strongly disagree. While I sympathize with your moral outrage at the idea that some people might profit from warfare and killing, I urge you to consider the following:
1) If Zoriah's primary goal was to further his career and make more money, he'd become a high-paid fashion photographer, clicking images of sexy models on the beach. Instead, he repeatedly risks his own life, knowingly entering some of the most dangerous areas on the planet. War zones are seldom good places to further one's career. Instead, they're often effective places to prematurely end your career.
2) If you nevertheless persist in your claims that he is merely furthering his career, profiting from the dead, then I hope you will at least have the decency to offer equal or greater criticism to those persons and companies that truly do profit from the dead, furthering their careers and bumping up the profit-margins in their quarterly reports... the people who own the companies that make huge profits from the wars. And don't forget to criticize the men who've never fought in battle, but who sit at their big desks in their plush offices, furthering their careers as they give the orders that cause those deaths to occur in the first place.
To Zoriah, I offer my deepest respect for your courage, and my highest praise for the consistently outstanding quality of your work.
Posted by: Matt Fitt | July 14, 2008 at 20:57
Zoriah,
I truly appreciate your work. I've also been watching youtube videos from Casey Porter and other soldiers who are taking journalism into their own hands. We need more people like you, who follow their heart and expose the TRUTH! Thank you for your efforts. I hope you win.
Posted by: Sara | July 14, 2008 at 23:08
I am just a regular Mom with a regular job, who stives daily to remind my two school age daughters our country is at war. Despite mainstream American media's insistance that entertainment is news, or all is well. We have quit reporting daily how many of our soldiers have been lost today. I sincerly THANK YOU for your willingness to stand bravely in the face of such political pressure to show us what is really happening in the world. Please stand strong and continue to honor those you are embedded with, and those we all have lost. Altho I do not have a member of the military in my family, I feel that all servicemen and women are sacrificing for me and my daughters and I will strive to ensure they remember daily, we owe a debt of gratitude and responsibility to remember daily the sacrifices they are making, including media members who are brave enough to bring the truth to the world.
Posted by: G Alias | July 15, 2008 at 00:05
It takes courage to show these pictures and it is important for us all to see what horror the US has brought to another country. Somehow people forgot the horrors of Vietnam, the cruelty you brought. Which country will be next? Venezuela maybe? or maybe my small country.
Posted by: michael savon | July 15, 2008 at 01:47
Thanks for taking these photos and posting them. If the US military command has a problem with it they can go fuck themselves. They have no business sending Americans into this country.
Posted by: sloover | July 15, 2008 at 04:12
First off, God Bless you and all those there.
It boils my blood to think of the shameless cowardly violent acts committed in the name of justice, money, revenge, religion, or politics.
Keep up the good work. I really do believe showing some images, if not even American casualties, of real people being killed or injured would *shock* society into something ... perhaps nothing ... but we could no longer live ignorance like most Americans do regarding the hardships and horrors going on in other less fortunate countries.
Posted by: mediaguy | July 15, 2008 at 05:02
The importance of Zoriah's work is captured in the last sentence of his post:
Whatever I was able to capture in that chaos will be the only photographic documentation of this event.
Without those images, this would have been just another 30 second story read by a perfectly coifed news reader sitting in an air conditioned studio. Information would be communicated, but not the important information: real humans are being destroyed in scenes of horrific mayhem. To stop this madness, people need to see it.
I grew up watching the Vietnam war on television. Although those images were mild compared to what the people on the ground were seeing, they were enough to motivate citizens to take action. Please do not forget that civilians in the United States died to end that war.
If the people in the United States had been allowed to witness the horrors this administration unleashed, Bush would not be president today and we would have been out of Iraq years ago.
Thank you Zoriah for the important work you are doing.
Posted by: RichT | July 15, 2008 at 05:13
I saw you on Democracy Now this morning, great work.
It's incredible how emotions can run so high online, yet we Americans, as a citizenry overall, remain so silent in our streets and in the halls of our congress.
Americans know so little of the war, death, suffering, and destruction we've caused around the world--from our 'interventions' across South America, to the years of sanctions on the Iraqi people only to be topped off with the current invasion and pillaging of their land and resources.
We are so quick to deride others for whatever faults our info-tainment 'media' cooks up for them, but never do we turn that critical eye towards ourselves.
I applaud your courage for posting these, an independent media is essential to democracy, and as anyone who follows 'real' news knows, American media is long gone. But I fear it will take much more to rekindle the peoples' awareness here.
Posted by: joe | July 15, 2008 at 17:01
I think you're a fucking prick for daring to post some of the pictures you did. I know you only caught one or two photos of the dead marines there but think of their god damn families you twat. You've got balls I'll give you that, but you better pray that I don't run into you once more.
Posted by: John Smith | July 15, 2008 at 22:14
Should this horror ever happen to anyone in my family, please take and post the photos. We should have to look at what we do.
Posted by: katalina | July 15, 2008 at 23:38
I visited your site after watching your interview on Democracy Now. With many tears in our eyes and ache in our heart, my husband and I took in the truth of our world tonight. I come from a large military family and have family serving in Iraq now, and I want to praise your courage. The courage to leave the comfort of home to witness and document the tragedy of war and the courage to be attacked for doing so. My prayer is that more and more people in our country are able to take in these images.
Posted by: Amy Johnson | July 16, 2008 at 07:25
These are images the world needed to see. People tend to forget about what exactly photojournalism is about, documenting events through pictures. Do you think a journalist would have been any less descriptive of this event in his writing? hardly.. I wonder was there the same outrage when Robert Capa published those images of dead marines on Omaha beach during WWII?? The US Marines are wrong to dis-embed Zoriah for these series of images, but it doesn't surprise me, it's they'd do to send a message to other embedded journalist/photojournalists.. Unfortunately Zoriah you had the balls to do it and therefore was used as the guinea pig! In saying all that, still, Fantastic piece of photojournalism..
Posted by: Alan Cotter | July 16, 2008 at 22:43
This bombing of Iraqi civilians and forces should not be happening, perfection not possible but not happening as often, since we have been told "the coalition forces have won, we've defeated Saddam, by our president!" I say this because according to testimony given to congress or senators dont recall which, (only 3-4 or so, of them attended), by Winter Soldier veterans of this current war, higher officials should of implemented the "Zodiac" a program that identifies any and all questionable people already identified as potential trouble from border ceossings in and out of Iraq.
That information to our soldiers and other forces send the signal that US and coalition leaders do not want peace and thwart the possibility of closure of this occupation for the people of Iraq and American forces and coalition. If our country has so many devices, arms, and technology, programs etc etc then they could of have implemented the Zodiac to prevent hostile people from coming in to do these horrible acts. I realize there are many ways to come into a country but that is one less if the job would of have been done right, with all the money it took to pay for it otherwise why did our leaders buy it.
I thank the US soldiers and coalition forces for still doing their job despite the contradictions in the mangement of this war. I ask the forgiveness of the Iraqi people for this prolonged occupation and Zoriah I thank you for putting images to this war no media gives 60 seconds in true reporting to what is happenning, photos are not fun to watch but they are the reality of our time,saddly I say. If many disagree with with you, Zoriah, well then we need to flood our leaders with letters telling them so, and stop giving you a hard time.
Posted by: Clara | July 16, 2008 at 23:54
I was there. It was my decision to put you in an MRAP, before I spoke with higher headquarters. If you reported what actually happened instead of grandstanding, you would relate to your readers, that I had you put in in a vehicle until I was sure that there would be no further attacks, and then I allowed you to move around the site.
I didn't let you take more photos while I waited for guidance because the men there were my friends. It's not about hiding the war - it's about you making a spectacle of the maimed bodies of my friends and no one else could protect them from such sensational trivialization. The suicide bomber took their lives and you were taking their dignity. There were GOOD men there: good fathers, good sons, good leaders of their' communities, selfless men who did the right thing because it was the right thing. You were in the process of exploiting those men for your own benefit. There is no honor in one who exploits dead men, and relatively little courage.
The events of that day aren't a daily occurrence. That's why I had the opportunity to know those men and become friends with them. That's why you were stopped. Nobody treats my friends that way.
Posted by: JC | July 17, 2008 at 19:26
I just saw your interview on Democracy Now on July 14, and was very impressed by your candor and courage. Thank you for your honesty. This is the best way to honor the dead than was has been the status quo. I personally appreciate what you are doing and wish you all the best.
Posted by: Marie | July 17, 2008 at 21:30
YOU ARE LUCKY YOU WERE JUST S**T CANNED. IN MY MARINE CORPS, SOMEONE WOULD HAVE STUFFED A GRENADE IN YOUR SHORTS.
Posted by: KEEL | July 18, 2008 at 02:05
I spent 30 years as a firefighter in SoCal and saw scenes such as this as part of my job quite often. If one would use such images to further their anti-war agenda, then be standup and use the same images every day on the front pages of newspapers showing the real effects of daily auto accidents and gang banger episodes. Yes war is gruesome, but it is no more gruesome than what is occurring on a daily basis on the roads and highways of America and in the ghettos on barrios. Want everyone to see that also, or is it just the casualties of war that are unacceptable? Real life isn't pretty and you are no paragon of integrity for using it's more gruesome aspects to promote yourself and your political agenda.
Posted by: Ron Hamric | July 18, 2008 at 06:26
Thank you for posting these photos and for documenting the true horror of war. So much of the media coverage is sanitized, and I believe that this sanitized view undercuts the formation of, and any sustained interest in, a measurable anti-war movement. With all of our "economic woes" back here in the states, so many people have focused on the financial cost of the war and have forgotten the true cost - human life (Iraqi AND American).
Posted by: HM2Vet | July 18, 2008 at 06:59
what will you say when you cross over to the other side george bush you are responsible for 100.000's of lives that have died on your orders i hate to be you george bush i pray you live a long psysical life because when u die is when you have to confont all those you have killed ask your dad life does continue after physical death
Posted by: nick mitsoulis | July 18, 2008 at 07:16
Every single person who votes to keep funding his war, or send more troops, or extend the timeframe for withdrawl from Iraq should be made to sit down and study a book of photos such as these. Then they should ask themselves if they are comfortable with their children being the future subject of such a photo, because if the US continues it's present course there will be many more photos like this to be taken. Great job Zoriah in capturing the true pain of the war, and countering the staged art that the US government wants us to believe is reality. God blees every soldier who risks his/her life daily doing a job that doesn't need to be done.
Posted by: John Foster | July 18, 2008 at 14:22
We that were/are in the Military have plenty of these types of pictures...yet we never published them, whether they be friendlies or enemy. I'm very glad you got fired from that unit and I'm sure those Marine's parents are happy to one day come across these photos of thier son's head ripped apart. Good job bro...way to go. I hope you know they are posted on Al Qaeda websites as well signifying a victory over the U.S. Congrats, again.
Posted by: Concerned Citizen | July 18, 2008 at 20:30
Thank you for your compassionate journalism. Your pictures of the fallen bring them honor-- that we may know how great their sacrifice, and remember their families during this time. There may be some who find the sight of a fallen Marine disrespectful or inappropriate-- I find it deeply touching, disturbing, and at the same time powerfully patriotic. It is not an admission of defeat, but rather a reminder of the reality of war for those of us, like myself, who have not seen war first hand. Your pictures are beautiful and artistic, and I find this to be a blessing rather than a flaw-- the surreal edge to the pictures keeps it focused on the emotion of the event. These pictures of our Marines are not identifiable, were not posted in violation of any agreement, and were posted well after family had been notified. You clearly did an honorable and respectful job.
Thank you for your courage in telling us the story of these brave Marines. We must remember.
Posted by: Christy | July 19, 2008 at 00:28
Something more I thought of to add after reading several more comments from people claiming to be Marines or in the military:
It is so easy for people like myself, who are not sure if we are supportive of the war or not, to think of our military as "occupying troops." Up until now, when I thought of our military, my memory was filled with pictures of Abu Ghraib-- images of our military as the oppressor and torturer, rather than the defender or protector. When I met someone who said they were in the military, my first reaction had been mistrust and suspicion. Now, after having the reality of what our military face in Iraq brought sharply into focus by these pictures, I'm more likely to look upon someone in the military with respect and honor, to more greatly appreciate their service and sacrifice, and think of them as risking their lives for what they believe to be a good cause. I just can't imagine why any military person would stop these images from being shared with the public in a respectful way-- it seems counterintuitive.
And to those who were there who stopped this man from taking his pictures to document the tremendous sacrifice of our military, YOU are the cowards. You put yourselves, your own feelings of being vulnerable and mortal, above your fallen Marines, whose lives and sacrifice are preserved and documented by these photos.
Posted by: Christy | July 19, 2008 at 00:39
ur a real piece of work i remember seeing u there at the building walking around taking shots, .. u do that for S.S.E., not for the public to view and for some people entertainment. That shit was sometyhing i hoped no1 else would ever have to see and u go and post it up on the internet.. u suck, yeah, photo guy how do u do it?? take pic's of dead marines and post em up, i bet u didnt have to carry them bodies though did ya?..., no u didnt cause i was there and i saw ur ass.... good job shit head
Posted by: Vasselian | July 21, 2008 at 12:27
If there is a hell after this life, may Bush and Cheney and Company burn in it for all eternity.
Posted by: Matthew/Boston | July 22, 2008 at 00:00
I can't believe you think it's right to post this s***. You should be banned from photography forever... you heartless thing. shouldnt even be called human
Posted by: Brian | July 22, 2008 at 17:46
That's sad. It actually made me a little sick to my stomach. I am greatful for our soldiers fighting over there for us. But at this point, you have to ask yourself, what are we fighting for?
I really just wish everything was peaceful, although that's naive and probably never will be again.
I also wish our soldiers could come home, but that'll probably never happen either.
Posted by: Kat J | July 23, 2008 at 16:20
Today I came across another blog that puts the reason for these images in perspective. The post, titled "Images That Changed The World" ...
http://tigertouch.spaces.live.com/Blog/cns!32F1F04C6505EFCE!196.entry
...includes classic historical photos of a 1930 lynching picnic, dead American soldiers on a beach in New Guinea (1943), a victim of the Kent State massacre (1970), a 13-year-old girl trapped by a Columbia flood (1985), and a man falling to his death from the Twin Towers in 2001. These photos sum up and communicate a historical and emotionally charged event, convey a message beyond words, and document the state of the world at that frozen moment in time. And that is why Zoriah's work is important, and why these photos need to be published.
Posted by: JKinLBC | July 24, 2008 at 00:37
As an Australian I support you in you decision to print these photos on the Web the whole World needs to know.
Posted by: John Iurincich | July 26, 2008 at 06:51
Thank you for showing these images of carnage suffered at the battlefront in Iraq. I admire your selfless courage and struggle to reveal the truth against US instructions not to do so.
America is a very blunt instrument on the world stage of military power. Beneath a cloak of psuedo religion and paper thin veiled threat and posture, she blunders across the boundaries and borders of common decency. This world power is bankrupt in terms of lovability. Not only in terms of affection is she bankrupt, but in fiscal terms she is also bankrupt.
The question of America's lovability is outside the limits of crediblity. Ask any of her pensioners in six months time. Ask an Afgahn civilian. Ask a war veteran of vietnam. Ask a child of the future.
Posted by: Tamaharg | July 26, 2008 at 07:26
This disgusts me. How enraged I am to see the pictures of my Battalion Commander and Company Commander on your blog. And you bitch about censorship. How dare you. Lt Col Galeai has four children and a widow who will see this. There is no need for this filth. You have the nerve to call yourself a 'humanitarian' photographer. 23 men were killed, their families destroyed, yet your focus is on censorship, how selfish is that? Have you no compassion for the family members of the dead? Iraq or American, insurgent or not, no one deserves to see their family members like that. These two men were like fathers to me.
Where is the decency to the families? You say they are not "easily identifiable" and are "within the rules" but what happened to personal judgement? I heard that you had to have security around you while still in Anbar to avoid the Marines from hurting you. I'm amazed you made it that far. Was that false rage? Did they not have reason to be angry with you? Just because the reality of war is so terrible doesn't mean you need to shove it in the face of peaceful American families so they can have an 'understanding'. I for one fought in both wars to keep that kind of filth away from my family.
Freedom is not free. It is payed for in blood, whether it be on our own soil or not. How dare you take advantage of that freedom to desecrate the memory of these men. What have you sacrificed? These Marines fight for principles of humanity. Not for oil, not for money, or for politics, but for basic human rights that all people round the world have an inherent right to have.
I cannot tell you how I feel right now. There are no words to describe it.
Posted by: Sgt Perna USMC | July 26, 2008 at 10:22
I would like it a matter of public record that if I am to die in a public place, I do not want any "respect" for my life in terms of hiding my death away. If someone wishes to take photographs of the scene, they should not feel that there is some moral obligation to avoid photographing my corpse as a part of it.
Respect, to me, is honesty. I don't see any evidence that your photographs are dishonest. Forbidding photographs on moral grounds is a much greater lack of respect, in my opinion.
Posted by: sylvia | July 26, 2008 at 15:30
Be proud of your work for your lens is the eye of the world in places where others dare not tread. Your images are stepping stones to awareness and each time you press your shutter you are helping the world change for the better. God be with you.
Posted by: Steve Linbeck (U.K) | July 26, 2008 at 18:02
Fabulous. After spending two years as a a photojournalist for a major newspaper in Iraq, I am glad he gets these bits of truth out into the public..
Posted by: lg francis | July 26, 2008 at 18:11
It's about time the american public see what real war is, as it not all rosy hollywood ending stories that they are accustomed to.
Journalism is responsible for reporting , beauty pageant or wars, there should be no limitations, the limitations rests upon the individual only, which makes then the journalist that they are, and you sir are a reporting journalist
My 5 cents worth
Posted by: sonny | July 26, 2008 at 19:54
My son is a Marine with E co. 2 Bat. 3rd MAR. He was there that day and I'm thankful first he is alive. Secondly thank you for showing me what he has witnessed and for what you,ve written about that day so that I may better talk to him when he returns home next month.
Posted by: marine's father | July 26, 2008 at 20:15
The world needs to see and be reminded that there is a war going on. War mongers who want to hide their eyes and the rest of the world's eyes from photos like these are simply COWARDS who love war but don't want to see the grim realities of the war.
Shame on them.
Posted by: RK | July 26, 2008 at 22:53
I still have a bad taste in my mouth. You stayed at the Marine base. You ate their food, slept on their racks, and depended on them for security. How would you feel if you took a stranger in your home, took care of them, fed them, and then, in a moment of tragedy, they turned on you. Rather than set your camera down and help the scores of wounded, you would rather take pictures. Which boils down to getting paid.
To everyone who says it's about time America sees what real war is, where are the humanitarian missions? Where are the medcaps? Where are the free clinics? Where are the thousands of new schools open since the war started? That is also a part of the real war. There had not been one violent incident in 2/3's AO until this suicide bombing. Where is the coverage of that?
Nowhere. Because those pictures and stories don't get sick pricks like Zoriah paid.
Posted by: Sgt Perna USMC | July 27, 2008 at 00:02
Ain't war hell?
Get some!
Posted by: Mars | July 27, 2008 at 16:30
you are a waste of skin. go directly to your maker...do not pass go. you are an embarrassment to the human race. have a nice day!
Posted by: abdul miohhamad djingla | July 27, 2008 at 17:19
You are a disgrace! While it may take some "courage" to simply be in a war zone, it is not courageous at all to take and post photographs of dead Marines that give valuable information to our enemy!
Secondly, anyone with half a brain knows that war is hell, war is ugly, death is ugly. We don't need to be reminded of it. If anything, it should be treated with respect. These men have given their lives for others, for their country, and for the protection of people they don't even know, the Iraqi's. That is courageous! These men should be given our utmost respect!
You, on the other hand, have an agenda. You feed off the ignorance of those who simply don't understand. You feed the fires of dissent within our own country.
No one likes war, no one pursues war. Wars are sometimes necessary. And when we are in a war, no matter if you think we should be there or not, everyone knows it is vital that we go into a war to win it. Everyone knows that people within our country, if you call yourself an American, that you do not do things that help our enemies. This is common sense that even a child can understand.
You are disgusting. You are a disgrace. I wish you no luck at all in your endeavours and your efforts to be re-established as a photo journalist in the war. Why don't you take a moment to reflect on the freedoms and the lifestyle you are enjoying in America and ask yourself what would you do to protect it. If the answer is nothing, than I hope you are on the plane and leaving for good.
Posted by: Michael | July 27, 2008 at 17:44
The sentiments of those criticizing the military for opposition to these photos are naive and misplaced. The violence depicted is the work of al Qaeda, yet the US government and US leaders are the object of criticism from those who hate America.
Where were you when Saddam's regime ruled by barbaric violence? Do you find the beheading of Nicholas Berg acceptable? How would you prevent future occurrences?
What are your constructive ideas regarding how to deal with the situation created by radical Muslims? Talking does not work unless the radicals are willing to listen and some incentive is offered for them to stop their hate and violence.
If you favor talk, please enlighten us on what you would say and how you would appeal to the radicals to live in peace and harmony with the world. Short of that, you have nothing to offer.
Posted by: Avanti | July 27, 2008 at 17:54
The sentiments of those criticizing the military for opposition to these photos are naive and misplaced. The violence depicted is the work of al Qaeda, yet the US government and US leaders are the object of criticism from those who hate America.
Where were you when Saddam's regime ruled by barbaric violence? Do you find the beheading of Nicholas Berg acceptable? How would you prevent future occurrences?
What are your constructive ideas regarding how to deal with the situation created by radical Muslims? Talking does not work unless the radicals are willing to listen and some incentive is offered for them to stop their hate and violence.
If you favor talk, please enlighten us on what you would say and how you would appeal to the radicals to live in peace and harmony with the world. Short of that, you have nothing to offer.
Posted by: Avanti | July 27, 2008 at 17:55
You've obviously published these to further your own agenda, and not for any nebulous "public's right to know". As the father of a soldier recently wounded in Iraq, I find your treatment of our dead highly offensive. The military was certainly right to remove you. Shame on you.
Posted by: John C. Sayre MD | July 27, 2008 at 18:08
I do not understand how documenting the tragedy of these deaths somehow cheapens the lives, accomplishments, and ultimate sacrifices of these soldiers.
I strongly believe that if Americans knew what dead American soldiers looked like, we would be less likely to allow them to be spent so cheaply.
Thank you.
Posted by: Cole | July 27, 2008 at 18:17
The Word for this Blog page is simply Morbid, Sick, and sickening ....
.
The people who praise your work here need to seek psychological counseling .
.
The phony Peace leftists and myopic Bush bashers who use your materials to further their agenda to propagandize, forget that people who really are aware already know this is just the work of our sworn enemies , and we know this is exactly what they are capable of ,and we know that this is what they plan for us all in every scenario and plan that they lay.
You and others here erroneously percieve that we should view this material as some type of fact finding mission, a learning experience for all Americans and the world as a whole .
You really believe that we should treat this as just another attrocitie attributal to the actions of the current U.S. Administration, while in reality this is nothing more than the well known scope of inhuman enemy beasts the type of which we have dealt with in the past and of which we will soon have to deal with again in the future when we simply turn away from them , and give in to the pop culture false apathy, and falsely blame ourselves for their lagrigious acts of evil and it's every occasion placed upon us willfully by them.
I implore you to show respect for the dead Americans and Iraqis who bravely stood up for our democratic rights to differ against a warmongering group of inhuman religious radicals ,while these photos hold no real valid point of public information, they only serve to defile the memory and deaths of the innocent people and our servicemen involved.
.
You are pandering to the horror crowd , and are abusing the nature surrounding the untimely deaths of good people who serve the ideals of fairness and justice, by exploiting their deaths for your own journalistic, political, and financial gain , and for this mr. Miller.....you and all who support this kind of morbid demonstration will answer to God or maybe even worse, your own Karmas .
Posted by: J Cline | July 27, 2008 at 18:43
I hope you paid the families of these soldiers for using pictures of their dead children!
Posted by: Marion | July 27, 2008 at 20:37
What ever happened to honor?
Zoriah had an agreement and the Marines took him at his word and allowed them into their unit. He FREELY entered into this agreement and he then FREELY violated it.
As men of honor, Marines will honor him, until proven otherwise. And its not just the Marines - but the families of ALL the people killed there - who Zoriah shamed. He has not soiled his own reputation.
Those who agree with him are soiled by association.
Shame on you all. Shame on you.
Posted by: Austin | July 27, 2008 at 22:25
Zoriah, just think of this....what if...that was your child, brother, father, friend that you plastered dead all over the internet for everyone to see.
You are not a hero,you're an idiot. You know what makes me more angry than anything....when you do get your tale shot off, one of our Docs will have to take the time to try and patch your ass up. Don't think for one minute what you do is art. You are not doing anyone favors taking pictures of dead people.
This isn't censorship, this is compassion for those families that have to live with this war day in and day out. Stay home and stay away from our true heros. Our soldiers. Go crawl under the rock that you came out of, you have no compassion or morals.
Posted by: Joe, GI | July 28, 2008 at 00:15
These photos serve no purpose except to allow the photographer to gain some notoriety.
American's know what is involved in war, we know there's death and suffering, thus there is no need to publish the gory pictures; unless of course your trying to cash in!
Posted by: LibLoather | July 28, 2008 at 03:01
Thanks for revealing the unspeakable horror of war to us uninformed rubes. If you didn't reveal these grisly truths we would remain ignorant. You are sooo sensitive to raise our inferior troglodyte consciousnesses to your subtle superior evolved level. I never knew that human bodies got torn to pieces in combat. Wow. Is this a strange new phenomena? How about the classic shot of Father Judge dead in a rescue chair on 9/11/01 at Ground Zero? The framing and imagery had a sublime surreal shocking corpselike beauty to it bordering playfully on the homoerotic! Was that yours? Or the great action grab-shots of the WTC jumpers falling to their doom?
Anybody that praises your strange images as 'art' is off their meds.
You exhibit the cold hubris of a zero empathy narcissist. You deserve a Pulitzer Prize for weird creepiness. Images of the dead are sacred and are none of your or our business. One of the most disturbed haunted lunatics I ever met, was a freelancer for Black Star out of Nam in '68. You are now cursed! How ya' sleepin'?
Perhaps one of those dead Marines was my friend's nephew or the kid I hired last summer. You have done his family and the country you despise a courageous service for your shocking truths. How revelatory!
Nobody needs reminding of the butchery of war. The magnificent USMC war tribe now hates your weenie guts and pities you...you cleverly scammed them! But you got the shots! Cool man! So typical of your snotty ilk. How dare you dictate 'reality' to us. We get it. Ooorah Zoorah!
Posted by: Ranger Joe | July 28, 2008 at 05:22
I'm almost 66 years old, and clearly remember the pictures of not only WWII where my father fought (and all my uncles as well), but the Viet Nam war and Korea.
I can tell you this is the type of journalism that might have made a difference in keeping Bush from being elected a 2nd time.
It would encourage our country's citizens to become more active in making sure this war was never allowed to last as long as it has, and it would have shown just how ugly it is to invade and attack a country just to control the oil resource.
This is genocide - this is ugly, and our nationa started it. Sickening isn't it...........
Posted by: Diane | July 28, 2008 at 12:08
Welcome home A-hole!
You got what you deserve, well actually you deserve a lot worse.
Cheers!
Posted by: bigjim-ky | July 28, 2008 at 18:27
To all the liberals and cowards who sit safely in their houses and cast stones, you will never understand until the wolf is at your door, and then it will be too late. You dishonor our heroes and call it courage. Shame on you and on your houses. John Stuart Mill said it best:
War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself.
The men who died here and who on display in this grotesque menagerie of on this site are all better men than you.
Posted by: Shotgun Joe | July 28, 2008 at 19:02
These pictures are in the honorable tradition of great war photographers. The uproar of their publication stems from the deep seated belief in the military that Viet Nam was lost because media coverage caused the American public to stab the invincible and glorious Army in the back.
Rumsfeld's prohibitions on publicity, generated by Generals from Ludendorff to Powell to Petraeus, remain in place today.
It allows politicians like McCain to call the horrifically documented carnage in Fallujah
Victory.
Posted by: BurningFeet | July 28, 2008 at 22:59
These are extremely important photos and showing them to the world was the right thing thing to do.
Viet Nam taught the military that nightly news reporting of war changes the balance, and creates disgust and a sense of outrage.
The military as managers of visual images in a war zone is an absurd idea in a free and democratic world. (Didn't bush say this war was the spread of democracy?)
One important element being overlooked is the draft. Were these soldiers in Iraq the product of small town America draft boards, rather than "volunteers" and the National Guard, the outcry would have stopped this insane war before bush and cheney were able to lie their way into it...and drag the world with them.
Posted by: BlueMindRedState | July 28, 2008 at 23:59
Even more disturbing than the death and mutilation of war is the attempt by the powers that be to put a pretty bow on it, and say everything is okay.
Our brave soldiers deserve accolades no doubt, but photojournalists who risk life and limb to tell the rest of us the truth by carrying a camera and not a gun are truly, TRULY heros in my book.
Posted by: taylor Siluwe | July 29, 2008 at 02:05
Thank you Zoriah, so much for your courage and compassion in taking and most of all showing your work. I believe it is vital for people to see what happens in war so as to understand its repercussions.
I suggest anyone who feels anger, disgust or outrage for these images, takes those emotions and that energy and directs it towards those who are waging this war.
It is my opinion that these images show the utmost respect for the soldiers who died and their families, because it illustrates how awful and tragic and most of all senseless war is.
This is what they, the soldiers and the civilians went through and continue to go through "for us" and "democracy" we do not have to get dirty, yet we cannot stomach seeing the reality of what is happening?
Would it be better if the world were blind to these horrors so that when the soldiers come home they can suffer alone with the memories of what they have lived through and the friends they have lost? While the rest of the world lives on as if nothing has happened?
Is it better that we don't get bothered with pictures of innocent children whose lives have been shattered?
It is an outrage and a negation of the very principals we are supposedly fighting for, to prohibit the taking and showing of such images. That is not democracy!
If you don't like what you see, look some more and try to change it, don't shut your eyes and don't try to shut others. Whether we like it or not its happening and by not being against it we are actually supporting it.
Posted by: gabriella | July 29, 2008 at 06:21
Sorry, when you sign up as a soldier to fight this unjust war of terror in Iraq you give up some of your rights to privacy of your body parts after you get killed. The US military is aiding the oil companies in westernizing a non-western country, in furthering a conflict that has killed more people and created more social chaos than the original Saddam Hussein dictatorship ... and we are supposed to grant these people respect???? EVERY US SOLDIER KNOWS WHAT HE/SHE IS GETTING INTO WHEN SIGNING UP FOR THIS WAR. If you don't want the image of your blown up body being circulated on the net, then don't sponsor yourself to that position. His/her family members aren't necessarily a part of this, and that is why these images should not display any identifying features. These soldiers are not innocent kids, they are part of an unjust occupation.
Posted by: mudmucker | July 29, 2008 at 09:16
Great work and very thoughtful comment thread. I'm glad most of the people on it respect and welcome your work.
I find it interesting that the few dissenters have the grammatical skills of 9 year-olds (JMarra?! - does God find spell check offensive?) or are indoctrinated soldiers maintaining the party line. I thank the latter for their service, and I wish them all a successful return into society from the hallucinations currently forced upon them.
Posted by: Mike | July 30, 2008 at 20:12
Now here are photos that deserve to make the front pages of newspapers country wide. Every time a Hawaii soldier is killed in Iraq, our newspapers print a "happy" image of the soldier when he was alive and well. It is incredibly misleading. Thanks for your work - it is eye opening and I wish our newspapers would print photos like yours.
Posted by: UB | July 30, 2008 at 23:33
u're the best! don't stop fighting for truth
u big hug
mau
Posted by: maurizio cimino | July 31, 2008 at 12:54
don't forget that american army have nothing to do in Irak, they just came to stole the oil, for this price the pay with their blood. The blood of poor marines of course...not the blood of the politicals responsables of this dramatic situation. The civil population is a colateral victim of this stupid war...and the world continues to turn
bravo for your interesting information !
Posted by: oncle gab | July 31, 2008 at 13:32
i'm crying.
Posted by: david | July 31, 2008 at 22:31
I came across your site, during my searches for my relative who died in Anbar, Iraq. Yes, he was the BC for 2/3. I've read thru all these posts about, we need to show America or the world what it looks like during an aftermath of a bomb, whats this what the war is doing to Americans, and the people of Iraq..Im sure we all know what the scene will look like after a bomb right?????.. I already had it in my mind what my cousing must of looked like or his comrades must of looked like or who ever that was in that area must of looked like after the bomb......what a shame.
All I can say, is that Im glad when looking at those photos, I know its a Marine Uniform, that I did not recognize my relative nor his comrades. May they rest in peace and may all of those who died that day rest in peace. Im sure God has a better plan for all who died that day.
Posted by: Cousin | August 01, 2008 at 06:01
This is just awful. We all know 3 Marines died that day and the photos you posted are of Marines. Doesnt matter weather I could see his face or not... One of them was my brother...
You should be ashamed of yourself....Im sure we all know and what it looks like out there in theater....do you really have to show the world as if its going to change anything at all....
Posted by: Sister | August 01, 2008 at 06:08
Your work is truly amazing. Thank you for keeping our eyes and minds open, even when we don't want to.
Posted by: David | August 01, 2008 at 11:32
The truth is always the first victim of a war... Than'k you for this real version of what is a war and may history be gracefull for the politics responsibles of all the mess we have now in Irak, Palestine, Iran, Colombia, San Salvador... So many places where US "defends" their own economy without any interes in the lifes of their own young people and of course even less for the local ones.
Posted by: Vincent | August 01, 2008 at 18:37
et oui les voici ces photos désagréable a voir mr bush il faut aussi voir l'envers du décor n'est ce pas et si ce n'est pas ce photographe qui le fera vous????
Posted by: capaert serge | August 01, 2008 at 21:01
Images like this are a whip to the face of the liars that perpetrated the Iraq travesty.
Posted by: moondancer | August 03, 2008 at 18:06
thank you.
Posted by: kg | August 03, 2008 at 18:49
@JMarra,
According to the interview by NPR's On The Media (good interview btw...check it out!) Mr. Miller followed the agreement and did not post these images until after the families were notified of their loss.
The marines threw out many statements claiming Mr. Miller violated the agreement, but did not provide any evidence. If you have evidence to the contrary you need to make it public instead of posting a mere rant.
Posted by: NeverForget | August 03, 2008 at 19:39
Ever heard of MICHAEL YON?
Check out his approach to combat photography. This is how you show the truth and not have Marines wanting to kill you.
http://www.michaelyon-online.com/
Look I know it had to be a tough call to post or not.
You should have sat on the shots a bit longer, 10 years or so.
If you had waited you could still be in Iraq revealing the truth, now you will miss out on Afghanistan II as well.
I think people know war sucks and there is no shortage of dead folks online for folks to see, frankly the shots were just not iconic enough to justify publication, it just did not add enough to the conversation to justify torching your relationship with the Marines.
We all know what Marines do. They Fight, Kill and Die.
For the next generation:
If you are an aspiring photojournalist look through this site but visit Yon as well:
http://www.michaelyon-online.com/
Posted by: barry in NewYork | August 03, 2008 at 22:51
I think we all understand that technically he didn't violate the contract.
To me that is rather beside the point, the world doesn't always function so cut and dried. He violated a trust among warriors, anyway bad decision.
It is revealing that they did not simply take away his memory card, I guess at that point they figured he would do the right thing.
Oh well, he's gone now.
Posted by: barry in NewYork | August 03, 2008 at 23:02
I heard your interview on NPR this afternoon. I've recently returned from Iraq; I was at Al Asad, Fallujah, Ramadi & worked as a civilian. I supported the Human Resources function of KBR. After working there, I have no doubts about the pressure(s) you faced regarding these photo's. I don't know if I would have been able to respond the way you did. Nice job & great work. keep it up.
Posted by: dw | August 04, 2008 at 01:05
Thank you, Zoriah, for having the courage and vision to photograph and document the deaths of these people.
Silence is the voice of complicity.
Posted by: pam farrell | August 04, 2008 at 03:23
Thank you, Zoriah. For the truth in your journalistic endeavors and for the photographs that truly expose the reality of war. Always horrific, never beneficial, and totally unbiased with respect to its victims and casualties. 'When will we ever learn?'... !Viva la paz!
pm, Morgan Hill, CA USA
Posted by: Peggy Meng | August 04, 2008 at 10:56
These soldiers are supposedly dieing for freedom....but you're not free to show them.
Doesn't freedom mean you're free to chose whether you want to look at them or not? Free to decide for yourself?
Photojournalism at its absolute best.
Posted by: alexander | August 04, 2008 at 19:22
Zoriah,
You need to be re-embedded, put in a hotspot in Afghanistan with the marines.
Then they need to put you on a weak flank fade back and abandon the position.
Then maybe you could get some real nice pictures of the guys that cut you head off.
If they get your camera back hopefully the nice guys that did you took some pictures that could be posted to this blog.
But there is no justice so it will never happen.
Posted by: John X-Mil | August 04, 2008 at 20:30
Poor Judgement to post these photos. You fully intended to use the deaths for your own agenda. Ironic you have the right paid for by the very servicemen whose blood you use for propaganda. I see nothing heroic or brave dissrespecting those great marines. perhaps if some of your colleagues in the media perished you would be a little more respectful. Go ahead though and pat yourself on the back because no one else will except perhaps al queda.
Posted by: Murphy | August 04, 2008 at 21:09
I applaud you for your courage and your skill. As a Vietnam Era veteran and the son and grandson of wounded combat veterans, my respect for the sacrifices we ask GI’s to make is enormous.
The only way for the average person to understand the horrific tragedy of the war on Iraq is to see - through the eyes of skilled professionals like you – what really happens in war.
Keep up the good work.
Posted by: Michael O'Brien | August 04, 2008 at 22:02
As a former Marine I am ashamed that the Corps hassled you over these pictures. Our public pays good money to see grisly depictions made real in so many horror films, yet these pictures were aggressively censored? Beautiful work. Tragic work.
Posted by: Rodrick Burton | August 05, 2008 at 02:27
Thank you for your excellent work.
When I heard you interviewed on NPR I was wishing someone had mentioned some of the history of photography during war, Robert Capra during the Spanish Civil War for one.
I am a former Marine, Chu-Lai 1965-66.
We're fortunate to have men and women as brave as you to record this mess.
Posted by: Jim King | August 05, 2008 at 02:30
hey Mark Aleshnick - STFU.
Posted by: Clark | August 05, 2008 at 03:33
After reading about how you were booted from your embedding I felt compelled to write something. It is of my own personal opinion that I say you've broken no rules by publishing your images and in a manner of speaking should be awarded and not reprimanded for doing so. I feel that if more images of the horrors of war are openly shown to the public the awful taste left in our mouths after viewing them will finally give people the "fire under their rear-end" to get up and do something about it. To have people make a stance on the war, to finally tell our government that we are in fact a country ruled by the people and for the people and that an absurd war where young men and women of the armed forces are dying everyday for nothing will not be tolerated. Now when I say "nothing," I mean absolutely no offense and no disrespect to those who have died in this war. I am simply stating that Iraq has never attacked us. They pose no threat, no immediate danger to the continental United States whatsoever and the almost robotic response of "they're fighting for our freedom" no longer holds any weight. My heart goes out to everyone over there fighting, I wish you a safe return home. As for you Zoriah, from one professional photographer to another, I applaud your efforts and wish you the best of luck in continuing photographing the truth.
Posted by: Taylor Roberts | August 05, 2008 at 03:38
Zoriah, you apparently agreed to abide by the military guidelines regarding your photographs --- it seems to me you decided to ignore those rules according to the circumstance --- so the military sent you on your way -- where's the censorship?
Posted by: Charles Bevan | August 05, 2008 at 08:58
No one ENJOYS war but it is a intergral part of history sometimes. I am sure there were pictures that could have been made like these in the American Revolution or the WWI or II. So what is your aletnative. These enemies want to kill us/you because they hate our way of life and the freedom we enjoy. So stop whinning and realize that evil exists and you can not negociate your way out of it or be nice enough to win their hearts. Read the Koran - you are to kill the infidels! My gosh, what do you want us to do?
If their had been people like you in WWII we would all be speaking German or Japanese today and you would have NO freedom to even photograph anything. Grow up!
Posted by: Jerry | August 05, 2008 at 12:25
respect!
Posted by: zbynek | August 05, 2008 at 20:52
I am deeply disappointed to see the lack of discretion and respect on the part of a journalist who was welcomed into this battalion of brave Marines. I'm sure that these Marines shared their MREs, helped you in ways that made your life more comfortable and generally included you in their camaraderie. To repay that by taking pictures of these brave men, posting them on the internet, and trying to profit by having the "paypal" button next to pictures of their dead bodies is a disgrace.
These men are not policy makers. They simply follow the dictates of the elected officials that represent our country, whether or not THEY or YOU voted for them.
The mothers, wives, and children of these men should not have to know that there are pictures posted on the internet of the dead bodies of their beloved Marine. If anyone has the right to post such pictures, it should be those people alone.
Of course embedded reporters sign agreements listing the terms under which they may join a group of the military. To suggest otherwise is disingenuous. In return, the military agrees to do its best to protect the embedded journalist. In my opinion, it is too bad that the Marines did NOT choose to protect your life in the same way that you protected their rights -- with utter and complete disregard. Their concern for your personal safety is completely at odds with your lack of concern for them. If they had not removed you from the scene any photos might have been published posthumously.
The best protest that I can think of is to state my feelings and then to never view your blog again. Not only will I NOT click on the "paypal" button, I will never purchase a publication to which you have contributed. In this way, you become not only irrelevant but a financial liability. Then, I will pray for the families of these Marines as well as all members of the military and their families, who are in harm's way. Sometimes it is hard to want to protect the rights of someone like you. Like all spouses of those deployed, I hope that my husband won't have to sacrifice his life, especially for someone like you. However, my husband, and these Marines, too, would be the first to defend your right to freedom of expression. As a matter of fact, they have demonstrated a commitment to your rights in a very real way, unlike many of the people who have posted responses, from the comfort of their homes, attacking them.
I'm sure that I could think of much more to say but it is time to put my four year old twins to bed. We will read our Bible story, pray for their daddy who will be deployed for over a year, as well as all members of our military and their families, and be grateful that we are a part of the Marine Corps family. I'm proud that my husband has elected to serve his country and even you, although he doesn't even know you. It's too bad that you can't acknowledge their sacrifice and repay their loyalty. But then, they are Marines and you are not.
Posted by: Wife of Deployed Marine | August 06, 2008 at 06:18