We do it all the time -- we dump on mainstream media. But few if any bloggers are also hovering overhead in an Army helicopter with journalists in their sights. Or driving American tanks, lobbing ordnance at a hotel reserved for the international press.
On April 8, 2003, it was the Palestine Hotel in Baghdad, a home for journalists covering the events in Baghdad. Almost exactly a year later, it was members of the French press covering the siege of Fallujah by American forces. And it still goes on. An Army video shows journalists being killed by American military in Baghdad. By now, however, there is an Iraqi government and the possibility of an independent investigation.
...A senior American military official confirmed on Monday that a graphic video released by the Web site, wikileaks.org, which shows an American helicopter shooting and killing a Reuters photographer and driver during a July 2007 attack in Baghdad, is authentic.One of the whistle-blowing group’s founders, Julian Assange, explained and defended the decision to release the graphic, disturbing video shot from the helicopter during interviews in Washington on Monday with Al Jazeera and Russia Today. ...NYT
It comes down to the same old questions. In a democracy, is it in any way healthy that we condone our military and our government's lies and coverups? Some think it's okay in times of "war." But then some think it's okay for the irresponsible media to lie to us, as long as the lies bolster their political beliefs.
