Chilling piece in the New York Times today, by Eason Jordan, chief news executive at CNN. He describes his years working in Baghdad, and all the stories of torture and death he would not put on CNN. For various reasons: If we reported it, so-and-so would be killed.
Iraqi cameramen who worked for CNN disappearing for no reason, and returning horribly changed from the torture chambers. Other horror stories.
Major news. Obviously. CNN would not report it.
The piece, to me, has the sound of someone covering his ass. Making excuses. Way too late.
He closes with:
“I felt awful having these stories bottled up inside me. Now that Saddam Hussein’s regime is gone, I suspect we will hear many, many more gut-wrenching tales from Iraqis about the decades of torment. At last, these stories can be told freely.”
Too little, too late. “I felt awful having these stories bottled up inside me.” Oh, so it’s all about how awful you feel?
You tell the story of a woman being tortured, her father made to watch as the torturers literally tore her apart, limb from limb. Imagine that. Imagine the trauma of the father having to see that. It is beyond comprehension. This is what these people have been living with for decades. “At last, these stories can be told freely.” What the hell is a major news organization for, if not for reporting the damn news? CNN was there. CNN did not report it.
