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Free speech, measured in watts

May-15-2005 » Filed Under: 1/25 SBCT

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By MATT MISTEREK; The News Tribune

MOSUL, Iraq – Just a few nights after mortars pounded some nearby fields, the fortresslike compound of the Iraqi Media Network enjoys a peaceful Wednesday sunset.

A Fort Lewis soldier boots a soccer ball with an Iraqi soldier and three Kurdish kitchen workers. Two stray dogs settle their litters of puppies in for the night. And several men from Charlie Company rest on their cots until their next shift in the Stryker vehicles parked out front.

The emblem of the 3rd Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment is the gimlet – a bitted tool that’s tougher than stone – which helps explain the battalion’s motto, “Bore, brother, bore.”

After pulling 48-hour detail guarding these gates, however, they might consider changing it to “Bored, brother, bored.”

Locally known as Al Iraqiya, the TV network that transmits four hours a day might be the best hope for a free press in northern Iraq and the source of one of the most popular shows in the country.

But the soldiers from Washington’s second Stryker brigade mostly tune out the TV and radio technicians down the hall.

“We don’t talk to them and they don’t talk to us,” Sgt. John Garrison said after emerging from two hours inside an armored Stryker carrier.

Still, there’s a sense of accomplishment in helping keep the network on the air.

“It’s not so much that we take pride in what they do, but we take pride in what we do protecting them,” said the 36-year-old New Yorker. “Because if Ali Baba gets a lot of bad information out to the public, then it’s not good for anybody.”

The soldiers have been here since January, when a string of mortar attacks led commanders to assign a rotating security platoon. To some it might look like a war-zone defense of First Amendment values, but the brigade is primarily just protecting one of its most valuable assets – information. [...]

“In an insurgency, getting information out to the general public is one of the key tools of the fight, because it prevents the bad guys from moving around anonymously,” said Maj. Mark Smith, information operations coordinator for the brigade.

But when it comes to Al Iraqiya’s most controversial program, “Terrorism in the Grip of Justice,” brigade leaders stress that the network is working independently.

The show has featured footage of bruised and spirit-broken detainees confessing to terrorism, drug abuse and other anti-social acts rivaling anything on “The Jerry Springer Show.”

Human rights advocates say the confessions look coerced and might violate the Geneva Convention. The Iraq Interior Ministry has pledged to review the show.

“We have to keep our distance,” said Smith, the brigade information operations coordinator, “because there are legal issues.” [...]

Though the mortar hits and other threats have tapered off since the elections, the risks continue. Omari, the station engineer, said he was headed out to visit a transmitter site recently when he discovered the brake lines of his pickup truck had been cut. A female newsreader was abducted in the city and never heard from again.

But Faisal and Omari are determined to keep the cameras rolling.

“If I didn’t do my job and that man over there didn’t do his job,” Omari said, pointing around the studio, “then who would do it? This is the tax for the good of our city, and we must pay it.”


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