posted on March 31, 2003 04:31:07 PM new
WASHINGTON (March 31) - Veteran reporter and former talk show host Geraldo Rivera, a correspondent for Fox News, was asked to be removed from Iraq by the U.S. military for reporting Western troop movements in the war, the Pentagon said Monday.
But in a report from Iraq where he was about 60 miles from Baghdad with the 101st Airborne Division, Rivera, known for his provocative on-screen style, said all was well and suggested he wasn't being ejected from the country by the U.S. military for coverage of the war.
Defense Department spokesman Bryan Whitman later told Reuters, however, that Fox News itself had agreed to remove Rivera after the military commander where Rivera was reporting felt that he had ''compromised operational security.''
A Fox spokesman said: ''All I can tell you is that he's still reporting from Iraq.''
Rivera said in his televised report that he did not know where the reports about the alleged security violations came from but accused colleagues, including former employer NBC, of perhaps ''spreading some lies about me.'' He suggested all was well between him and the military.
''I'm further in the country than I have ever been,'' Geraldo said.
''If you were to ask me on whether or not he had reported on things that were of tactical value and compromised operational security, I would have to say yes. In the eyes of the commander on the ground, he did,'' Whitman told Reuters.
''I would say that he is going to be leaving Iraq,'' added Whitman. ''Fox has talked to us and they have indicated to us that they are going to remove him from the area of operations.''
Whitman, who had earlier said the military was ejecting Rivera, later amended that to Fox agreeing to withdraw the correspondent.
Reports from competing media said earlier that Rivera, a former talk show host and veteran correspondent who has also reported the war in Afghanistan and high-profile stories such as the O.J. Simpson murder trial, had been accused of violating rules against compromising operational security.
Whitman said Rivera was not officially ''embedded,'' or assigned to the unit by the military, but was covering the troops at the time.
posted on March 31, 2003 05:11:03 PM new
Yes, I heard that this morning. At first thought the Iraqi's wanted him out...chuckled with I heard it was our military.
I don't know about you, but what what I keep hearing from these on-sight reporters I think many are giving out way too much information. And it does concern me for the safety of our troops.
posted on March 31, 2003 05:26:43 PM new
Linda, I would say that since Rivera IS being pulled for releasing too much info, the embeds that think may be, probably are not. If you listen to what they are saying they give general vicinities but you never really know where they are. Joe Schmo reporting from North East of Basrah sounds good and maybe dangerous until you realize the 90% of the countr is north east of Basrah.
posted on March 31, 2003 05:28:14 PM new
"He was with a US military unit in the field and the commander felt that he had compromised operational information by reporting the position and movements of troops," Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman told Reuters
There were unconfirmed reports tonight that Rivera's crime was drawing his rough location in the sand, breaching strict military accreditation conditions which require journalists not to talk about their whereabouts
posted on March 31, 2003 05:31:57 PM new
I posted this in another thread. Wouldn't it suggest then that we should fire Bush and Rumsfield.
Polish Minister scolds Bush, Rumsfeld
(March 28,2003 )(Agencies)
Poland's defense minister scolded President Bush and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on Thursday for publicly describing the actions of Polish commandos in Iraq, saying the US leaders shouldn't use the troops "for propaganda."
Bush on Wednesday told US troops at the Army's Central Command in Florida that Polish troops had secured an Iraqi oil platform in the Persian Gulf, while Rumsfeld praised the Poles' professionalism.
But Jerzy Szmajdzinski said the country's troops in Iraq include members of the elite GROM commando special forces unit, and said Warsaw doesn't want information about their activities discussed.
"It is not good when a politician - even if his name is George Bush or Donald Rumsfeld - talks about the actions of special forces," Szmajdzinski told Polish state Radio 1. "We are happy with the high grades given to Polish troops but we are not happy with their use for propaganda."
More than two-thirds of Poles are against the US-led war in Iraq, although the government has supported the United States and has approved the use of up to 200 Polish troops, including 56 GROM members.
posted on March 31, 2003 05:54:16 PM new
"I don't know about you, but what what I keep hearing from these on-sight reporters I think many are giving out way too much information. And it does concern me for the safety of our troops."
I agree with that Linda and its why I started a thread on embedded reporters a few days ago. I just don't think the reports we're getting from the embedded reporters are working all that well.
I don't know if anyone saw the David Bloom segments on MSNBC last night (or maybe Saturday night, I can't remember now) but he was sitting on top of some sort of armored vehicle giving a live interview as the military unit he was with was moving across the desert at a pretty good speed. Periodically during the interview (it lasted over 20 minutes) Bloom described what the vehicles were doing, why they would stop, why they spread out in certain formations, etc. After the interview, the studio host went on and on about what an awesome thing it was to interview a reporter as he rides on top of a war vehicle speeding into battle. MSNBC loved it so much they kept going back to Bloom as his unit forged ahead.
I don't care what anyone says, if we keep seeing these types of reports, over and over, sooner or later its going to bite the coalition.
posted on March 31, 2003 05:57:14 PM new
::I don't know if anyone saw the David Bloom segments on MSNBC last night (or maybe Saturday night, I can't remember now) but he was sitting on top of some sort of armored vehicle giving a live interview as the military unit he was with was moving across the desert at a pretty good speed.::
He's been doing that for a week now. If iit was a problem or the commanders thought he was giving out to much info, they surely would have shoved him off the speeding vehicle by now
posted on March 31, 2003 07:17:03 PM new
It's not as if they are going to see the show and say - "Yeah they are down at 23rd and Main St. lets go get 'em. The whole place looks like a parking lot.
posted on March 31, 2003 08:16:54 PM new
Naaaaa, someone at NBC was jealous and told the pentagon he was giving out information, now Geraldo is suing the guy for 30 million
Now we have a war with the media
Fire Bush and Rumsfeld... go ahead, fire them. Will they get severance pay? Secret Service? or unemployment benefits?
Art Bell Retired! George Noory is on late night coasttocoastam.com
posted on April 2, 2003 09:15:08 AM new
He's outta there.
Fox News, military reach deal on Rivera
Correspondent will leave Iraq rather than be expelled
From Chris Plante CNN Tuesday, April 1, 2003 Posted: 6:32 AM EST (1132 GMT)
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Fox News Channel executives and the Pentagon reached a deal Monday in which correspondent Geraldo Rivera, who raised the military's ire when he reported operational details, will leave Iraq voluntarily rather than be expelled, Pentagon officials told CNN.
After early reports indicated that Rivera would be expelled from the Army unit he was traveling with, Fox and the Pentagon agreed that he would leave on his own, without being officially sanctioned.
U.S. military officials told CNN on Monday morning that Rivera violated the cardinal rule of war reporting by giving away crucial details of military plans during a Fox News Channel broadcast from Iraq, where the reporter was temporarily assigned to the Army's 101st Airborne Division.
In the live broadcast, Rivera told his photographer to aim the camera at the sand in front of him. Rivera then outlined a map of Iraq, and showed the relative location of Baghdad and his location with the 101st Airborne. He then showed where the 101st would be going next.
Senior Pentagon officials also told CNN early Monday that the U.S. mil itary had decided to expel Rivera.
"He gave away the big-picture stuff," a senior military official told CNN. "He went down in the sand and drew where the forces are going."
A Pentagon official told CNN that members of the 101st Airborne would escort Rivera to the Kuwaiti border. But Rivera appeared in another live report from Iraq hours after the official announced his expulsion, and said he knew nothing of it.
"In fact, I'm further in Iraq than I've ever been," he said. "It sounds like some rats from my former network, NBC, are trying to stab me in the back."
Rivera left his job at CNBC in November 2001 to report from Afghanistan for Fox News.
Rivera said he had heard nothing about being expelled until he called network headquarters for the scheduled live broadcast.
"MSNBC is so pathetic a cable news network that they have to do anything they can to attract attention," he said. "You can rest assured that whatever they're saying is a pack of lies."
Nevertheless, as the day went on, Fox News executives pleaded with Pentagon officials to not expel Rivera. Pentagon officials stood their ground and insisted that Rivera go, and a deal was eventually reached, the Pentagon sources said.
posted on April 2, 2003 10:08:48 AM new
It was hilarious. Jerry Rivers (his real name before he went "latino" ) expounded how the "rats" at his former employer, MSNBC, were saying bad things about him to have him kicked out. Followed by the video showing him drawing in the sand(stopped at the appropriate time). Followed by:
"NO WONDER FOX NEWS IS NUMBER ONE! THE IRAQ MILITARY IS GLUED TO IT!"
Only three other people during this war have been asked to leave Iraq....Saddam and his two sons.
"Beware the leader who bangs the drums of war in order to whip the citizenry into a patriotic fervor, for patriotism is indeed a double-edged sword. It both boldens the blood, just as it narrows the mind. And when the drums of war have reached a fever pitch and the blood boils with hate and the mind has closed, the leader will have no need in seizing the rights of the citizenry. Rather, the citizenry, infused with fear and blinded by patriotism, will offer up all of their rights unto the leader and gladly so. How do I know? For this is what I have done. And I am Caesar."
- Julius Caesar
[ edited by mlecher on Apr 2, 2003 10:09 AM ]
[ edited by mlecher on Apr 2, 2003 06:27 PM ]
