Truth as casualty

Casualties, they say, are a truth of war. And journalists sprinting across the line of fire to bear witness can claim no immunity, they cann...

Casualties, they say, are a truth of war. And journalists sprinting across the line of fire to bear witness can claim no immunity, they cannot dodge the risks of being in the battle zone. The Second Gulf War8212;like innumerable wars before8212;has already notched up a long list of journalists killed in accident or in combat. Many more are said to be missing.

It is, however, the frequent attacks specifically on hotels and offices housing journalists in Iraq that is worrisome. On Tuesday, two cameramen were killed when American forces fired on Baghdad8217;s Palestine Hotel8212;a landmark familiar to TV viewers since most foreign journalists have been reporting from there.

Satish Jacob, of Doordarshan, narrowly escaped injury in that attack, as reported in this newspaper. On the same day, an Al Jazeera cameraman died when a bomb fell on the Arabic channel8217;s office, while Abu Dhabi TV too was targetted.

Incidents such as these raise two concerns: That independent reporters are being chastened into subservience and that targets are being finalised with little thought to the possibility of civilians being put in harm8217;s way. Before coalition tanks rolled into the desert last month, war planners neatly divided reporters into two categories: embedded those travelling with military formations, and thus privy to real-time action but under oath not to divulge classified information and unilaterals those hitting their own, flexible itineraries. This war, from the very beginning, was expected to be as much of a psy-op as a military operation.

The war is as much to conquer minds as it is to mop up territory. The targetting areas of operation of unilaterals8212;especially of Arabic language reporters8212;is bound to fuel suspicion that some trigger-happy military planners cannot countenance reportage with an anti-US spin. Al Jazeera, for instance, is reported to have given the Pentagon all its global position system coordinates. Truth, it is thus feared, is once again a casualty.

More importantly, daily briefings in Washington and in Doha keep underlining that the Second Gulf War is really a bid for Iraqi hearts. It is being cast as a tussle between a caring coalition and a cruel regime. By speeding forth toward victory8212;never mind the accidental bombs on a convoy of Kurds and journalists, never mind the pounding of media bases or urban hubs8212;the coalition seems to losing the battle for Iraqi hearts.