You would think so...but we're not dealing with very intelligent people here... These are fringe groups and nut jobs, trying to make a name for
themselves and increase their financing. This is, in essence, a commercial for them. Of course, wimp-outs have just encouraged this (won't mention
Spain or others...oops). Sad to say, but I hope his family has his affairs in order...because he won't live. (regardless of whether we pulled out of
Najaf or not)...
EDIT: He's been missing since the 13th, reported in Canadian news (he's a French-American) on the 17th. Interesting we're hearing about this so
much later....
MONTREAL, Aug. 17 /CNW Telbec/ - "I am appealing to Micah Garen's
kidnappers to please release him-he was simply doing his job as a journalist
by independently reporting on the outcome of recent events in Iraq and by
trying to help preserve Iraq's archaeological heritage," stated Marie-Hélène
Carleton, Micah Garen's fiancée, in a telephone conversation with Reporters
Without Borders.
"We were making a documentary film on the country's cultural history and
the archaeological sites at risk inside the war zones, in the hope that they
might soon be afforded some protection," she explained from New York City,
where she resides. Micah Garen went missing on 13 August 2004, but for
Ms. Marie-Hélène Carleton, kidnapping is the most likely explanation.
Reporters Without Borders is very concerned as to the fate of the 36-year-
old American reporter who disappeared, along with his Iraqi translator-Amir
Doshe-in Nassiriyah (in southern Iraq).
"We are urging the Iraqi police, as well as any Italian military
authorities present in the area, to do everything possible to locate the two
men, but avoid doing anything that may put their lives in danger," the
organization declared.
Micah Garen is one of the directors of Four Corners Media, a media
production company based in New York, which specializes in producing video,
photographic and written reports for major media clients. The journalist's
family has had no news of him since August 13th.
Members of Amir Doshe's family have also protested against their family
member's kidnapping. According to several press agencies, the two men may have
been kidnapped while they were visiting Nassiriyah's downtown shop.
So far, no one has come forward to claim credit for the kidnapping. There
is no indication as to whether Micah Garen was abducted by an Iraqi faction in
order to exert pressure on the opposing faction, as was the case with the
British journalist, James Brandon, who was abducted in Bassorah, on August
12th. Other possibilities are that this may have been a kidnapping for ransom,
or that certain circles worried about looters of ancient relics may have been
troubled by the journalist's work.
