Keven Sites...what you need to know about the "Marine Kills Prisoner" videotographer...

File this under: Big surprise....not!

Kevin Sites, the NBC "journalist" who shot the video of the United States Marine capping that terrorist..... guess what, turns out he doesn't work for NBC - he is a freelancer, and he doesn't appear to be a journalist either, not in the traditional sense anyway. More in the vein of propagandist Amy Goodman and her Democracy Now! - an Internet & cable public access anti-US venom factory.

Sites, it turns out, is an anti-war activist who posts his work here: www.imagesagainstwar.com... and maintains a blog here: www.kevinsites.net...

Here is NBC defending Sites, on al Jazeera no less! english.aljazeera.net...

Wow. Am I ever surprised.

Lemme check.

Nope."


I'd like to give credit to KFBK and their excellent news team for coming up with this. Here's their link:
kfbk.com...

Now, I gotta tell you, personally, I think it's time to take the "imbeds" OUT of the frontlines, especially when it seems ANYONE can get a press pass. Simply start your own news service! And it's certainly easy enough to afford a video camera nowadays. At any rate, these people have no right to do their job under the auspices and protection of the U.S. Military.


[edit on 18-11-2004 by Toelint]

So are you saying the video is fake ? Did the guy endanger the mission by his actions ? Did he break any agreements ?

Isn't it good that the world sees the embedded reporters aren't just propaganda assests ? It's now apparent that reporters can be anti-war biased and yet this is the worst they can come up with. I think this builds more trust than takes.

Surely no athlete would get caught from doping if there were no doping tests. But then there wouldn't be a single person on earth who would believe olympics are clean...

And read his bio. Afghanistan, Colombia, Kosovo... distinguished lecturer of journalism... If he's just anybody I wonder what it takes to be somebody ?
www.kevinsites.net...

Toelint: Yeah, how dare he figure that it's okay for people to see what actually happens on the front lines of the "War on Terror".

If footage doesn't show Marines and US soldiers in the best possible light, the world should not be allowed to see it.

Joseph Goebbels would wholeheartedly agree with you, and most Freepers too.


j

I think it is great that we have people reporting from over there, freelance or not. However I do believe that they need to be a little more careful about what they report and how they report it. I'd like to see some of the work done th rebuild the homes and schools.

This is war. America is at war. If I were put in that Marine's position, I'd probably done the same thing. It is a hard call to say If I would or wouldn't. But that man was the enemy plain and simple.

That reporter is all excited because his footage has been seen around the world, and he is only a freelance reporter. Meanwhile, our Hero, the Marine, has to be put through a sensless investigation. And his career may be in jeopardy.

Where was that reporter when that Marine's comrades were killed by a booby-trapped body? And they say the media is not biased.

So did Sites fake the footage or not? Regardless of its source, if the footage is real, then there is no reason to discount its validity.

[edit on 18-11-2004 by Frith]

Kevin Sites was with that same platoon when the Marine in question got shot in the face, the day before. Where's the footage of that?

He was also with the same platoon the previous week when a booby-trapped body was detonated by one of the Marine's checking bodies. That explosion killed one and wounded four.

Pray tell, WHY WASN'T THAT FOOTAGE SHOWN? Perhaps because the thought of seeing american soldiers and civilians dying over there might ENRAGE us against the enemy, rather than repulse us?

Is that why we don't see the American hostages getting beheaded...but we get to see a Marine cap a wounded soldier in the head? Perhaps to paint us EVEN MORE as the bad guy over there?

Well??

[edit on 19-11-2004 by Toelint]

Amen, brother!! I see nobody wants to respond to your last post. Why? Because you are right. The man who was shot was the enemy. Had the roles been reversed, our soldier would be DEAD right now. Do people think that these kinda things didn't happen on the beaches of Normandy or in the streets across Europe during WWII???? Yet, those soldiers are referred to as "The Greatest Generation" (I do not disagree w/ that statement, just making a point). Just because video cameras were not there to record those things, it does not mean they did not happen.
Just because you are against the war, it does not mean you have to jump on our troops who are serving their, and our, country for every little thing that you do not agree with. I am against this war, but I also support our troops and pray every night that each of them comes home safe to their families.
Had that soldier been your son, brother, cousin, or whatever, and you were watching that video, I bet you would rather see him shoot the Iraqui than watch him be blown up or shot while trying to help. I say, untill you are put in that situation (and pray that you never will be), keep your mouth shut.
As for Sites, people are not saying that he is manipulating that particular footage. They are saying he is biased. If he is going to call himself a reporter, than he should report ALL he sees, not just what he WANTS people to see. That is wrong, and he has no business doing what he is doing.

I have to agree with the last two posters. It's war, this is what happens in war. People get tortured, maimed, burned, sliced n diced. People get killed in cold blood, children, animals, dead bodies etc get used as bombs. Soldiers crack under the stress of knowing any minute a bullet could whiz through the air and take their head clean off their shoulders. You get impatient, you make silly decisions. This is war, the way it's always been.

The only different now is that in the past, for example napalm was dropped on a dozen vietcong, and that was that, next week in the newspaper you see "Viet-cong hideout defeated by courageous troops" and everyone cheers. Now, shoot someone, and a couple of hours later, the tape is on tv for the world to see and realise how horrible war is, for BOTH sides and how generally accepted social norms and ethics pretty much go out the door when you're on the frontline risking life and limb.

If what Toelint says is correct, I would have done EXACTLY the same thing if I was in that situation. For all he knew, the enemy could have been hiding a grenade(s) behind his back. If someone shot you in the face, then killed one of your buddies, & injured a couple of others... are you going to have any mercy on them? Course not! You'd be mighty peeved & wanting justice. Anyone who says they wouldn't act the same way should get their bum over to iraq, strap on a US Infrantry outfit & a gun and go for a nice stroll down the main street of Fallujah. Once they've seen how the real world works, then let's see what they're opinion is....

World, I'd like to introduce you to reality. Reality, this is the world. Go get 'em tiger.

Originally posted by Frith
So did Sites fake the footage or not? Regardless of its source, if the footage is real, then there is no reason to discount its validity.

[edit on 18-11-2004 by Frith]

Like Micheal Moore's work, very little of Keven Sites work shows the whole truth. The Marines were going through an area WELL known for its boobytraps, (as of today, over 550 traps have been discovered) and the week before, one Marine was killed by a boobytrapped body. I certainly wouldn't take a chance and bet MY platoon that the guy was surrendering.

Another thing, there's a BIG difference between getting captured and surrendering. That this Iraqi was wounded, outnumbered and outgunned is WAY beside the point. If he wasn't surrendering, he was a threat, PERIOD!

Figures he is an anti war activist nut job.