Dutch camaraman kills Taliban

[Fragony]

This is so wrong. A dutch camaraman that films dutch troops must have been a bit too eager to get that killer shot, and gets stuck in a firefight with Taliban troops. So what does he do, he picks up a gun and joins the fight. About twenty dead taliban and a few civilians apparently. Maybe it is selfdefense but he should have never gotten himselve into this situation. This is pretty bad imho.

linkie dutch

http://www.telegraaf.nl/binnenland/5...p_Taliban.html

[Scurvy]

it sounds like he was very brave to me, getting into the fighting when he could have run away (i would of) --> although i don't know what the link says, it might present a different stroy

[Fragony]

it sounds like he was very brave to me, getting into the fighting when he could have run away (i would of) --> although i don't know what the link says, it might present a different stroy

Hmm maybe it's me having a problem with an untrained civilians picking up assaultrifles and start spraying, he endangers both the civilians and the troops. Not to forget that he endangers his fellow journalists, making them a legitimate target.

[macsen rufus]

Frag -- since when do you have problems with Dutch guys getting guns and killing muslims???

[Fragony]

Frag -- since when do you have problems with Dutch guys getting guns and killing muslims???

It's just not very creative, a little bit of personal style never hurt anyone. Sometimes I get the feeling their heart is not in it.

[Andres]

Frag -- since when do you have problems with Dutch guys getting guns and killing muslims???

Now he becomes the victim of his own reputation...

I agree 100 % you have to be crazy to run around with a camera during real gunfights. Apparently the guy was making a documentary about commando troops. The Dutch army isn't happy about it, on the other hand, why didn't they forbid this crazy civilian to shoot this kind of documentary?

They allowed it, thus they knew sooner or late he would be in a situation where his life would be in danger. The guy was being shot at. Imho it was self-defense. What was his alternative? Sitting down an a chair waving a white flag, screaming: "Don't hit me, I'm a journalist!".

[Lemur]

My Google-fu is not strong enough -- I'm not finding an English version of this article. If somebody finds it, please post the link. (Or better yet, the article. I'm lazy.)

[Fragony]

Now he becomes the victim of his own reputation...

I agree 100 % you have to be crazy to run around with a camera during real gunfights. Apparently the guy was making a documentary about commando troops. The Dutch army isn't happy about it, on the other hand, why didn't they forbid this crazy civilian to shoot this kind of documentary?

What I find a bit weird, according to our media our troops haven't had a scratch so far, and are completily pwning Taliban. Then it is a bit weird of you find a special forces weapon on the floor, usually these things come with a commando attached.

[Devastatin Dave]

Luckily for the Dutch troops he wasn't working for CNN, he would have shot the Dutch troops then.

[Redleg]

Hmm maybe it's me having a problem with an untrained civilians picking up assaultrifles and start spraying, he endangers both the civilians and the troops. Not to forget that he endangers his fellow journalists, making them a legitimate target.

This is the main issue about the cameraman picking up a weapon and fighting. Does his actions on the battlefield now remove the supposed neutral status of the press in the combat.

I for one understand that in past wars, the combat journalists of the past were not given neutral status by the opposing side. If you study WW2 in any detail around the combat journalism topic, you will discover that many were indeed killed or wounded. In Vietnam this also happened. In the movie "We were soldier's once and young." The co-author of the book got involved in the battle also.

[Goofball]

Luckily for the Dutch troops he wasn't working for CNN, he would have shot the Dutch troops then.

Good one Dave...

And a Fox guy would have flushed a few Qurans down the toilet before killing the Taliban...

[GoreBag]

My German isn't strong enough to understand Dutch, so I have no idea whether he actually killed anyone, but then, it doesn't really matter. He was taking photos, he was shot at, he shto back. Seems like a pretty linear story.

[Fragony]

My German isn't strong enough to understand Dutch

suffer.

[DemonArchangel]

Frag, please, provide articles in English next time. First of all, most people on these forums do not understand Dutch. Secondly, your unofficial summary of the events may be biased, so we want to see the source ourselves.

[Scurvy]

Frag, please, provide articles in English next time. First of all, most people on these forums do not understand Dutch. Secondly, your unofficial summary of the events may be biased, so we want to see the source ourselves.

to be fair, most people on these forums do not understand English, but it doesnt stop them posting

[Seamus Fermanagh]

I read neither German nor Dutch, but journalism formatting in the West is pretty similar. The article is what Frag purports it to be. I could not determine if the weapon was Dutch, Taliban, or a personal tool of the journalist.

History shows us numerous examples of journalists caught up in combat. A few of them, "embedded" with a unit for a while, have picked up on the esprit de corps of that smaller unit and have fought with them in extremis. Human nature I expect.

[Csargo]

I don't understand anything not even what I'm typing.

[Lemur]

Frag, please, provide articles in English next time. First of all, most people on these forums do not understand Dutch. Secondly, your unofficial summary of the events may be biased, so we want to see the source ourselves.

That's uncalled-for. The article looks legit, and the summary isn't off the wall. I would just like an English version so's I can read it for my own education and entertainment.

It's been hours, and nobody's found an English version? Buncha bums.

[Mooks]

How do journalist somehow have immunity status from all forms of combat? If there is battle going on, and the enemy has a journalist off to the side, hes a target. Reminds me of those cameramen that got bombed because they were recording a live battle between Isreali and Palestenian gurellias. They were too close, and the isrealis bombed them to pieces.

[Vladimir]

Hmm maybe it's me having a problem with an untrained civilians picking up assaultrifles and start spraying, he endangers both the civilians and the troops. Not to forget that he endangers his fellow journalists, making them a legitimate target.

Richard Pearle et al. Wasn't their just a journalist working with the Palestinians who was kidnapped by them today? If you're western and/or with western troops, you're a target. You're applying a western paradigm to an eastern mindset. That being said I think the commandos could have taken care of the problem themselves.

[Prince of the Poodles]

Journalists are not nuetral when documenting wars with muslims. There are countless examples of journalists being tortured and killed by them.

This guy did nothing wrong in my opinion.

[BigTex]

Hmm maybe it's me having a problem with an untrained civilians picking up assaultrifles and start spraying, he endangers both the civilians and the troops. Not to forget that he endangers his fellow journalists, making them a legitimate target.

Combat journalists shouldn't be given special treatment in the first place. For starters their alot of times embeded with a unit and they are wearing combat fatigues and body armor. That means an enemy force would have a hard time identifying them. They also shouldnt be wearing big glowing orange vests to signify them as journalists becuase that would be detrimental to the unit their following. IMHO journalists with a unti are combat personel, not civilians. They should be alowed just like in previous war's to pick up a rifle and defend them and assist the unit their following. But I do find it comical he found a commando's rifle.......
_________________
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BigTex

Ridicolus
"Hilary Clinton is the devil"
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[Mithrandir]

Journalists aren't neutral.

Not for ages. They'll always report the news from their own paradigm, which is usually completely different from that of the opposing side.

[Papewaio]

Journos would look very similar to troops and particularly I assume intelligence officers... ultimately they fullfill a similar role to propaganda ministries... therefore they are in the very frontline in a war of idealologies... definitly not neutral and I can't remember when they have been given the same access as say a the Red Cross.

[Del Arroyo]

He was doing his job getting that close to the action, and doing his duty by helping when things got crazy. Nor is it valid to say he was a particular danger to innocents or friendlies-- if the troops hadn't trusted him, they never would have let him come along.

[Xiahou]

Luckily for the Dutch troops he wasn't working for CNN, he would have shot the Dutch troops then.

Zing!

Good on the cameraman I say.

[IRONxMortlock]

History shows us numerous examples of journalists caught up in combat. A few of them, "embedded" with a unit for a while, have picked up on the esprit de corps of that smaller unit and have fought with them in extremis. Human nature I expect.

I agree. It's also a reason why being "in"bedded with military units as a journalist will completely cloud their objective judgement. The whole embedding program is a brilliant example of information control.

Getting back to the subject at hand though, journalists shouldn't be fighting but in a situation where it might be a matter of kill or be killed, you couldn't really blame them for defending themselves.

[Major Robert Dump]

I'm sure the Taliban would have never, ever harmed this guy if they killed all the Dutch troops and he was the only one left. They probably would have given him some hot soup, a neck massage and let him have a goat.

[Andres]

and let him have a goat.

No comment.

[BDC]

Does that make him an unlawful combatant?