New York Times Publishes Video and Photos of U.S. Soldier Dying

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WASHINGTON — A photograph and videotape of a Texas soldier dying in Iraq published by the New York Times have triggered anger from his relatives and Army colleagues and revived a long-standing debate about which images of war are proper to show.

The journalists involved, Times reporter Damien Cave and Getty Images photographer Robert Nickelsberg, working for the Times, had their status as so-called embedded journalists suspended Tuesday by the Army corps in Baghdad, military officials said, because they violated a signed agreement not to publish photos or video of any wounded soldiers without official consent.

New York Times foreign editor Susan Chira said Tuesday night that the newspaper initially did not contact the family of Army Staff Sgt. Hector Leija about the images because of a specific request from the Army to avoid such a direct contact.

"The Times is extremely sensitive to the loss suffered by families when loved ones are killed in Iraq," Chira said. "We have tried to write about the inevitable loss with extreme compassion."

She said that after the newspaper account, with a photograph of the soldier, was published Monday, a Times reporter in Baghdad made indirect efforts to tell the family of the video release later that day. The video was still available for viewing on the Times' Web site Tuesday night, when the newspaper notified clients of its photo service that the photograph at issue was no longer available and should be eliminated from any archives.

Patrol turns deadly

The controversy was ignited by the newspaper's account of the 27-year-old soldier's death in combat. It described in detail events on Haifa Street in Baghdad during a patrol Jan. 24 that turned deadly after a bullet struck Leija in the head.


Leija's family lives in the South Texas town of Raymondville. His Army material records show his home of record as Houston, according to a military spokesman at Fort Lewis, Wash., home of Leija's unit. Records showed a driver's license and voter registration for Leija in Raymondville, none in the Houston area.

Chief Warrant Officer 4 Robert Lobeck, serving as the Army's casualty assistance officer with Leija's family in Texas, said seeing the images of Leija on the Internet was very upsetting to the relatives.

"Oh God, they shouldn't have published a picture like that," Leija's cousin Tina Guerrero, who had not seen the images but was aghast about them anyway, told the Houston Chronicle on Tuesday in Raymondville. She said the images would be especially hurtful to the soldier's parents, Domingo and Manuela Leija, who have remained in the family's home on the edge of town. ''It's going to devastate them," Guerrero said. ''They're having enough pain dealing with the death of their son."

Accompanying the Times article was a picture of Leija on a stretcher, an Army medic using his right hand to compress the sergeant's wounded forehead. Leija was alive in the photograph. The story noted that he died later in the day.

Later Monday, the Times posted on its Web site a five-minute, 52-second video taken at the scene of the shooting, showing an interview with Leija before he was wounded, then the frantic moments after he is downed by a single shot.

14 rules govern journalists


The media and the Pentagon have sparred about the issue of the portrayal of Americans killed in Iraq — or even caskets containing remains — since the beginning of the war.

Tom Rosenstiel, director of the Project for Excellence in Journalism in Washington, said the incident was typical of the dilemmas that face news organizations in war.

"The fact that a photograph upset people, even family members, is not always sufficient reason not to run it," Rosenstiel said. "Editors may decide that there is a compelling public interest in running a photograph precisely because it does upset an audience."

The agreement that journalists are asked to sign as a condition of embedding has 14 rules. Rule 11 covers military casualties: "Names, video, identifiable written/oral description or identifiable photographs of wounded service members will not be released without service member's prior written consent."

The ground rule goes on to say, "In respect for family members, names or images clearly identifying individuals 'killed in action' will not be released." The rule says names of soldiers killed can be released a day after family notification, but it does not address photographs or video images.

Chira said as far as she knew, the journalists had signed the forms. But she also said: "This issue has never been raised before when the New York Times has shown photographs of wounded soldiers."

The Times said it planned to discuss the issue today with Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno, commander of the Multi-National Force Iraq.

Chira also said she had been told by the reporter in Baghdad that he had reached out to two people with Texas connections to act as intermediaries to alert the family that a video was going to be posted. They were Kathy Travis, a press aide to Rep. Solomon Ortiz, D-Corpus Christi, and Principal Gilbert Galvan of Raymondville High School.

Travis had a different account.

"Whoa, that isn't what happened," she said Tuesday night in a telephone interview. "The reporter called me late Monday afternoon and said he understood that the family was upset and that he wanted us to know that he had the utmost respect for the soldier and wanted us to let the family know that."

Galvan said a New York Times reporter called Monday, saying he could not reach Leija's relatives and asking Galvan to notify the family of the story and the impending release of the video.

Galvan said he went to the Leijas' house and relayed the message. "They looked upset," he said.

Leija's death saddened many in the close-knit agricultural community 45 miles north of the Texas-Mexico border, where he was an honor student and a member of the football team.

The flag was at half-staff at City Hall and was also lowered at the American Legion Post.

Family has little comment

A brother of the slain soldier, Domingo Leija Jr. of Raymondville, said the immediate family would not have anything to say directly about the images. "And it's going to stay that way," he said, as he emerged from a City Hall meeting Tuesday afternoon with local officials who are assisting with funeral plans.


Lobeck said he passed the family's concerns to Leija's chain of command at Fort Lewis, who then informed the Multi-National Corps Iraq in Baghdad and the Pentagon. Army Col. Dan Baggio, chief of media relations at the Pentagon, said the Army was still gathering facts.

"From a soldier's perspective, when I first saw it, I was stunned," said Baggio, who has served a 14-month tour in Iraq, of the images. "With the freshness of the loss the family has endured, this just seemed inappropriate."

Source: 404 Error, No such article | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle

Related stories. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/29/wo...=1&oref=slogin

Hot Air » Blog Archive » Lara Logan and her terrorist footage: It is too important to ignore Updates

[Old Fart]

But printing pictures to terrorists being killed is "too violent" for "The Times", right?

[Snowden]

Originally Posted by Old Fart

But printing pictures to terrorists being killed is "too violent" for "The Times", right?

I wouldn't be surprised, Dennis. Our media seems determined to be the dearest friend to the enemy. I hope this soldier's family takes them to court over this - and puts the liberal rag out of business.