I recently saw you on the Bill Moyers show and hoped you might use your knowledge of the current situation in Iraq to help me get re-embedded in the Green Zone.
CPIC and the U.S. military have embedded me twice in Iraq during 2007 and I was promised a third embed in February of 2008 -- which was rescinded at the last moment by Lt. Col. [XXXX] of CPIC, leaving me helplessly stranded at the Kuwait airport Starbucks for days on end.
I truly do not understand why my embed was canceled, because the three different official reasons that CPIC gave me clearly did not apply to my circumstances: First, that I was requesting to go into a combat zone (why ELSE would I want to go to Iraq!); second, that I did not have enough readers (OpEd News has 615,000 readers and over 180,000 people have read my blog); and, third, that the Army could not afford to embed me (Yeah, right).
The only reasons that I can think of as to why my embed was rescinded are because I am a progressive journalist, am against the occupation of Iraq because its cost is bankrupting America, and had just written an article negative to John McCain.
When I was embedded in Iraq last year, other journalists warned me not to say anything negative about the "war" effort in Iraq if I wanted to continue being embedded but I went ahead and reported what I saw anyway. Perhaps that might be another reason my embed was rescinded.
In addition, when I was at CPIC last April I was told, off the record, that the State Department had their eye on me and was monitoring everything that I wrote while in the Green Zone. Do you have any suggestions on how I can find out if the State Department had anything to do with my rescinded embed -- short of bugging Ms. Rice's office, that is!
I am hoping that you can advise me on how to get re-embedded or else how to find out the real reasons why my embed was suddenly rescinded. And if your bureau would like to do a story on this angle -- that progressive journalists are being systematically discouraged from coming to Iraq -- here are some e-mail addresses if you want to contact them [not included in this article while legal action is still pending. Sorry]. Thanks.
I have also brought a JAG Article 139 legal complaint against Lt. Col. [XXXX] in order to get my $1,780 in expenses back from the Army after they canceled my embed. This complaint has been denied by Col. John B. Hildebrand of the administrative law section of OSJA-Iraq and is currently on appeal.
I am also pursuing this matter in small claims court here in California as well. Let Judge Judy sort all this out!
Very truly yours, Jane Stillwater
PS: Before I can sue the Department of Defense on the Judge Judy show, I need to serve the Army with a small claims document -- and to do that, I need to have the name of the Army's agent of service in California. Any suggestions about who this might be?
Stillwater is a freelance writer who hates injustice and corruption in any form but especially injustice and corruption paid for by American taxpayers. She has recently published a book entitled, "Bring Your Own Flak Jacket: Helpful Tips For Touring Today's Middle East". According to Ms. Stillwater, "It's a fabulous and entertaining book. I loved writing it. And I hope that you will love reading it too." It's available at http://www.amazon.com/Bring-Your-Own-Flak-Jacket/dp/0978615719 or you can special order it at any independent bookstore.
They say the definition of insanity is doing the same thing and expecting different results. However, every rule has an exception.
Now, don't take this as though I might "know" something. I don't. However, we all are aware some very criminal things have been going down with this so-called "war" (which, in truth, is better called a neo-colonial occupation). So, why risk your life to be imbedded in the midst of this abomination? To report the obvious?
by
GoldenT (6 articles, 1 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 51 comments)
on Sunday, April 20, 2008 at 2:13:48 PM
