AMERICA CONTROLS FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
10th March 2003: The Pentagon threatened to fire on the satellite uplink positions of independent journalists in Iraq, according to veteran BBC war correspondent, Kate Adie. The Pentagon has also threatened they: “may find it necessary to bomb areas in which war correspondents are attempting to report from the Iraqi side.”

Kate: “And what actually appalls me is the difference between twelve years ago and now. I’ve seen a complete erosion of any kind of acknowledgment that reporters should be able to report as they witness. The Americans… and I’ve been talking to the Pentagon …take the attitude which is entirely hostile to the free spread of information. I was told by a senior officer in the Pentagon, that if uplinks –that is the television signals out of… Bhagdad, for example– were detected by any planes …electronic media… mediums, of the military above Bhagdad… they’d be fired down on. Even if they were journalists ..’ Who cares! ‘ said the officer’.

The Americans are asking journalists who go with them, whether they are… have feelings against the war. And therefore if you have views that are skeptical, then you are not to be acceptable. Secondly, they are intending to take control of the Americans technical equipment …those uplinks and satellite phones I was talking about. And control access to the airwaves. And then on top of everything else, there is now a blackout ordered by one Mr. Dick Cheney, who is in charge of this.

I am enormously pessimistic of the chance of decent on-the-spot reporting, as the war occurs. You will get it later.“

(listen to audio clips and read the transcripts)