Sometimes we seem to forget that the so-called Third World has indeed crawled into the information age and some of the things we watch on television, the good and bad guys watch as well.
A South Wales couple caught in the Mumbai terror attacks claimed last night that CNN put their lives at risk by broadcasting where they were. Lynne and Kenneth Shaw, of Penarth, warned that terrorists were listening in to the media to pinpoint Western victims.
Mrs Shaw claimed the American cable TV channel had broadcast details of where they were at the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel. She has appealed to the media to be careful with the information it broadcasts because safety could be compromised and lives lost.
Like CNN gives a shit.
Now, injure a journalist and THAT’s a war crime.
Hey Bob,
I believe you asked how all this would be America’s fault?
Answer: WSJ. Link is to the article in the Journal.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122809544395968075.html?mod=rss_opinion_main
Just the fact they would publish this interveiw is sad.
Heh, this sounds like the “security failure reports” from local news channels here depicting how easy it would be to poison the water supply (complete with film of the reporter’s “infiltration” into the water treatment plant, showing access to restricted zones and such because the places were left unlocked)
Or when the biggest newspaper in the province publicly published all the security failings of the Pierre-Elliot-Trudeau Airport in Montreal and the Port, several months later. They even gave details of how they infiltrated the airport, had access to the in-flight meals, that no security measures were in place when inside secure areas( they pretended to be an employee who forgot his badge to get in…)
While those are catastrophic security failures, these should have been reported solely to the airport staff and government authorities to deal with the situation. But in their book, publishing top-secret information that could endanger the entire populace is not bad. They actually claim they help increase security by publicizing these weaknesses. Yeah, they fix them after the whole thing is published, but it takes time and obviously attention was drawn to them, increasing the risk of danger.
This is so true. The news media, particularly live TV coverage is a handy tool for the enemy. Even back in the Vietnam War days the enemy used to monitor all the local TV channels including AFRTS and the major U.S. networks. We (Australian Forces Vietnam) thought so little of reporters of all persuasions that they were ALL banned from OZ bases (one reason why today you will see very little film and reporter coverage of our involvement there). Just this evening (Thai Time) I was chatting with my wife (who is in NY visiting some of the larger hospitals) on the subject of the problems (Anti Government rallies and the take-over of airports throughout the country) we have here in Thailand and I sent this piece: Mac: “True – I think if there are any (Thai) terrorists watching what is going on here they will know how easy it is to close down the airport and take hostages.
Mac
Thailand