Another Easongate eyewitness

Just found this in a post by a French-speaking blogger, Justin Vaisse.

Vaisse is an Affiliated Scholar at the Center on the United States and Europe at the Brookings Institution.

Here's his account of Eason Jordan's comments:

Il faut dire que Eason Jordan, l'un des journalistes stars de CNN, n'a pas mâché ses mots et déclaré de but en blanc que les journalistes en Iraq n'étaient jamais perçus comme neutres et faisaient l'objet d'attaques délibérées (deliberate targeting)... "des deux côtés".

Appelé à clarifier son propos, il a dit que, en-dehors du massacre perpétré par les rebelles, 12 journalistes, y compris américains, avaient été tués par l'armée américaine, non pas dans des "attaques délibérées", mais bon, disons, dans un climat d'hostilité vis-à-vis de la presse dont le ton était donné par Rumsfeld lui-même. Beaucoup de journalistes pensent des jeunes soldats américains que certains parmi eux voudraient bien se faire un journaliste, dans le feu de l'action.

Sans aller aussi loin, Richard Sambrook, la star de la BBC, a renchéri. Et un autre journaliste dans la salle, rappelant aussi l'affaire de l'hôtel Palestine, s'est félicité qu'ici à Davos on reconnaisse enfin l'ampleur du phénomène, bien connu dans le milieu mais pas au-delà.

Le modérateur, David Gergen, en était interloqué, il n'arrivait pas à passer à autre chose.

Here's a translation by Mick Stockinger of UNCoRRELATED [incorporating subsequent corrections Vaisse sent to me in an email]:

It must be said that Eason Jordan, one of the star journalists of CNN, didn't mince words in declaring that the intentions of journalists in Iraq were never perceived as neutral and that they were made deliberate targets by "both sides."

Called on to clarify his statement, he said that outside of deaths attributed to rebels, 12 journalists, including Americans, were killed by the American army, not by deliberate attack, but in the context of a hostile climate towards the press, where the tone was set by Donald Rumsfeld himself. Many journalists feel that among young American soldiers, many would like to "do" a journalist in the course of combat.

Without going that far, Richard Sambrook, a BBC star added to Jordan's account. Another journalist in the room, giving other examples including the Palestine hotel incident, said he was quite satisfied that here, in Davos, the magnitude of this phenomenon would be acknowledged, since it is well-known within the journalistic community but not beyond.

David Gergen, the moderator, was flabbergasted, but could not manage to change the subject.

Not sure why this hasn't attracted more notice in the blogosphere. Because it would certainly seem to be another nail in Mr. Jordan's coffin.

UPDATE: M. Vaisse's correction of Mick's translation and a few additional clarifications (especially regarding Jordan's comments about Donald Rumsfeld) have been posted here.

Now … where's that damn video?