Witness #8

In the absence of a video or transcript of the session, Easongate hinges on eyewitness reports.

From what's currently known, only three of these were published before the controversy started swirling: the original ForumBlog post of Rony Abovitz, the Davos web page posted by Brookings scholar Bernard Vaisse and the account of Bernard Rappaz, a correspondent for Geneva-based Télévision Suisse Romande. These are documents are especially important, since the politically-charged atmosphere may have caused other participants at the session to change their recollections.

The first two are by now well known, at least among bloggers. The last has been comparatively neglected.

I think it's time Bernard Rappaz got his 15 minutes of fame.

Again, through the keen eye (and linguistic skills) of Mick Stockinger of UNCoRRELATED, we have a third "untainted" account:

The surprise came from the chief of CNN, Eason Jordan, who recalled that out of the 45 journalists killed in Iraq since the beginning of bombat, 12 were killed by American troops. He added: "No investigation has been opened by the Pentagon into these blunders. In Iraq, journalists are now targeted by insurgents and … by occupation forces." Astonishing statement.

[La surprise est venue du patron de CNN. Eason Jordan qui a rappelé que sur les 45 journalistes tués en Irak depuis le début des combats, 12 ont été abattu par les troupes américaines. Et d'ajouter: "Aucune enquête n'a été ouverte par le Pentagon sur ces bavures. En Irak les journalistes sont désormais des cibles à abattre par la guérilla et... par les forces d'occupation." Etonnante déclaration.]

The fact that Rappaz' blog entry includes a direct quotation suggests that he was taking notes during the session. (He is in the business of journalism, after all.)

Intéressant, n'est-ce pas?

I've contacted M. Rappaz to see if he's willing to help us try to reconstruct Eason Jordan's remarks in more detail. I'll let you know what I find out.