Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Afghanistan - 2 women brutally murdered by the Taliban while AP filmed. And ethics?, by Noémie Cournoyer
On the evening of July 12, 2008, two unidentified Afghan women talk among themselves a few minutes before being executed by the Taliban in the province of Ghazni, Afghanistan
Sunday, July 13, the locals watch the two women killed by the Afghan Taliban (AP Photo/Rahmatullah Naikzad) (original here)
This page of the AP suggests that Rahmatullah Naikzad also shot a video of the killing of two women. [Update: Yes, he did. Video added to the end]
We wish to remind AP that the Taliban have invited a journalist in the assassination means that they wanted the news is disseminated. AP has clearly been used as a tool of propaganda by the Taliban.
Does this fact of the photographer or an accomplice only a witness to the crime? When you know that a crime is about to be committed, did not you a moral and ethical obligation to try to prevent this crime? Even if you are a journalist? Even if all you do is try to alert authorities - in this case, someone in the Afghan government or NATO?
A quick search of Rahmatullah Naikzad photos on Yahoo News seems to indicate that it is very friendly with the Taliban. Most of the photos show Taliban fighters posing for the AP photographer. Par exemple : For example:
(AP Photo/Rahmatullah Naikzad) (original here)
Naikzad seems to have been incorporated into the Taliban during the day, before the two women were murdered. The photo below, taken by Naikzad, this legend: 
Some Taliban militants face covered train before they have executed two women in the Afghan province of Ghazni, Afghanistan, Saturday, July 12, 2008 (original here)
You will notice by the caption under the photo first on top of this page that has clearly been taken at night a few minutes before the two women were murdered. The second photo above, showing the bodies of two women, was clearly taken the day after the murder of two women. This means that Rahmatullah Naikzad has spent at least 24 hours with the Taliban!
What did Rahmatullah Naikzad to prevent the murder of two women? Or, what does it now to help find the killers? I would be surprised if the answer is something other than nothing.
Again, AP provides assistance and encouragement to the enemy. This time, a group on the U.S. list of foreign terrorist organizations and to which several Security Council resolutions prohibit providing any assistance.
AP receive there a Pulitzer Prize this time?
Thanks to Phyllis Chessler for reporting the photo.
UPDATE: If you remember, AP had tried to excuse the photos that Bilal Hussein had taken two "insurgents" laying on the body of murdered hostage Salvatore Santoro claiming he had been forcibly taken by the terrorists who showed him the body after Santoro was killed. This time, AP has no such excuse.
If we accept the version of AP about the photos of Santoro by Bilal Hussein, then photos of Rahmatullah Naikzad are clearly worse than those of Hussein! He witnessed the murder of two women!
UPDATE II: It is getting worse. A video was produced by Naikzad (below). It's terrible. The two women were murdered overnight, then it's not visually graphic, but the sound is terrible. You can hear one of the women scream after the first bullets have been fired.
It's official: The AP has now replaced al Jazeera as official media to disseminate videos of terrorists.
UPDATE III: AllahP great case of violation by AP of its own ethical standards. Also note his views on the difference between the anti-Jihad websites showing these images and territory "neutral" by AP showed.
The essential point here is the context in which photos / videos are shown.
In the context of this blog, it is clear that the photos are intended to demonstrate this terrible evil that we are fighting. But when AP decides to use neutral terms to contextualize the photos, a limit is crossed to a moral relativism which is more than merely unpatriotic. It is downright disgusting!
Instead of calling the Taliban what they are - criminals of war and unlawful combatants primae faciea - they refer to simply as "militants". Worse, they allow the Taliban to choose words to describe the horrible murder of two women - an execution.
The more I think about it, this suggests that AP is worse than al-Jazeera. Remember when we were all outraged by Al-Jazeera showing videos produced by terrorists? The video was filmed terrorist by the AP.
UPDATE IV : Drew M : No word yet on whether AP will continue if the Taliban are using photos or extracts from its history on their sites to recruit jihadists.
UPDATE V : Pirate’s Cove raises the final question: Are all these feminist groups left that we never hear about the plight of women in Islam denounce what the AP did?
WARNING: AP explicit video showing the killing of two women by the Taliban
See online: The Jawa Report, by Dr. Rusty Shackleford, July 14, 2008
Labels: Afghanistan, Islam, Noémie Cournoyer, Secularism, Sharia
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