We know that it is dangerous for journalists in Iraq, just ask David Bloom, Lara Logan, Bob Woodruff and Jill Carroll. You know, the ones that stepped out of the Green Zone. But the dangers to journalists are not solely from "insurgents", "terrorists" or whatever the White House wants to refer to as the "enemy in Iraq".
The U.S. military has been holding an Iraqi photographer working for The Associated Press since April, and the agency asked on Sunday that he either be charged or released.
Bilal Hussein, 35, was taken into U.S. military custody on April 12 in the Iraqi city of Ramadi and has been held since then without charge, AP said.
"Bilal Hussein has been held in violation of Iraqi law and in disregard to the Geneva Conventions. He must be charged under the Iraqi system or released immediately," said Tom Curley, AP president and chief executive.
AP said its own examination "had produced no evidence that Hussein had done anything to justify holding him" and that it was making its request public because all other efforts had failed to secure his release. Read on...
So if Bush gets his way, Hussein can remain in prison indefinitely and go to trial without knowing what he's charged with or what evidence there is against him. This White House has had a fairly testy relationship with the press from the beginning, but this is ridiculous.