Angry Little Tree

From Chris Allbriton, the BackToIraq guy who’s acting as an independent, reader-funded reporter on Mideast issues…

I have no doubt there are horrible things going on, and that U.S. soldiers are doing some of them. But I’m unwilling to report on them unless I can get some confirmation. And when it comes to showing photos of Iraqi women allegedly being raped, I’m damn well not going to print something without it being rock solid. To do otherwise is to invite attacks on troops, the brutalizing of American captives — including journalists — and nasty reprisals by the Americans leading to more Iraqi deaths. I want as few people dead as possible.

This comes in the context of continuing allegations about prisoner abuse by US and british troops in Iraq. While there’s a lot of solid proof coming out that nasty stuff has happened, and Chris has been covering it, a new round of ‘photos’ in circulation is actually from an Arab-themed porn site rather than actual prisons in Iraq. Needless to say, circulating those photos as the real thing would be a tremendous journalistic breach of integrity.It’s refreshing and encouraging to see someone stand up for truth rather than a particular side.

Read his latest news post. It captures why I’m proud to support his work.