by Jennifer C. Hunt

Brooklyn photojournalists Chris Hondros and Tim Hetherington, the co-director of the  documentary “Restrepo,” were killed in Misrata when Khadafy‘s forces shelled the city.

Four New York Times reporters are also missing in action.

Several months prior to these photographers’ death, I had lunch with a young photojournalist who had been among those beaten up during the demonstration in Egypt.  I listened, fearful for his safety, as he told me about some of his plans for his next expedition. In another conversation with a second photographer who had taken pictures of me for Financial Times UK, we talked of his adventures in dangerous areas in the Middle East and the risks he was willing to take to get his stories. I offered to share any contacts I had if he decides to go to Afghanistan or Iraq.  I suddenly saw his eyes in the handsome face of one of the missing journalists.  I wonder where my friend is now and if he is safe.

Since I read Dispatches in the 1960′s I’ve admired war journalists and photographers. At times I’ve even gone so far as to fancy myself as one of them although I don’t think I have the courage to do their jobs – racing sometimes alone or with their translators, carrying cameras and recorders and paper and pens but no weapons, through firefights and bombings, death and destruction…

Just yesterday, I was showing the movie The Killing Fields to members of one of my classes. I’m watching the rest of the film here at home tonight.

Soon, as  I recall, the journalist’s translator, Tram, will be depicted in the film, running through the rice fields, falling among the hundreds and thousands of bodies killed by the Kymer Rouge. That image has been implanted in my head since the film came out sometimes in the 1980′s.

I don’t know how many combat translators die while supporting their patrons’ efforts to cover the news and helping to get them out of  jams that require native cultural expertise. I know there are more than a few.

The translators are the unspoken heroes along with the journalists and photographers who risk their lives to bring us news and attempt to maintain the transparency inside and outside the U.S. that is required to maintain a democracy and be informed about world events.

Thank you Chris and Tim. I am sorry for your families and close friends. Your deaths are a loss to all of us in New York, in the U.S. and around the world.

See my guest post in the wonderful blog by Eric and Michael Cummings.

http://onviolence.com/

Khalid Sheik Mohammed and four alleged co-conspirators accused of organizing the Sept. 11, 2001, will be tried in a military court, possibly at Guantanamo.

We have a criminal justice system that is not perfect but has worked satisfactorily to assure the  rights of the accused while bringing terrorists to justice.

To me, the decision that the 9/11 suspects can’t be tried in the criminal justice system underscores the lack of faith that many in the U.S. have in democracy.

It was foolish to propose that the trial be held in New York City. It would have cost taxpayers too much.  It would have created even more tension, fear and a painful reliving of events than did the Air force One plane that sped across the Manhattan skyline in a photo-op that New Yorkers weren’t warned about.

The trial could have been held somewhere else.

Meanwhile, the religious zealot who burned the Koran in Florida and is causing havoc in Afghanistan has the protection of the U.S. constitution. There is no law against burning bibles, flags, or Korans.

Apparently, his actions couldn’t be interpreted as a hate crime.

In my mind he is no different from the Taliban in his fundamentalist belief and the rage and fury that informs his black and white view of the world and his grandiose sense that he, and only he, has insight into the correct interpretation of the Muslim religion as well, I suspect, as Christianity.

Something odd is happening in the Seattle P.D. or maybe something has been happening for a long time and I just hadn’t heard anything about it.

The Justice Department is planning to conduct an investigation of the Seattle P.D. after a series of incidents in which police have been accused of brutality and discriminating against minorities.

Apparently, a an officer shot a woodcarver and member of the First Nations of Canada. The victim had limited hearing and was frequently drunk. I haven’t seen a report of the shooting. The officer was not charged although the Department found that the shooting was not justified.

Other incidents involving use of nonlethal force against minority members of the community have also angered citizens who have called for the federal investigation.

Yet, historically, as far as I know, the Seattle P.D. has had a reputation of having positive relationships with members of some minority communities, at least.

In the wake of 9/11 the Seattle and Portland Police Departments both refused to cooperate with the FBI in their efforts to interrogate Arab Americans with temporary visas regarding their knowledge of terrorism. The police department believed that this sort of interviewing constituted profiling and would harm their relationship with the community, increasing lack of trust and ultimately undermining their ability to gather intelligence regarding future terrorist plots.

The Police Department in Dearborn, Michigan took a different stance. Concerned with damaging their relationships with the Arab American community there, they also refused to participate in the interviews with the FBI. However, they agreed to help the FBI locate relevant parties and accompany them on the interviews, “monitoring” them to ensure that relevant parties understood that participation was voluntary.

A number of police departments across the U.S. worked alongside the FBI or conducted the relevant interviews, to the detriment, I believe, of their relationships with the Arab American community.

What the above has to do with the current allegations of police abuse of force against minorities in Seattle I’m not sure.

However, I’ll be curious what the investigation reveals.