Congressional Record
U.S. Senate
December 6, 2006

Iraq's Toll Of Slain Journalists
Continues To Rise

Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, Iraq is a dangerous and chaotic place for our brave American soldiers there, for our coalition partners, and for Iraqi families who must struggle just to make it safely through each day. It is also a perilous place for the journalists who attempt to cover the situation on the ground. They are at the front of the front lines of this conflict, and the dispatches from Iraq produced by representatives of a free and independent press are a vital conduit of information that helps the American people--and their representatives in government--to make more informed decisions. These are print reporters, television correspondents, photo journalists and the other professionals who help journalists in gathering and transmitting the news.

We learned in recent days of the deaths of two more news professionals. Raad Jaafar Hamadi, a journalist with the daily Al Sabah, was shot dead in his car in the east of Baghdad on November 22. Fadhila Abdelkarim, an administrative staff worker of TV station Nainawa, was shot outside her home in Mosul on November 26.

American media professionals have been among the casualties. They are as well known to us as NBC correspondent David Bloom, and those who we will never know by their bylines or on our TV screens. Director General Koichiro Matsuura of the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization--UNESCO--this week noted that the number of media professionals killed in Iraq continues to grow unabated, and that ``since January more than 35 journalists have paid with their lives for their determination to fulfill their mission.''

According to Reporters without Borders--RSF--137 journalists and media assistants have been killed in Iraq since the start of the war in 2003, while 51 have been kidnapped. According to RSF, four of the kidnap victims are still being held hostage.

Some in the administration have chosen over the years to disparage the journalists serving in Iraq--for instance, labeling them ``lazy'' or unwilling to leave their bureaus or hotels.

The reality is far different. Day after day, journalists in Iraq face, and accept, incredible dangers just to do their jobs. As news professionals on one of the most challenging and important news beats on the planet, they deserve great credit for their courage and their commitment, and they deserve our appreciation.

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