Eason Jordan Responds

Carol Platt Liebau has posted a statement from Eason Jordan (Hat tip: Captain's Quarters)

"To be clear, I do not believe the U.S. military is trying to kill journalists in Iraq. I said so during the forum panel discussion. But, nonetheless, the U.S. military has killed several journalists in Iraq in cases of mistaken identity. The reason the word "targeted" came up at all is because I was responding to a comment by Congressman Franks, who said he believed the 63 journalists killed in Iraq were the victims of"collateral damage." Since three of my CNN colleagues and many other journalists have been killed on purpose in Iraq, I disputed the"collateral damage" statement, saying, unfortunately, many journalists-- not all -- killed in Iraq were indeed targeted. When someone aims a gun at someone and pulls the trigger and then learns later the person fired at was actually a journalist, an apology is appropriate and is accepted, and I believe those apologies to be genuine. But such a killing is a tragic case of mistaken identity, not a case of "collateral damage." That is the distinction I was trying to make even if I did not make it clearly at the time. Further, I have worked closely with the U.S. military for months in an effort to achieve a mutual goal: keeping journalists in Iraq safe and alive."

This seems to essentially be a restatement of the statement issued by CNN to several bloggers earlier today. Except now he is claiming he was misunderstood rather than the comments being taken out of context.

Even if journalists were being targeted, wouldn't it make more sense that the terrorists would be targeting journalists? It would certainly be a great way to grab a lot of attention especially among media outlets that have definite anti-war biases.

Captain Ed also points out that this isn't the first time Jordan has made such outrageous accusations.

Mr. Jordan still has a lot of explaining to do. So does CNN.

UPDATE - 12:10AM - Rebecca McKinnon at RConversation has posted a reply from Eason Jordan. It appears to be essentially the same staement that was given to Carol Platt Liebau.

Meanwhile, Captain Ed has several questions for Mr. Jordan to answer.