41

Disgusted

by Whaleoil on January 22, 2010

The antics of The Herald and Dompost in their little exercise of press freedom by publishing a photo of and naming Cpl. Willie Apiata VC are despicable.

John Roughan makes a weaselly excuse in the paper that holds about as much water as a colander. Little does he know that while the Afghan insurgents could see and atch them in the streets of Kabul they would have had little idea about who he actually was.

Now that the Herald, the Dompost, and to a certain extent the fools “Smile and Wave” Key and “Comfortable Shoes” Mapp have outed him they are all party to a conspiracy to condemn Cpl. Apiata VC to becoming a named target of the Taleban. What this means is that they will have put a bounty, literally on his head, to be captured alive or dead. Alive is better for them because the ensuing release of a video of a hero being bashed and beaten then made to read out a statement apologising to Allah and the people of Afghanistan will make better press than anything else they do.

The fact that John Roughan knows now’t about this shows just how out of touch cossetted repeaters are when they sit in their comfortable air-conditioned press rooms deciding on the life of a serving soldier.

I think that John Roughan should go up to Kabul in little else than his underpants and apologise to the SAS and to Cpl. Willie Apiata VC in person. Bet he doesn’t have the stones to do that.

It seems that in NZ it is ok to show photos identifying high profile Kiwi Soldier, but not cartoons depicting Allah, it is ok to out Cpl Apiata VC but not OK to name paedophiles.

If I had a subscription to the Herald I would cancel it. Meanwhile if “Comfortable Shoes” Mapp could fall on his sword that would be helpful.

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  • Just Trolling

    So, in other words… You want his identity suppressed?

    • thanks for whaleoil

      you have no brains Just Trolling.You just think you do.Ever been in the force mate.

      • The Banker

        Just Trolling your a f**king idiot!

  • StraightshooterJeff

    What is interesting is that the French reporter stated he saw NZ SAS coming out of the building where the fight had been but our Prime Minister states the NZ SAS were not directly involved.
    Why is the NZDF so determined to distance itself from the fact that our SAS combat soldiers are actually involved in combat? You don't deploy the SAS to run tea parties. It's their job to seek and destroy/kill. Harsh fact but a fact none the less.
    As for Corp Willy. Leave him the hell alone. He is doing a job that the vast majority of use either wouldn't do, couldn't phyically or mentally do but has to be done.

  • Aaron

    The issue goes deeper than the Herald.
    Why did that smiling idiot John Key actually come out in the media and say that NZ was deploying the SAS to Afgan in the first place?
    There was no need apart from vanity, to let that little cat out of the bag,

    We already had troops deployed there on a rotating basis, nothing needed to be said to the media about what unit was going, or for what purpose, in fact Operation Security would caution against identifying that kind of information in the open press, so that the enemy couldn't gain intelligence about NZDF dispositions for the price of a newspaper.
    But let's not get too caught up in John Key's original gargantuan stuff up for a moment.

    The Herald 'could' have very easily blacked out the faces of the soldiers in the photo, they chose not to out of vanity, greed and ignorance.
    There has been a long standing tradition of blacking out the faces of pictures of SAS soldiers, in training or on Ops.
    Why has that suddenly changed?
    The decision then to name one of the soldiers in the photo because they could, is nothing short of criminal.
    Usually the Herald is a mouthpiece for the National Party, so one can only assume they are having a lover's tiff at the moment and Ms Herald decided to stick it to her boyfriend Mr Key by publishing the pics with names.

    Of course the government 'could' have come out and said that whoever decided the picture was of Apiata was on crack, there would have been speculation, in the meantime they could have got Apiata back to NZ and produced pics of him on a training exercise in Waiouru … or something.
    Instead the f-tard PM of the country comes out and confirms it!

    Thanks Donkey, you've just helped the insurgents in Afgan identify a high value target, and worse still not only somewhat increased his risk factor, but massively increased the risk factor of his family back here in New Zealand.
    Ohhh I'm sure there are NO Taleban sympethizers here right, right?

    It could have all been handled so much better.
    A foreign photographer snaps a picture, and another reporter says that New Zealand 'Commandoes' were at the scene of an incident in Afghanistan.
    Had the PM not come out a while ago and said the NZDF was pulling it's reconstruction teams out and replacing them with SAS troops, then the damage control would have been easy.

    The PM could have done what he does best, and go in front of the Media and lie.
    He could have then said, no NZ doesn't deploy Special Operations units to Afghanistan, I can confirm however that well trained New Zealand Soldiers were called to the scene of the incident to assist the local Afghan forces, due to the high level of training of New Zealand troops I can see how a foreign journalist might confuse them with 'commandos'.

    There would have been guesses, but that's as far as it would have gone.

    So ultimately, at this point, if something happens to Apiata or his family because of this fiasco, blood will be on the hands of the PM and the people responsible that work for the Herald.
    Of course if, god forbid something does go wrong because of this, both responsible parties will capitalise on it for their own greedy ends, and hand on heart say they had nothing to do with it.

    Revolted doesn't begin to cover the way this situation has gone down.

    • Mike

      nice piece Aaron all up to the point where you suggested Key lie.That isn't a good strategy albeit CLARKE spent 9 yrs lying.
      You cannot cover up the fact SAS were there. I am not 100% sure that they wear national flag emblem but regular force dont grow beards.

      • Aaron

        I know that the RF don't grow beards, but honestly how many of the general public know that?
        It would have been an easy situation to get the MOD to come out and say that due whatever reason (varying climate, local custom … whatever) that the NZDF have allowed modified grooming standards to troops on deployment to Afghanistan.

        It may not be a story that completely holds water, but it turns a story of deffinate NZSAS involvement into a speculative piece on possible NZSAS involvement.
        In other words it turns fact in into possibility, and possibility with alternative answers.
        Lying is a time honoured tradition amongst politicians, lying would/should have been easy for Key.

        Any which way you cut it, the situation has been abismally handled by the government.

        With regards to National flag, i'm not sure either, but it is likely that they do for indentification means.

        • Ethical Martini

          So in other words Aaron you're in favour of the government lying to citizens. I suppose you'd also condemn the news media (or perhaps even bloggers like WO) who then call them on it. How is the "national interest" different from the "public interest". Sovereignty resides in us – citizens – not in the apparatus of the state.
          It is NEVER OK for the government to lie to its citizens, that is the road to fascism.
          Of course governments lie all the time and the media will often repeat those lies word for word. Just because it happens, doesn't make it right

          • Aaron

            Is it ok for the government to lie to citizens is a moot point, except in abstract ethical arguments.
            This discussion is not about an abstract idea, but about a real world issue that could have been handled differently.
            With regards to ethics, our politicians (no matter what persaution) leave a lot to be desired.
            The government lies to citizens everyday.
            Fascism is one potential side affect of that tendancy I agree, but considering some of the other semi-facist things that our government inflicts on us, lying is one of their lesser crimes.

            How does the media and the government spouting off about Willie Apiata being deployed to Afghanistan help the national interest?
            Answer, not one bit.

            How does the media and/or the government spouting off about on-going operations of a covert/semi-covert military unit in an active warzone help the national interest?
            Answer, not one bit.

            So in what way has New Zealand as a whole been helped by the Herald's selfish choice, and the PM's 'special' decision to go public with all of this?
            Is your life any better today than it was a week ago?
            I know mine isn't, so I'm taking a stab here and saying that New Zealand as a whole has not benefitted, thus the Media and PMs decisions were not made to help the best interests of the citizens of this country.

            What has happened is a bunch of vultures in the media got to feel like they were richeous for outting something, and then the PM has been able to feel like a big man because he can get the SAS to do stuff.
            They are the only winners in this situation.

            Agree with me or not, I don't care.
            What I do know is that John Key lies about things everyday (he is a politician after all), so couldn't he have put his lying talents to some use for a change by saying something that 'might' have helped protect Willie Apiata and his family from potential problems?
            Or is that too much to ask of the Donkey?
            I guess it was.

  • oldgolfer

    I'd love to be a fly on the wall in the subscriptions office at the Herald now; I bet the phone is ringing off the hook. Nothing shakes an editor more than management telling them how many papers were cancelled because of a certain story or editorial stance. Roughan won't sound so cock-sure when he's called in for a please-explain.

    • Bored

      Yes, nothing hits a business where it hurts quite like a handful of people pretending to withdraw their non-existent custom.

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  • http://www.democracymum.co.nz democracymum

    The MSM's duplicity in revealing Apiata's identity is sickening. Particularly as they are publishing his photo under the guise of "news" and "journalism."

    A VC recipient would be a sort after prize in Afghanistan. For their sake they better hope he doesn't come home in a body bag.

  • jagilby

    I agree completely that photos and names of soldiers should not be published.

    However, I have to say that hearing of the exploits that have come out today has really increased the, already very high, respect I have for our armed forces.
    Why can't we document these exploits more (in the absence of naming or identifying individual soldiers)? Perhaps after a conflict is complete?

    I'll admit a fair amount of ignorance to full blown conflict (being generation Y and never being involved in service). Surely giving people a better understanding of the commitment our defence force shows would give us a shot in the arm of pride and perhaps disuade idiots burning flags etc on ANZAC day.

    Documenting these brave, humble men in our society has got to be better than the current crop of "celebrities" and the fawning over these false idols who offer nothing constructive to society.
    Time to shine the light on some real role models me thinks.

    • http://intensedebate.com/people/fifthcolumn fifthcolumn

      Soldiers are butchers. What's the difference between a Taliban killer and a NZ killer?????

      • http://intensedebate.com/people/Titan_Uranus Titan_Uranus

        Well, I guess NZ servicemen/women are yet to behead persons they don`t like in the street,I`m sure NZ servicemen and women are`nt opposed to the education of female children and we have yet to see a NZ member of the armed forces blow themselves up in a crowded market place, where the most likely casualties are going to be women and children.
        But I really don`t expect your feeble little mind to understand the difference.
        Rightly or wrongly we have NZ personnel in a combat zone trying to help the people of Afghanistan, if you knew anything of the history of the NZ armed forces in overseas conflicts ,you would know how well regarded NZ troops are by the local populace.

        • Bored

          I suppose decades of being in the rear with the gear, handing out sparkles, has got to score brownie points with someone.

          • Mike

            5th column take some time off the dak and read a little about the Taliban then you could move into the realms of whabbism and the road to AlQaeda.Then If you like you can pop over to some of these muslim countries and start asking questions about them I mean if they have nothing to hide they should be very hospitable toward you. Before you leave I would however highly recommend to say goodbye to those whom you hold dear.
            As intro find one who speaks English and say something like ' Hi, Salem Alakum ,I am interested where I may find some to talk to me about a Jihad that has been called by some clergy in Islam ?'

          • http://intensedebate.com/people/fifthcolumn fifthcolumn

            Two things.
            One, I've seen the sharp end and I ve found that once things kick off it starts to get hard to tell who's the BAD GUY and who's the GOOD GUY.
            Two, I've spent a great deal of time in the Muslim world and there's a great deal more room for dialogue than a lot of newspaper headlines would have you believe.

  • Willie rocks

    I agree wholeheartedly that the media should not have published the photo – no matter who the actual soldiers were. However, I think it is pretty clear that the Herald first published the photo without recognising Corporal Apiata. Now they are back tracking. They surely would not have published the shot had they realised who was in it. I guess it is a bit like Prince Harry serving over there. Obviously not on the same scale but any notable combatant that the Taliban could get their hands on would be major PR victory for them. I see no real choice now but for the NZDF to bring him home.

  • Richard

    No cartoons depicting allah, and no naming of paedophiles. And it says in the "holy" koran that anything said or done against the "prophet" is something said or done against allah, and vice versa. So mentioning the fact that the "prophet" mohammed was a lying, thieving, murdering rapist and paedophile piece of scum is also not allowed in NZ? But we're allowed to put in jeopardy the very people who are protecting our freedom from the scumbags who want to inflict Islam (or slavery or death) on all of us? That's just fucked up.

  • Theresaj

    good post Richard….has there been anything in our papers about Geert Wilders trial? I don't suppose so. If there is anything it will be pro islam.

  • http://intensedebate.com/people/AuntieDrea AuntieDrea

    I have just cancelled my subscription to the Herald and told them exactly why i was doing so. Journalism in this country has reached an all time low with the publishing of the photo of the SAS officers

    • http://intensedebate.com/people/fifthcolumn fifthcolumn

      LOL. Are you serious? Why have a Herald subscription in the first place???

  • http://intensedebate.com/people/AuntieDrea AuntieDrea

    Very well said Aaron.

  • Monty

    Good luck to the rags-heads trying to catch Willie – I know who I would beack when it comes down to a scuffle – and I am sure Wilie andhis mates will be the ones returning with a Trophy.

    Of course the media are stupid pricks and this has back-fired on them.

  • mjmeleisea

    Yeah interesting what straightshooterjeff said. I found it strange myself to hear denials from our gummint and then this happens. Our boys are fighting the good fight in afghanistan and have been snapped by the foriegn media, only to be outed by our useless media

  • alex Masterley

    The Herald and Stuff have stuffed up big time. They will not be popular with the Army or other groups such as the AOS, who coould be potentially identified by those idiots.

    Monty I agree with you about who would come out on top in a scuffle.

    Looking at the picture closely WA's eyes tell a story and the weapon he is holding looks decidedly well used.

    As an aside the weapons sights seem to be those with the biblcal references as well.

    • Bob

      Actually those sights appear to be Aimpoint sights, rather than the Trijicon ACOG sights with the biblical references.

  • Adrian

    Dom Post is far worse than Herald, they ran a cropped and hugely blown up picture of Willie today even after the disquiet over yesterdays effort. Great way to treat a genuine hero.

  • Paul Whitehead

    Copy of Email to the Editor of the Dom.The Editor.

    Why didn’t you paint a target on their backs as well?

    You bloody idiot!!!

    If for any of these brave soldiers die because of your irresponsible actions you should be charged with manslaughter at the least.

  • Grim

    But does it really surprise anybody that the idiots in the media decided to publish those photos, I mean all they ar ereally after is a way to sell the story and hence their publication. So who cares if a soldier or two gets killed in the process, in NZ it has never been a time honoured tradition to look after those souls who are prepared to stand in harms way. And I for three would not be betting against Willie and the they train hard and are there to do a job so lets just let them get on with it. But I am guessing the Taleban will be sending the Dom and the herald thank you notes.

  • itsatrap

    The government has committed New Zealand troops to fight in a foreign war using money from New Zealand taxpayers.

    Consequently, I have no problem with the broadsheets publishing these photos. They simply document the truth of our involvement in Afghanistan.

  • Mike Smith

    The whole SAS secrecy thing is just a lie that's perpetuated to maintain the myth about special forces being "special".

    • http://intensedebate.com/people/fifthcolumn fifthcolumn

      It absolutely is!!!

      • http://intensedebate.com/people/Titan_Uranus Titan_Uranus

        Wankers

        • Bored

          The sad thing is there is always some sad twat with nothing better to do than be offended at whatever takes their fancy.

  • Theresaj

    Fifthcolumn..Who paid for the freedom you currently enjoy?

    • http://intensedebate.com/people/fifthcolumn fifthcolumn

      I'm not sure that I understand what your question has to do with the OP. Care to explain?

  • fifthcolumn

    One thing that does get overlooked is how little coverage NZ’s efforts in Afghanistan get from NZ media. I mean for better or worse New Zealand is at war and you might never know from you daily TV, radio or newspaper. Our media agencies, to the best of my knowledge have NO PRESENCE on the ground in Afganistan.