Hustler takes Rumsfeld to court
2002-01-05 08:52
Washington - A lawyer for Hustler publisher Larry Flynt asked a judge on Friday to order the Pentagon to let the magazine's reporters accompany
American troops on combat missions in Afghanistan.
"The press has always been able to accompany troops into
battle," Flynt said after the hearing before US District Judge
Paul Friedman. "If I win, everyone wins."
Flynt first asked October 30 for access to US military ground
operations in Afghanistan, and repeated his request November 12. He filed his lawsuit November 16, after Pentagon spokesperson Victoria Clarke, citing the "highly dangerous and unique nature" of the
operations, offered Flynt access only to such operations as
humanitarian food drops and airstrikes.
The lawsuit asks the court to establish that the Constitution's
guarantee of a free press means reporters have a right to document
front line hostilities firsthand, albeit subject to rules that
might limit the number of reporters allowed or censor some of what
they write. While acknowledging that not all missions could
reasonably accommodate reporters without compromising their safety
or success, the suit also asks that the Pentagon be required to
clearly outline how those decisions will be made.
With Flynt watching from the plaintiff's table and few in the
audience, his lawyer Paul Cambria argued that combat operations
have always included reporters, until 1983 when US officers tried
to bar journalists from the Grenada invasion. He cited famous World
War II photographs of the Normandy landing and of US Marines
raising the flag at Iwo Jima.
Such access has benefited the nation, Cambria argued: By letting
the public see soldiers' sacrifices, they can better judge the war
effort.
Cambria called the Pentagon's current method of handling media
requests "arbitrary and whimsical".
Government lawyers contended the media have no constitutional
right to battlefield access.
Arguing on behalf of the Pentagon, Justice Department attorney
John Griffiths noted that reporters have more access to troops now
than when Flynt first made his request and filed suit.
Then, soldiers were entering Afghanistan only in small numbers
on highly specialised missions that could be endangered by the
presence of reporters.
Now that hundreds of Marines and other military forces are
stationed within the country, some restrictions on reporters are
being lifted. Nothing is preventing Hustler from sending writers to
Afghanistan to cover the conflict, Griffiths said.
Since the military campaign began, reporters have been allowed
aboard US aircraft carriers where bombing missions are launched,
and have also flown on airplanes that delivered humanitarian food
supplies to Afghanistan. Separately, some news organisations have
stationed reporters inside Afghanistan to cover the war from the
ground, but until recently none was allowed to accompany US
special operations troops.
The case is Flynt v Rumsfeld.
- Sapa-AP
- SAPA