The Iraq Story CBS Won't Televise

AlterNet has the story about Lara Logan's Iraq piece that CBS won't televise. She's their chief foreign correspondent, so it's rather unusual that they wouldn't run her story. You can watch it on the CBS site. CBS claims the images are too "strong" for the evening news, but AlterNet sees this as another example of the media bowing to pressure from the Bush administration not to show the reality of what is happening in Iraq.

From AlterNet:

The segment in question -- "Battle for Haifa Street" -- is a piece of first-rate journalism but one that appears only on the CBS News website -- and has never been broadcast. It is a gritty, realistic look at life on the very mean streets of Baghdad and includes interviews with civilians who complain that the U.S. military presence is only making their lives worse and the situation more deadly.

"They told us they would bring democracy, they promised life would be better than it was under Saddam," one told Logan. "But they brought us nothing but death and killing. They brought mass destruction to Baghdad."

Several bodies are shown in the two-minute segment, "some with obvious signs of torture," as Logan points out. She also notes that her crew had to flee for their lives when they we were warned of an impending attack. While fleeing, another civilian was killed before their eyes.

This is the text of the email from Lara Logan that AlterNet received and that inspired this story:

From: lara logan
Subject: help

The story below only appeared on our CBS website and was not aired on CBS. It is a story that is largely being ignored, even though this is taking place every single day in central Baghdad, two blocks from where our office is located.

Our crew had to be pulled out because we got a call saying they were about to be killed, and on their way out, a civilian man was shot dead in front of them as they ran.

I would be very grateful if any of you have a chance to watch this story and pass the link on to as many people you know as possible. It should be seen. And people should know about this.

If anyone has time to send a comment to CBS -- about the story -- not about my request, then that would help highlight that people are interested, and this is not too gruesome to air, but rather too important to ignore.

Many, many thanks.

Read the whole article.

Tags: CBS News, Iraq, Iraq War, Lara Logan, AlterNet, Battle for Haifa Street