« Rosh Hashanah - 5767 | Main | If I Forget Thee O' Jerusalem »

September 25, 2006

Steven Vincent - Still in the Red Zone

Steven Vincent was a great and courageous American journalist who was tortured and murdered by Jihadists in Iraq.

Whereas mainstream journalists stayed tucked safely in the Green Zone and filed stories that were gathered and written by Iraqi stringers, Steven Vincent bravely went into the heart of the beast. He wanted to tell the truth. For this he paid with his life.

Journalists everywhere should remember Steven Vincent and hold him up as a shining example of a journalist who put truth above ideology.

Here is Kesher's extraordinary memorial to Steven, a blogblast that Seraphic Secret proudly took part in.

Seraphic Friend David Paulin writes a fine piece about the very short memory of the NY Times.

And a fine follow up article, Snubbed Again.

And here, Steven's widow, Lisa Ramaci writes to NY Times journalist Edward Wong, reminding Wong of Steven's life, work, and of his cruel death.

Dear Mr. Wong,

I am writing regarding your article, Iraq Stumbling in Bid to Purge Its Rogue Police, in Sunday's Times. I must say, although the article was extremely well-researched and written, I am both puzzled and dismayed by the fact that you did not bother to mention Steven's name in it. Given that he broke the story about the rising infiltration of the Basra police force by these rogue elements, and given that he literally gave his life for it, I would have thought a reference to him would not have been out of line, and would indeed have been a graceful and well-deserved tribute to his courage.

But for some reason the Times seems to have totally forgotten about Steven; it's as if he didn't exist, didn't write for them, didn't die as a direct result of an op-ed the paper published. I think now of the series of articles by Michael Moss and David Rohde that ran in May, beginning with Misjudgments Marred US Plans for Iraqi Police, and going on from there. Again, in those thousands of words, not one mention was made of Steven. Not since October 2005, in Kirk Semple's piece from Basra, has there been any real acknowledgment of him; the last time he was mentioned (in passing) in some Times article about Iraq, his name was misspelled. In Ali Fadhil's recent op-ed Iraq's Endangered Journalists, Fadhil actually had the audacity to claim that "foreign reporters have the advantage of being considered untouchable by the Iraqi police and security forces." Dear God, does no one remember history any more? He was only killed a year ago, not in the Mesozoic era!

Was it because he was only a freelancer? Do his kidnapping and murder not matter because he was not employed by some major media organization? Are the facts too unsavory? I can only ascribe this blanket silence of him and the circumstances of his death to those realities. But he was one of you, even if he did not get a steady paycheck, and for you all to close ranks and seemingly agree to pretend he never even existed is absolutely shameful. What would it have taken for you to make a brief reference to him and the circumstances of his death? How many words would it have added? Fadhil, Moss and Rohde never met him, so perhaps their omission is somewhat understandable, but you - you spent time with him, ate with him, talked with him. There is no way you could not remember Steven - he wasn't the kind of guy you can put out of your mind that easily.

You wrote in your lovely email below how much you admired him, but it seems you have forgotten how highly you lauded him one year ago, and now no longer even feel the need to mention his name. However, I take comfort in knowing there are people out there in the blog universe, people I have never even met, who admired Steven and who still do, and who are not afraid or unwilling to write about him despite his mere freelancer status. I refer you to the following sites:

Big Carnival
SeraphicPress
Keshertalk

where you will see that there are still those who feel it important to remind the world of Steven's life and death. I am sure you are a very nice guy - I was touched by the flowers you and Alan sent for the funeral, and took comfort in the words you wrote below - but am very sorry to say I no longer believe them the way I once did. And that is a real shame.

Sincerely,

Lisa Ramaci

As of this morning, Wong has not replied to Lisa's letter.

This is the letter Edward Wong, edwongnyt@yahoo.com, wrote to Lisa Ramaci after Steven Vincent was murdered.

Hi Lisa,

This is Edward Wong, writing from Baghdad. The day we learned of Steven's death, I left a message on a New York number that Steven had given me when I met him in Basra in June. We haven't spoken yet, but I'm just writing to let you know that my thoughts are with you and Steven's other friends and family
members on this weekend, the weekend of his wake and funeral. I know you've spoken with Alan Chin, and he's probably told you that Steven left a remarkable impression on the two of us. We spent many evenings with Steven in Basra, talking for hours over dinners in the Marbid Hotel about the war. I was struck by Steven's strong viewpoints, but most of all by his willingness to set his feet on the ground here and see what was really going on in Iraq. What he sacrificed for the story is a price that no journalist should ever have to pay. But in Basra, I saw a man who was truly determined to make a difference with his work, and that's one of the highest callings one can aspire to. He was fulfilling that in his final days, and nothing filled him with more excitement than communicating to the world what he was seeing with his own eyes. I know that that is small consolation for his loss, but it might provide a little comfort in the darkest moments.

Perhaps we'll meet when I'm back in New York this fall. Please take care.

Best,
Edward Wong
The New York Times

And here is Steven Vincent's blog from Iraq that was the basis for his fine book, In the Red Zone.

Steven's book is still the finest work I've read about Iraq. Don't miss it.

We sincerely hope that Lisa Ramaci will find some measure of comfort knowing that there are thousands of good people who care deeply about her husband's life, death and extraordinary legacy.

Posted by Robert J. Avrech at September 25, 2006 10:34 AM

Comments

Seraphic Secret is private property, that's right, it's an extension of our home, and as such, Karen and I have instituted two Seraphic Rules and we ask commentors to act respectfully.

1. No profanity.

2. No Israel bashing. We debate, we discuss, we are respectful. You know what Israel bashing is. The world is full of it. Seraphic Secret is one of the few places in the world that will not tolerate this form of anti-Semitism.

That's it. Break either of these rules and you will be banned.

Posted by: Lisa at September 25, 2006 03:02 PM

Posted by: Robert J. Avrech at September 25, 2006 04:17 PM

Posted by: Yehudit at September 25, 2006 05:01 PM

Post a comment

Name:

Email Address:

Security Code:

URL:
Remember Me? YesNo

Comments: (you may use HTML tags for style)