Editor's Log

It's the media's fault

Court-martialed Lynndie England reportedly gave an interview in England to a German weekly magazine in which she blamed the media for all her legal problems and for the deaths of "thousands" in Iraq. Apparently the ex-MP at the infamous Abu-Ghraib prison in Iraq who photographed prisoner abuse and was in photos abusing prisoners still has not gotten the message that she violated military law. She contends the photos were used to incite insurgents to attack Americans troops. "If the media hadn't exposed the pictures to that extent then thousands of lives would have been saved," the misguided ex-soldier said while being entertained in England by the German magazine. Maybe the woman should take responsibility for her actions and accept what she did led to increased Iraqi hostility. After all, she was one of 11 U.S. soldiers convicted of crimes relating to those photos, which the military attempted to hide even from Congress. She also was the one who got a huge break and was released from jail a year ago after serving only 18 months of a three-year sentence. England even blames the government for not coming to her aid. England's attitude seems to be the new defense for people who violate the law: blame the media for reporting it. Nearly weekly either a person comes into my office or calls me to ask or demand their name be omitted from police or court reports. They always say the report will cause them embarrassment or cost them their job. The answer is always "no,"we won't keep it out of the paper. And, the person asking for special treatment should realize the report won't cause them problems, it's their action in committing the offense is what will cause them problems. As an example, if you don't want your name in the paper for drunken driving, don't drive drunk.