Your wife is pregnant and the locals hate your kind...

[Marxist]

...do you troop off to Pakistan (where you don't speak all the languages) to cover a war for a business journal?

The easy answer is NO for me.

The blame for the death of Daniel Pearls lies with his killers but he should've thought about home for at least a moment before running off into a war zone.

 

[Mensa]

...do you troop off to Pakistan (where you don't speak all the languages) to cover a war for a business journal?

The easy answer is NO for me.

The blame for the death of Daniel Pearls lies with his killers but he should've thought about home for at least a moment before running off into a war zone.

If we start hiding under our beds, they win.

 

[Lasz]

True,
But you dont take reporters prisoner.
You just dont, reproters if they are from the west or what not you just dont take them prisoner.
WHy did they kill him? What message were they trying to get across?
The killers did have a reporter, insted of killing him have him interview you and send your message back to the rest of the world?
By killing Daniel Pearl, nothing was proven excpet that some people have no respect for life, and just dont follow the rules.

I was going to say more but I lost my track of thought......

 

[modest mouse]

Pearl made the fatal error of meeting his 'contacts' alone. His intuition proved wrong and the worst case scenario played out.

Pearl and the Wall Street Journal must have known the dangers and limitations he faced being a Jew in a country of turmoil with long standing animosity.

There is a reason a woman like Christiane Amanpour spends a great deal of time in the Middle East and sourrounding countries. She is more accepted as a Brit of Iranian descent. Shes knowledgable but also is aware of how she can use her heirtage to get a story.

Pearl should have been known of just the opposite, how his features and background were a hinderance.

Blame for his death is with the kidnappers but a recognition of the foolishness of his actions should be noted. The comments from other foreign reporters have been measured but they acknowledge he commited deep and tragic errors.

 

[Marxist]

True,
But you dont take reporters prisoner.
You just dont, reproters if they are from the west or what not you just dont take them prisoner.
WHy did they kill him? What message were they trying to get across?
The killers did have a reporter, insted of killing him have him interview you and send your message back to the rest of the world?
By killing Daniel Pearl, nothing was proven excpet that some people have no respect for life, and just dont follow the rules.

I was going to say more but I lost my track of thought......

I totally agree. They aren't rational in the least bit and deserve to be strangled with their own intestines.

 

[lovetoread]

He went out there to make a "name" for himself.

That was his motivation for leaving a pregnant wife and going to a country he knew nothing about.

I think that its a bad thing he was killed,dont get me wrong,but am I shocked? No,when it was made known that he was kidnapped,I thought well duh,what did he expect?

To go off alone to meet a group not known for their kindness is a stupid thing to do.

Does having a nametag identifying you as a journalist make you untouchable?

I only wish that we <the US> had a better way of taking care of our people who are kidnapped,other than asking the kidnappers.."Please will you let them go?"

We should have gone in, found him and rescued him.

 

[Andreina]

In today's world reports would almost do anything to get a breaking story. In Danny Pearl's case he was led by the idea of revealing a super-story... one that could maybe win him the Pulitzer prize. Being a war reporter isn't fun. Being a war reporter in the Middle East and being of Jewish descent is even less fun. Yes, it was fatal for him to meet his contacts/informants alone, but we will never know the exact circumstances of the story. Being a war reporter is a walk along the famous thin red line - do you risk or don't you? Errol Flynn's son was killed during the Vietnam war, many more killed during following wars around the globe. If he wouldn't have gone to Pakistan to research his story, somebody else would have done.
Today we are dependend on news, we are almost addicted to breaking news - some people have to pay price for that.

Halo

 

[Cherry]

I think ...

you are a little misinformed, Marxist.

The way I read various articles on the Washington Post, Daniel Pearl was offered an assignment in Afghanistan and he refused it because he didn't want to jeopardize his safety because of his impending child.

Additionally, his wife was on location with him at the time.

They are both well known reporters, they shared a common belief ... to get to the offbeat, uncensored core of problems of humanity on location. Daniel Pearl was betrayed by a long accepted, trusted source ... not that he was lax in his own protection.

There is no excusing the terrible, horific murder of Daniel Pearl by victimizing the victim. In a rational world, the acceptance and protection of freedom of the press (ie. reporters) all are appalled that this young man suffered his death by the hands of maniacs. To negate the true fault, by blaming him, is heartless.

 

[patient1]

Re: I think ...

Sorry, Marxist. I have no intention of hijaking your thread, but I get tired of hearing "blame the victim"

There is no excusing the terrible, horific murder of Daniel Pearl by victimizing the victim. In a rational world, the acceptance and protection of freedom of the press (ie. reporters) all are appalled that this young man suffered his death by the hands of maniacs. To negate the true fault, by blaming him, is heartless.

You're absolutely right. There's no excuse for murder, or abuse or exploitation.

To proclaim someone a victim makes them a powerless, pathetic sheep. It removes all courage,heroism, or folly from their actions. What usually gets referred to as" blaming the victim" is really people's well intentioned attempts at spotting mistakes & learning a lesson from them.
That way they won't be repeated if they're folly, either by the victim if they survive, or others who simply hear of the event.. That way we recover some measure of control over our lives, rather than fall prey to terror.
"Blaming the victim" takes power away from the oppressors. It doesn't justify them.