{"id":170,"date":"2006-06-15T01:50:24","date_gmt":"2006-06-15T08:50:24","guid":{"rendered":"\/?p=170"},"modified":"2007-05-11T12:47:08","modified_gmt":"2007-05-11T19:47:08","slug":"rumsfeld-muzzles-media-in-guantanamo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=170","title":{"rendered":"Rumsfeld Muzzles Media In Guantanamo"},"content":{"rendered":"

The office of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld told reporters covering Guantanamo to take a hike<\/a>. The reporters from the Los Angeles Times and the Miami Herald were given orders to be prepared to leave by 8:00 am Wednesday morning. Another reporter from the Charlotte Observer was given until Saturday with the stipulation that he would not be given access to the prison camp. Which, I suppose, means that he could still use the spa and lounge on the beach.<\/p>\n

The reason given for the booting was that other media outlets were threatening to sue if they were not allowed in. This reason doubles as an admission that the Pentagon was already denying access to other reporters. The Pentagon did not identify any party that indicated an intent to sue, nor were reasons given for their exclusion.<\/p>\n

The reporters who managed to gain temporary access were invited to cover military tribunals that were to have begun this week. But while they were there, three prisoners, protesting their detention without charges or legal rights, committed suicide. The tribunals were subsequently cancelled and the reporter’s invitations revoked.<\/p>\n

The Center for Constitutional Rights was representing the three men who committed suicide. They released a statement regarding the media blackout:<\/p>\n

“At a time when the administration must be transparent about the deaths at Guantanamo, they are pulling down a wall of secrecy and avoiding public accountability. This crackdown on the free press makes everyone ask what else they are hiding down there. This press crackdown is the administration’s latest betrayal of fundamental American values. The Bush Administration is afraid of American reporters, afraid of American attorneys and afraid of American laws.”<\/span><\/p>\n

That just about says it all.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The office of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld told reporters covering Guantanamo to take a hike. The reporters from the Los Angeles Times and the Miami Herald were given orders to be prepared to leave by 8:00 am Wednesday morning. Another reporter from the Charlotte Observer was given until Saturday with the stipulation that he […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-170","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general","category-scandalous"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4Ijg-2K","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":178,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=178","url_meta":{"origin":170,"position":0},"title":"Guantanamo Press Ban Update","author":"Mark NC","date":"6\/23\/2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Since the Pentagon booted reporters out of Guantanamo last week, they have apparently relented and invited a reporter back in. By happenstance, it is a reporter from Fox News. ThinkProgress has the story about how Andrew Napolitano was singled out for a guest pass to the Cuban detainee facility. But\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=1"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":65579,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=65579","url_meta":{"origin":170,"position":1},"title":"Trump’s Defense Secretary Rages that ‘The Department of Defense Does Not Do Climate Change Crap’","author":"Mark NC","date":"3\/12\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"When Donald Trump recruited Pete Hegseth from Fox News to lead his Department of Defense, it was unarguably among the worst nominations in the history of the country. Hegseth had zero experience in military management, or in leading an enterprise on the scale of the Pentagon. He was just a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Environment"","block_context":{"text":"Environment","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=473"},"img":{"alt_text":"Donald Trump Climate Change","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/trump-climate-change-landscape.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/trump-climate-change-landscape.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/trump-climate-change-landscape.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":103,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=103","url_meta":{"origin":170,"position":2},"title":"Reporter Held Hostage In Iraq","author":"Mark NC","date":"2\/15\/2006","format":false,"excerpt":"There are few, if any, non-military professions that expose its practitioners to the measure of risk that journalism does. Yet some independent journalists answer the call with the hopes of providing a vital public service in a dangerous world. Too frequently these reporters are targeted by combatants and pay a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=1"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":262,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=262","url_meta":{"origin":170,"position":3},"title":"Terrorist Media Strategy = Bush Media Strategy","author":"Mark NC","date":"10\/22\/2006","format":false,"excerpt":"On October 21, 2006, President Bush delivered another in the series of radio addresses that seem now to be presidential obligations. [Can anyone explain why these anachronisms persist in an era when media access is so abundant?] In this address the president makes some interesting remarks that unintentionally correlate his\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=1"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":69292,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=69292","url_meta":{"origin":170,"position":4},"title":"Pentagon Persists in Punishing Reporters After Court Ruling That It Violated the Constitution","author":"Mark NC","date":"3\/24\/2026","format":false,"excerpt":"The acutely impaired psyche of Donald Trump manifests daily in a multitude of ways. He has a massive yet fragile ego. He compulsively employs infantile insults aimed at his innumerable perceived enemies. He demands unwavering loyalty, but returns only betrayal. He displays classic signs of sociopathy and tyrannical aspirations. Click\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Free Press"","block_context":{"text":"Free Press","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=14"},"img":{"alt_text":"Donald Trump, Constitution","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/trump-constitution.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/trump-constitution.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/trump-constitution.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":67612,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=67612","url_meta":{"origin":170,"position":5},"title":"Trump Smacks Down His Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, Over His Loyalty Pledge on the Free Press","author":"Mark NC","date":"9\/21\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"The continuing crusade by the regime of Donald Trump to undermine the Constitution's First Amendment is hitting new lows as he presides over previously unimaginable assaults on free speech and freedom of the press. 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