My friend, John Martinkus, was the one kidnapped Saturday and held for 24 hours. He was very lucky to be freed. I had to be circumspect yesterday because of security concerns, but John is now out of the country and the embargo has been lifted. Here's the story as he related it to us:
Saturday around 2 p.m or so, John was picked up about 500m from our hotel compound. He turned out of the front gate, took the first right -- as most of us do -- and a car stopped in front of him and a tailing car pulled in behind him. Four men with pistols jumped out and three of them managed to force their way into the car, putting guns to the heads of John, his driver and his translator. They then took him to western Baghdad, held him overnight and interrogated him.
We're not sure what all happened during his captivity, but he was able to persuade his captors that he was an Australian and a friend to the resistance and not to the Americans. It appears, by the kidnappers' statements and questions, that they were nationalists and not jihadis, lucky for John. Also, he was lucky for not being American, because the kidnappers said if he had been, they'd have killed him quickly. They had tracked him for three days, they said, and proved it by asking him why he had gone to the Green Zone and to the Palestine on two separate days. This was how they were able to pick him up so easily.
At one point, one man disappeared, saying he would check out John's story. He came back after about 15 minutes, John said, convinced John was who he said he was. We suspect they Googled John, because they referenced previous stories he had covered.
After some hours, his captors relaxed and said that he would be released in the morning. But before he was released, a sheikh from a village near Fallujah arrived. He again interrogated John, but this time it was much more aggressive questioning, John said. Finally, the sheikh said that while they were convinced he was a man of good heart and a journalist, he would not be freed Sunday as promised because Australia was a member of the Coalition and thus, a “warring nation” as Zarqawi has said. Instead, the sheikh would consult with his supervisors in Fallujah on what to do.
Now, this was serious. There's no doubt the sheikh would return to fetch John and turn him over to al-Tahwid w'al-Jihad. So, in a fit of humanity, after the sheikh left, the nationalist captors took John and released him. We're unsure of the ramifications of this act at this point and if there will be any retaliation within the Sunni resistance or against us. It's possible.
As frightening as John's experience was for him, it shows that journalists' plans for “security through obscurity” has been blown out the window. John's captors said they received a phone call that he was on the move and that the time for taking him was now. This fits in with our intelligence that there are kidnap teams up and down Jadirya Street looking for us. His captors said they had penetrated the staff at the Hamra Hotel, where many of us live. They have people in the compound watching us. They know who we are and they're looking for “soft targets” -- reporters moving around with little security or few precautions.
John was lucky -- very lucky. He was picked up by nationalists who, we hear, are getting out of the kidnapping and beheading business. He wasn't an American. He had a pedigree of lefty, anti-war reporter. And he fell in with a (more or less) kind-hearted bunch who were just doing their job as national resistance fighters. (He said they expressed concern that he wasn't married and that his living arrangements in the Hamra weren't safe. Bizarrely, they offered to let him stay with them the next time he came to Iraq -- I'm sure.)
John's story is indicative of the situation facing reporters -- and other Westerners -- in Iraq. They told him they were really looking for security contractor or CIA staffer. I haven't left the compound since I returned from Beirut; I haven't had a specific reason to. And now, without a specific reason, I won't be going out. This is why you won't be seeing any “Iraqi on the street” stories here. They're too hostile; the population has turned against Westerners and the press. While they may not be actively assisting the resistance, I fear they would stand by idly if I were dragged into a car and taken away. The police won't be much help either. Once, when John was being transported from one house to another, his kidnappers let him take off his blindfold. A cop car was cruising by just as he did so, making no move to stop a car carrying a blindfolded Westerner.
My options are limited but they seem to be go north to Kurdistan for a while. I'm warming to this idea as it's been an under-covered region, as usual, and it would allow me to keep working. I'm not sure exactly what I'm going to do, but I have to be careful with what I say. I can't assume any potential kidnappers don't know about this blog.
Stay safe! Just a little note to say a friend ran into someone who was a contractor on their way back from Iraq and we asked how things were and he said if you know anyone going - don’t let them and if you know anyone there - tell them to leave. I’m sure you are already aware of these sentiments. Will keep you in my thoughts and hope you get to where you need to be in order to be safe.
Thank God John’s all right - and that you’re being extra-careful, both on the ground and in the blog. Our moron president assures us that everything is just fine in Iraq - it’s clear that he thinks we’re all as stupid as he is. Like everyone else who writes to you, I am grateful you’re being careful and so far safe; let’s keep it that way. Bless you and take good care - our thoughts and prayers are with you constantly (and with your mother, God love her).
Man.. that sounds quite a dead way, I wish you the best of luck. Even if I hope you won’t need it.
I admire your guts, but personally, I think you’re crazy. Your career as a journalist surely doesn’t depend on your bing in Iraq right now, if things have really turned nasty? I really enjoy your blog, but I think you should get out now before it’s too late. Things are going to blow pretty soon in Fallujah, and God knows what will happen then.
Please, get out. Is this really worth dying for?
Chris, I’m glad you are safe so far and hope you remain so. But it’s truly frightening what this chaos is doing to journalism. If journalists can’t go out and report and talk to ordinary people on the street and gather info from a variety of sources, then how can anyone know what’s happening? We’re left only with official propaganda and rumors, from all sides. Do the best you can, but keep safe!
What they said.As it seems the insurgents have informers inside the compound,about all you can do now is to make a run for safety and hope for the best.Just get out of there.Please.
So glad to hear that your friend is safe. Please be careful. And to John’s kidnappers if they are reading this, thank you, too.
Chris,
Yes, get out of Baghdad as soon as possible. Kurdistan is supposed to be quieter, but from what I’ve read Mosul is fairly dangerous. Bottom line, do whatever you have to do to keep safe, even if it means leaving Iraq. I wish it was possible for good journalists like you to stay and cover the war, but you can’t cover anything when you’re dead. Take care.
I had an internship at a newspaper this summer, I admire the sort of religion that forms between a journalist and their duty.
You can harm Bush by being kidnapped and beheaded just before the elections…
Or you can just leave.
You’ve got to love the Australian Government. Upfront and honest and in full support of the truth as always.
“Foreign Minister Alexander Downer says an SBS journalist detained by militants in Iraq was in an area of Baghdad to which he was advised not to travel.
Mr Downer insists this is how it happened: “[He] went to a part of Baghdad that he was advised not to go to but he went there anyway and journalists do do that sort of thing.”
Thanks Chris for filling us in on the real story. Just watch and see….there will be no retraction or apology from Downer. Truth for this government like the Bush regime exists in another reality to which the rest of us are not privy.
Chris, I agree with the others who said it’s not worth your life. Go back when it’s safe but for now you should be making plans to go to a safe country nearby. Your insight from those areas would be just as valuable to us and if you die, you’re useless! So be a good reporter and do whatever you have to do to stay alive, including leaving until a later time.
Dude, from your account, I say it’s either Kurdistan or waiting on the roof to cling to the last helicopter.
Perhaps I’m being naive….
But why are you media guys all huddled together into one compound? The ‘resistance’ has ample opportunity to haunt you like sharks hunting goldfish. And your view of Iraq is bound to get distorted, to say the least.
Wouldn’t it stand to reason to ask your fixer to find a place with an Iraqi family? Or is that unrealistic?
Just wondering….
Chris - It’s time to return home. Adding your voice to the Chorus of Truth can make a difference in the outcome of our November 2nd Election. Challenge us (your loyal readers) to raise the funds to bring you home immediately. We need you, and (imho) you need us. Here is a Lifeline - Please Grab Ahold!
Chris - It’s time to return home. Adding your voice to the Chorus of Truth can make a difference in the outcome of our November 2nd Election. Challenge us (your loyal readers) to raise the funds to bring you home immediately. We need you, and (imho) you need us. Here is a Lifeline - Please Grab Ahold!
So most of us here want you out of there. What will it take? You can’t work there but you can work here.
I’ll buy the ticket - NY, CA or wherever. If you need it, I have a spare room that looks out over the Monterey Bay (not fancy but clean and safe).
You have important work to do. Come back and start telling people what it’s like to be afraid every minute and how crushing it must be for Iraqi citizens with no place to go.
Susan
P.S. Is it possible for Riverbend and her family or any Iraqi to leave?
I agree that you could be speaking the truth here in the US in the last days before this election. Don’t know if Americans will listen. I very much appreciate your views and insights about Iraq—much better than the mainstream media. Take care. Stay safe. Keep low.
John Martinkus has been getting a LOT of flak now that he’s back home in Australia - because of comments he’s made about other hostages who were executed, like Ken Bigley… Good he’s alive anyway.
I am highly amused by Australian Foreign Minister Downer’s claims that John was in a no-go area. The area outside our hotel is a no-go? We know that now! And this whole flap over John giving comfort to terrorists is ludicrous. Of course al-Tahwid has reasons for cutting off people’s heads. The reasons may not make sense or be savage, but they’re reasons nonetheless.
I see that Downer is following Howard’s and Bush’s lead that any attempt to understand the barbaric mindset of the global jihad movement is tantamount to surrender in the face of brutality. They fail — intentionally or unintentionally, to use Downer’s phrase — to realize that understanding the mind of the enemy, no matter how dark, is the key to victory. You can’t just kill ‘em all, because you make more enemies that way.
Martinkus has been pilloried in australia as a terrorist sympathiser,downers lies don’t matter.
Right wing weblogs like tim bliar’s suspect his whole story,like initially wrestling with a kidnapper over his pistol.Readers coments pooh pooh his story and suggest that his attempt at self defense is nonsense.
Such is the state of affairs in australia that chicken hawk journos belittle people who have been on the ground and understand the situation,not the propaganda.
THANK GOODNESS your friend was returned safely. Is he going to continue working as a journalist there?
Personally, I think you should get out of Iraq now. It’s getting more and more dangerous….is your life really worth all of this? I’ve been a loyal reader of your blog, and I find it very informative and refreshing……but, I think your job has become way too dangerous.
Great site, wish I had time to visit it more often. I liked this article too. Just a few comments on one of your comments. You said:
And this whole flap over John giving
comfort to terrorists is ludicrous.
Agreed. It’s difficult to imagine that anything Martinkus said could possibly have given “the” enemy (well, there was more than one group involved) any comfort or assistance. He was just trying to talk himself out of being beheaded. If I’m honest with myself I can admit that in the same situation I would say just about anything to escape with my life.
Anyone under the threat of a beheading should be given a free pass when it comes to what they say to escape the knife, and I thought some of the comments surrounding Martinkus were very unfair. In Martinkus’ case he really could point to his actual openly-lefty-anti-war journalism in order to gain sympathy. Quite frankly, I would forgive even the most pro-war hawke if they lied to escape such a fate. Wouldn’t anyone?
However:
Of course al-Tahwid has reasons for
cutting off people’s heads. The reasons
may not make sense or be savage, but
they’re reasons nonetheless.
Erm, if they make no sense then they are not really “reasons”, at least not in the way most people would use the term. I usually don’t like pasting definitions from dictionaries (it’s so easy to find a sub-definition that suits anything), but this one (from dictionary.com) seems about right to me, at least as far as most people are concerned when using the word “reason” in this context:
An underlying fact or cause that provides
logical sense for a premise or occurrence
If their reasons don’t make sense or are clearly a lie or at least a smokescreen, then they aren’t really reasons, more like excuses or rationalisations (or propaganda), surely?
Most people see the stated reasons given for beheadings (or the Bali bombing, etc etc) more as part of a general propaganda ploy to attract a certain type of person (let’s face it - sociopaths) to their cause.
I mean, does anyone really believe, at face value, the stated reasons for the Bali bombing? Does anyone think that those that organised the Bali bombing actually believe that our assistance to the East Timorese was somehow part of a Christian effort against Muslims? I’m willing to accept that the poor saps that deliberately killed themselves while murdering all those innocent people believed that nonsense (how else could they bring themselves to do it?), but I doubt any of the organisers did. They have a broader, more cynical view I suspect.
Anyway, just a small niggle on a comment on a great article.
All the best,
Skev
It’s good to see that these people do distinguish, hope they get the CIA and contractors and leave the others alone.