Nbadan
08-25-2005, 11:09 PM
from Nightline:
Yesterday, we introduced you to Cyrus Kar, an American documentary filmmaker who spent 55 days held by U.S. authorities in Iraq as a suspected terrorist. For those of you who missed the first part, or didn't have a chance to read yesterday's e-mail from producer Dina Demetrius, here's an opportunity to catch up in advance of tonight's finale that focuses on Kar's 53 days in solitary confinement.
"There's a reckless arrest policy, and there's a tremendous amount of humiliation that follows that arrest policy, and I strongly believe that one of the major reasons that the insurgency is growing is because when detainees are released they come out and they're looking for retribution."
-- Cyrus Kar
Part of my job as a producer in Los Angeles is to book "first" interviews for ABC News. I helped to do that for "Good Morning America" in late July when Cyrus Kar, a Los Angeles documentary filmmaker, had just returned home from a harrowing experience in a U.S. detention camp in Iraq, where he was filming. Kar is an American citizen and Navy veteran, and a supporter of the war. He was arrested in Iraq as a suspected terrorist. His story was checked out within days by the FBI, yet he was held by the U.S. military for nearly two months. His family brought in the ACLU. The perfect ending to a perfect nightmare.
The requisite scramble of reporters and booking producers ensued; the series of quick, live network interviews concluded. But when you've experienced the level of fear and abandonment Kar felt as he sat day after day in solitary confinement, the sound bites don't always roll off the tongue. The three-minute live interviews don't do the story justice. I watched Kar's interviews and saw his eyes communicating something much deeper than a description of the facts. Over the following two weeks, Kar revealed to me at greater length his thoughts and feelings about his captivity and the war in Iraq. The shock of his experience was wearing off, the determination to speak out was settling in. He had a lot more to say.
We brought Kar to Washington to sit down in the studio with Ted Koppel and recount, in depth, not just the circumstances of his detention in U.S. custody, but his thoughts on how that detention may be emblematic of a larger problem in Iraq -- one that may continue to create a rise in Iraqi insurgency, and a rise in American deaths. Through his voice you hear the frustration at the slow wheels of justice. Through his eyes you see a sense of humiliation and betrayal from the inside out.
We found Kar and what he has to say compelling enough to devote two shows to it. We hope you join us for tonight's conclusion.
Cryus Carr an American citizen, former Navy imprisoned for 55 days in the same prison in Iraq as Suddam Hussein. Carr was born in Iraq and moved to the U.S. when he was five, and later joined the Navy. After his gig, Cyrus went to Iraq to shoot a documentary on Cyrus the great - one of histories first champions of human rights.
Cyrus was in Iraq legally and had written permission to shoot his documentary when a cab Cyrus was ridding in was stopped and searched at a American check-point, a bag filled with washing machine timers, the same used in previous attacks on coalition forces were found in the trunk. So the driver, Cyrus and his camera man, an Iranian were arrested.
Everyone should watch this report and learn. Part 2 tonight.
Yesterday, we introduced you to Cyrus Kar, an American documentary filmmaker who spent 55 days held by U.S. authorities in Iraq as a suspected terrorist. For those of you who missed the first part, or didn't have a chance to read yesterday's e-mail from producer Dina Demetrius, here's an opportunity to catch up in advance of tonight's finale that focuses on Kar's 53 days in solitary confinement.
"There's a reckless arrest policy, and there's a tremendous amount of humiliation that follows that arrest policy, and I strongly believe that one of the major reasons that the insurgency is growing is because when detainees are released they come out and they're looking for retribution."
-- Cyrus Kar
Part of my job as a producer in Los Angeles is to book "first" interviews for ABC News. I helped to do that for "Good Morning America" in late July when Cyrus Kar, a Los Angeles documentary filmmaker, had just returned home from a harrowing experience in a U.S. detention camp in Iraq, where he was filming. Kar is an American citizen and Navy veteran, and a supporter of the war. He was arrested in Iraq as a suspected terrorist. His story was checked out within days by the FBI, yet he was held by the U.S. military for nearly two months. His family brought in the ACLU. The perfect ending to a perfect nightmare.
The requisite scramble of reporters and booking producers ensued; the series of quick, live network interviews concluded. But when you've experienced the level of fear and abandonment Kar felt as he sat day after day in solitary confinement, the sound bites don't always roll off the tongue. The three-minute live interviews don't do the story justice. I watched Kar's interviews and saw his eyes communicating something much deeper than a description of the facts. Over the following two weeks, Kar revealed to me at greater length his thoughts and feelings about his captivity and the war in Iraq. The shock of his experience was wearing off, the determination to speak out was settling in. He had a lot more to say.
We brought Kar to Washington to sit down in the studio with Ted Koppel and recount, in depth, not just the circumstances of his detention in U.S. custody, but his thoughts on how that detention may be emblematic of a larger problem in Iraq -- one that may continue to create a rise in Iraqi insurgency, and a rise in American deaths. Through his voice you hear the frustration at the slow wheels of justice. Through his eyes you see a sense of humiliation and betrayal from the inside out.
We found Kar and what he has to say compelling enough to devote two shows to it. We hope you join us for tonight's conclusion.
Cryus Carr an American citizen, former Navy imprisoned for 55 days in the same prison in Iraq as Suddam Hussein. Carr was born in Iraq and moved to the U.S. when he was five, and later joined the Navy. After his gig, Cyrus went to Iraq to shoot a documentary on Cyrus the great - one of histories first champions of human rights.
Cyrus was in Iraq legally and had written permission to shoot his documentary when a cab Cyrus was ridding in was stopped and searched at a American check-point, a bag filled with washing machine timers, the same used in previous attacks on coalition forces were found in the trunk. So the driver, Cyrus and his camera man, an Iranian were arrested.
Everyone should watch this report and learn. Part 2 tonight.