Embedded Newspaper Reporter Ordered to Leave Unit in Iraq
Tuesday, April 29, 2003
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HARRISBURG, Pa. — Military authorities have ordered an embedded newspaper reporter to leave his unit in Iraq (search), saying he revealed sensitive information in a story.
The commanding officer of the 2nd Battalion, 25th Marines, to which Brett Lieberman of The Patriot-News in Harrisburg was assigned, cited an April 25 story describing the unit's mission of patrolling Nasiriyah (search).
Lt. Col. Robert C. Murphy said the story included too much military detail, the Patriot-News reported in Tuesday's editions.
"We were disappointed," Patriot-News Executive Editor David Newhouse said. "This seems to have been a disagreement with one or two officers. We are confident, based upon our conversations with other officers, that Brett's story in no way jeopardized our servicemen and women."
The paper said Lieberman was forced to leave over the weekend, when many Pentagon (search) offices were closed, without an opportunity to appeal the order.
After arriving in Kuwait on March 30, Lieberman wrote 36 stories on subjects ranging from shooting incidents to sharing toys with Iraqi orphans, the paper said.
He had also published popular "postcards home," messages and photos from troops to their families.
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