Australian Magazine: 'We Didn't Know There Was An Embargo On Harry'
Written by Joanne Leyland
Friday, 29 February 2008
The Australian magazine which broke the embargo on the news
that Prince Harry has been deployed to Afghanistan has said it didn’t even
realise it had acted improperly.
A spokesman for New Idea magazine, which released details of Harry’s military
service on January 7th – less than a month after he was deployed –
said today: "We take these matters very seriously and would never knowingly
break an embargo."
Although its 'world exclusive' wasn’t reported to the wider world by large media outlets until Matt
Drudge picked up on the story yesterday, there’s now growing debate and anger
about the breaking of the embargo, as well as debate in some quarters about the
way in which the media was complicit in agreeing not to report the deployment
in accordance with the wishes of the British Government and, in turn, the royal household.
Some sections of society have questioned whether the media can be
trusted to tell the truth having essentially 'jumped into bed' with the government
on agreeing not to report on Prince Harry's tour of duty.
Meanwhile, a statement is expected later today from the Ministry of Defence
clarifying the current situation with regards to Harry’s deployment.
It’s reported that the military has embarked on a back-up plan to evacuate
the Prince of Wales' youngest son from the frontline in case the news blackout was
prematurely ended.
Comment: I think the Taliban were protecting Bin Laden if I remember right, and I am sure if anyone of them argued with Mr. Bin Laden, they could have been terrorized too, who knows. My opinion only, I don't underestimate the power of fear. For anyone.
But this whole issue divides people all the time, which is what war is about of course. And if Prince Harry got hurt, especially back in England, it will be "our war" all over again.
Name: anyacat
Comment: The Gurkhas are people from Nepal and parts of North India, who take their name from the eighth century Hindu warrior-saint Guru Gorakhnath. In 1947, Four Gurkha regiments were transferred to the British Army. They are known for their aggressiveness, courage, and loyalty to the crown. By repelling the attack by Taliban forces, Prince Harry saved his life and the lives of his fellow soldiers. In short, he was doing that which he was trained to do. And I bet that goat tasted a whole lot better than the MRE Harry was issued. The Taliban invaded Afghanistan and unleashed a reign of terror that continues. Perhaps, the US and Britain should have stayed out of the mess and allowed the Taliban to continue killing Afghan people--after all, it wasn't our mess--until, of course, they took their war to New York and London.
Name: exploora
Comment: I think to be fair, if the mainstream media knew, I would suspect the research crew knew more, and possibly someone on the insurgent side was putting together 2+2. Then Harry would have been in more danger, if everyone had stayed silent. I mean these people are not stupid, they only have to look at a few open profiles of the officers in the Queen's guard who know friends of friends of Harry, look at the scenery in the pictures, figure that Harry was training in Alberta where they train before they go to Afghanistan, and then there was the article a long time ago about Harry training with the gurga (spelling is probably wrong). My point being, a war needs a person so one side can see them as a hero, and the other side can see them as an enemy. And watching them kill that poor goat, and cutting its head off, and filming it. It is so primal. I understand people have to eat. There is a picture of a goat standing on one the guy's cots, and you just have to put two and two together. How could peace have a chance, when a poor goat did not have a chance.
Name: M-M
Comment: Looking at their record you have to say that even if they HAD known of the embargo on Harry stories while he was fighting in Afghanistan (and common sense alone should have informed them of it ) , New Idea (and quite likely their sister magazine Woman's Day would have still printed the story . Accuracy and decency hardly even come into the equasion
Name: shelley
Comment: Shame on them indeed.
Name: caroline lee
Comment: I am Australian and I have been reading and whatching New Idea for a lot of years, and some of their stories have been really quite shocking about people and celebrities. All I can say is shame on you NEW IDEA MAGAZINE.
