[ RadSafe ] Fw: [DU-WATCH] Hamid Bahmani interview
Roger Helbig
rhelbig at california.com
Fri Mar 16 02:40:35 CDT 2007
the source is Press TV in Iran
PRESS TV
25, East 2nd St., Farhang Blvd.,
Saadat Abad, 19977-66411
Tehran, I.R Iran
Phone: +98 21 23011130
Fax: +98 21 23011139
Once you get past the interesting beginning they really get into anti-DU mode
But Mr. Bahmani is not reporting any more. He is one of the million
victims of depleted uranium bombs dropped on Iraqi soil by allied
forces. He has lost sight in both eyes and recently his health
deteriorated further, targeting his lungs, making breathing a
strenuous job for him.
According to Deborah Hastings, AP National Writer, an estimated 286
tons of depleted uranium munitions were fired by the U.S. in Iraq and
Kuwait in 1991. Another 130 tons were dropped while toppling Saddam
Hussein. And still fifteen years after it was first used in Iraq,
there is only one U.S. government study monitoring veterans exposed
to depleted uranium.
Despite all the hardship he endures, Hamid Bahmani welcomed Press TV
into his home, and with the help of his loving and caring wife gave
an account of his experiences in war-torn Iraq.
TG: What made you change from filming sports to recording a war?
HB: I had been a cameraman during wars in Afghanistan and Bosnia. In
my profession I was known as "portable," because of my strong arms. I
could carry a camera weighing 20 kilograms attached to 250 meters of
cable for several hours, without ever getting tired. I had the
physical ability then, I was fit and I knew the region. I was
familiar with the customs and traditions and I had some knowledge of
the language. I guess these were the reasons I was chosen to go to
Iraq as part of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB)
press team.
TG: Are journalists aware of dangers they face in wars?
HB: Journalists are brave people. Every journalist loves his work.
Those who write love their pen and paper; a photographer loves his
camera.
TG: What makes cameramen reporting a war different from their
colleagues?
HB: A cameraman who goes to report a war knows he has to be ready to
take care of his camera as if it were his own child. He has to know
his camera well and be able to repair it when needed. In a war zone,
there is no one to help you with that.
TG: What do you love about your job?
HB: I love the feeling of belonging to people, not just my own
countrymen but I belong to the entire world. Anyone working in
broadcast journalism belongs to the entire world. Networks are mostly
global now. The job we have chosen has dangerous routes. There is the
possibility of injury or death. I want to let my films play and allow
people to make judgments for themselves.
I hope the world would more strongly condemn wars, in particular the
use of chemical and biological weapons of mass destruction.
TG: What are some of your most famous images from the Iraq war?
HB: One showed American soldiers kicking and opening a door to a
house and a frightened Iraqi woman inside rushing to protect her
child. In another one American troops were beating a hand-cuffed man
in the back with their guns. There are many more.
TG: Where were you when you were hit by the bombing?
HB: I was in Basra. The house I was in was destroyed and everyone
else in it got killed.
After the bombing my face became very hot. I was taken to a hospital.
My sight and my hearing were affected but the extent of the damage
was not immediately apparent. My medical reports are my evidence.
TG: What bombs were used in that region?
HB: They were American Dirty Bombs, which contained depleted uranium.
The Pentagon itself announced that they had used tons of such bombs
there. International environmental agencies confirmed the use.
Children as well as adults have been the victims of these weapons.
Even the American and British troops themselves were affected, but
they were not aware of the harm they had received until later. They
did not realize that they were also being experimented on.
These bombs affect all organs and cause injuries to the eyes and
lungs. They slowly hinder the function of other organs and severely
damage the body. Uranium passes through the body within 3 to 5 days,
but its effects on soil and air will last thousands of years. The
region is still contaminated. These bombs wage a never-ending war.
TG: Are you receiving any compensation? Who pays for your treatment?
HB: I have received a loan from IRIB and the monthly installments are
deducted from my salary. Since December 2006 I have been able to use
IRIB's insurance scheme. Before that I paid all my own expenses.
TG: Have you asked for support from any organization?
HB: No, because I do not seek financial support. I have been able to
cover my expenses even before the help I received from IRIB. But I
expected the members of Majlis (Iranian parliament), especially the
MP from my native Mazandaran, to follow up my story off camera. I was
injured while reporting for my people. I just wonder why people who
have been dedicated to their work and their people are so easily
forgotten.
TG: If you were told beforehand that you would suffer such injuries,
would you still have gone to Iraq?
HB: Yes. I assure you that even if I only had 0.5% sight in even one
eye today I would still go again, to film and to report. I promise
you.
TG: Have you ever considered another career?
HB: No, Never. I love this job. I have not bid farewell to my camera,
my career and I never will.
TG/BG
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© Press TV 2007. All rights reserved.
dominouglias <rrands at bigpond.net.au> wrote:
To: du-watch at yahoogroups.com
From: "dominouglias" <rrands at bigpond.net.au>
Date: Thu, 15 Mar 2007 05:02:28 -0000
Subject: [DU-WATCH] Hamid Bahmani interview
Zoom on Hamid Bahmani, life has no playbacks
Wed, 14 Mar 2007 14:54:25
Touria Ghaffari
Press TV
In spring 2007 Iranian journalism will get the spotlight with
Jahangir Razmi finally claiming his Pulitzer Prize for a photo he
took 28 years ago. The Pulitzer which was awarded to "an unnamed
photographer of United Press International" back in 1979 marks the
only time the Prize has been awarded to an anonymous recipient.
Iranian journalists, like many others from the world over, have had
their fair share of brutal fate. Many died while reporting in the 8
year Iraq-imposed war in the 1980s, others while on assignments for
foreign media.
In 1990 Farzad Bazoft, 31, an Iranian-born freelance journalist
working for the London based newspaper, The Observer, was executed by
hanging in Iraq. He was charged for spying after a one-day trial
behind closed doors which lacked any conclusive evidence of his
guilt.
Bazoft was a reporter doing a story, investigating a mysterious
explosion at Al Iskandaria military complex, linked to secret missile
developments and storage of chemical weapons Saddam received from the
West to use against his own people and Iranian soldiers defending
their homeland.
The British government, fearing the efforts would tarnish diplomatic
relations, did not pressure Saddam Hussein hard enough, allowing the
young journalist to be sent to the gallows.
According to Guardian Unlimited, the execution of Farzad Bazoft
provides one more illustration of the failure of the British
government's appeasement policy.
In 2003, Kaveh Golestan, well known Iranian photographer and
filmmaker working for the BBC in northern Iraq, was killed instantly
after stepping on a landmine.
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) reported that in 2006,
fifty-five journalists were killed worldwide, an increase over the 47
in the previous year.
The New York-based non-partisan international organization stated
that Iraq was the deadliest place for journalists with 32 killings,
followed by Afghanistan and the Philippines, with three deaths each.
Hamid Bahmani, 43, is an Iranian cameraman who was in Iraq at the
time coalition forces invaded the country in 2003. His images for Al
Alam, filmed while riding on an American tank, were the first live
accounts of the Iraq war, relayed by CNN and other networks, giving
the then newly established Arabic language channel a reputation for
daring reports and a prominent place among its rivals.
But Mr. Bahmani is not reporting any more. He is one of the million
victims of depleted uranium bombs dropped on Iraqi soil by allied
forces. He has lost sight in both eyes and recently his health
deteriorated further, targeting his lungs, making breathing a
strenuous job for him.
According to Deborah Hastings, AP National Writer, an estimated 286
tons of depleted uranium munitions were fired by the U.S. in Iraq and
Kuwait in 1991. Another 130 tons were dropped while toppling Saddam
Hussein. And still fifteen years after it was first used in Iraq,
there is only one U.S. government study monitoring veterans exposed
to depleted uranium.
Despite all the hardship he endures, Hamid Bahmani welcomed Press TV
into his home, and with the help of his loving and caring wife gave
an account of his experiences in war-torn Iraq.
TG: What made you change from filming sports to recording a war?
HB: I had been a cameraman during wars in Afghanistan and Bosnia. In
my profession I was known as "portable," because of my strong arms. I
could carry a camera weighing 20 kilograms attached to 250 meters of
cable for several hours, without ever getting tired. I had the
physical ability then, I was fit and I knew the region. I was
familiar with the customs and traditions and I had some knowledge of
the language. I guess these were the reasons I was chosen to go to
Iraq as part of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB)
press team.
TG: Are journalists aware of dangers they face in wars?
HB: Journalists are brave people. Every journalist loves his work.
Those who write love their pen and paper; a photographer loves his
camera.
TG: What makes cameramen reporting a war different from their
colleagues?
HB: A cameraman who goes to report a war knows he has to be ready to
take care of his camera as if it were his own child. He has to know
his camera well and be able to repair it when needed. In a war zone,
there is no one to help you with that.
TG: What do you love about your job?
HB: I love the feeling of belonging to people, not just my own
countrymen but I belong to the entire world. Anyone working in
broadcast journalism belongs to the entire world. Networks are mostly
global now. The job we have chosen has dangerous routes. There is the
possibility of injury or death. I want to let my films play and allow
people to make judgments for themselves.
I hope the world would more strongly condemn wars, in particular the
use of chemical and biological weapons of mass destruction.
TG: What are some of your most famous images from the Iraq war?
HB: One showed American soldiers kicking and opening a door to a
house and a frightened Iraqi woman inside rushing to protect her
child. In another one American troops were beating a hand-cuffed man
in the back with their guns. There are many more.
TG: Where were you when you were hit by the bombing?
HB: I was in Basra. The house I was in was destroyed and everyone
else in it got killed.
After the bombing my face became very hot. I was taken to a hospital.
My sight and my hearing were affected but the extent of the damage
was not immediately apparent. My medical reports are my evidence.
TG: What bombs were used in that region?
HB: They were American Dirty Bombs, which contained depleted uranium.
The Pentagon itself announced that they had used tons of such bombs
there. International environmental agencies confirmed the use.
Children as well as adults have been the victims of these weapons.
Even the American and British troops themselves were affected, but
they were not aware of the harm they had received until later. They
did not realize that they were also being experimented on.
These bombs affect all organs and cause injuries to the eyes and
lungs. They slowly hinder the function of other organs and severely
damage the body. Uranium passes through the body within 3 to 5 days,
but its effects on soil and air will last thousands of years. The
region is still contaminated. These bombs wage a never-ending war.
TG: Are you receiving any compensation? Who pays for your treatment?
HB: I have received a loan from IRIB and the monthly installments are
deducted from my salary. Since December 2006 I have been able to use
IRIB's insurance scheme. Before that I paid all my own expenses.
TG: Have you asked for support from any organization?
HB: No, because I do not seek financial support. I have been able to
cover my expenses even before the help I received from IRIB. But I
expected the members of Majlis (Iranian parliament), especially the
MP from my native Mazandaran, to follow up my story off camera. I was
injured while reporting for my people. I just wonder why people who
have been dedicated to their work and their people are so easily
forgotten.
TG: If you were told beforehand that you would suffer such injuries,
would you still have gone to Iraq?
HB: Yes. I assure you that even if I only had 0.5% sight in even one
eye today I would still go again, to film and to report. I promise
you.
TG: Have you ever considered another career?
HB: No, Never. I love this job. I have not bid farewell to my camera,
my career and I never will.
TG/BG
E-mail this to a friend Printable version
Count of view : 123
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=2612§ionid=3510302
© Press TV 2007. All rights reserved.
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