New at Reason

Julian Sanchez | August 4, 2005

Nick Gillespie remembers journalist Steven Vincent, who was murdered in Iraq yesterday.

Comments

Larry A|8.4.05 @ 2:10PM|#

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Warren|8.4.05 @ 4:23PM|#

He wrote good stuff.

I'd like to honor he memory better, but the whole thing is just too fucked up. I have nothing else to say.

|8.4.05 @ 5:16PM|#

He was a very interesting, matter of fact, no crap journalist. The best there is.
Whenever I saw his name I plunged with joy and anticipacion into reading the article below.

I'm deeply saddened by his death.
Words fail me, so I'll use an ancient saying: "Let God avenge his blood".

Matthew Goggins|8.7.05 @ 10:20PM|#

Hi Julian,

Nick Gillespie wrote a great piece about Steven Vincent.

But I want to point out something Nick says towards the end that detracts from an otherwise terrific memorial.

For journalists, his murder forces us to wonder what stories are worth dying for. His murder is somehow simultaneously an inspiration to us and a cautionary tale, a standing challenge and a tragic example to avoid.

Will history vindicate his hopes for Iraq and the wider Middle East? The truthful answer is almost too horrific to admit: We won't know for a long time to come. In the meantime, we can only hope that his blood, and the blood of all the other innocent dead in Iraq, won't just disappear into the desert sand.

Yes, Steven's murder is a cautionary tale, but not in the sense that Nick seems to be telling us.

It's a tale that cautions us about the infiltration of the police in Basra by Shiite militias. It cautions us that the British forces in Basra have abdicated responsibility for the proper vetting and training of the police forces in Basra.

Steven's tale does not caution us against risky investigative journalism in dangerous places. In fact, it tells us the opposite: one man, armed with an unflinching curiosity and an internet connection can make a huge difference in this world of ours.

For Nick to use the phrase "a tragic example to avoid" in reference to Steven's life and death means one of two things: Nick needs a better editor, or he just doesn't get what Steven was really all about.

And we can do a lot more than "only hope" that Steven's and everyone else's deaths in Iraq do not prove to be in vain: we can get off our comfortable butts like Steven did and fight to make the outcome worth the sacrifices.