A BBC war correspondent says the Pentagon told her the military will target satellite communications of journalists in the upcoming war on Iraq.

In an interview on Irish Radio last Sunday, veteran BBC war correspondent Kate Adie said a senior Pentagon official told her that US planes will target any electronic communications on the ground, even if they are operated by journalists.

Adie also said that when she questioned the Pentagon official about the consequences of targeting journalists, the senior Pentagon officer replied QUOTE: “Who cares? … They’ve been warned.”

Adie was the BBC’s chief news correspondent in 1989 and has covered major wars including the Gulf War and the conflicts in the former Yugoslavia, Albania, Rwanda, China and Sierra Leone.

Well today, we’re joined by Kate Adie, from her home in London.

• Kate Adie, BBC war correspondent. She was the BBC’s chief news correspondent in 1989 and has covered major recent wars including the Gulf War and the conflicts in the former Yugoslavia, Albania, Rwanda, China and Sierra Leone. She was interviewed by the Irish national broadcaster, Tom McGurk on the RTE1 Radio “Sunday Show.”
• Doug Struck, Tokyo Bureau Chief for the Washington Post. While covering the war in Afghanistan, US soldiers aimed their rifles at Struck when he attempted to investigate the impact of a US missile fired in a remote area, which allegedly killed three al Qaeda members. Struck later reported the men were not al Qaeda at all, but civilians.

Related link:

• Pentagon Threatens To Kill Independent Reporters In Iraq