Sumner Burstyn and the rest of you 'do gooders' you need to get a life. How pathetic you are to whine about Willie and what he and our NZ SAS do. You stupid bunch of self indulgent lazy arse oxygen wasters, because you can all sit back in the comfort of your home in our beautiful NZ, and take pot shots at these guys doing their job. I bet you don't have those negative views on our ANZACs, yet its the same scenario....Put your money where your big flapp'n mouths are, cowards... What risks have you taken for your country lately?... Now addressing the real question asked here, I say YES, due to the medias insatiable appetite to sell their papers they have put Willies life at risk! Surely the photographer took more than one photo, but he knew he was on the money when he spotted Willie. Shame on you NZ papers for publishing the photo, could you have not just made an inferred comment about Willie being there. Also what about Willies family who will be distraught knowing that he has become an easy target to identify. Willie had changed his appearance in comparison to what the world media knew he looked like in the published photos of his VC but our own papers here have let him down as well as his team and family...sad when even our boys are regarded as just a sale by the media at home, they have sworn to protect...
they are never at risk cause you have to be pretty stupid to attack a special forces team or base, but the ones that are at risk are his family and friends at home because they are an easy and soft target, taliban pick soft weak targets to get there point across not special forces bases or men
Has the media put Willie Apiata's life at risk? No more than Apiata has put innocent lives at risk - or worse. He's no hero. He's a state sanctioned killer.
Was the press ever told that it is not appropriate to publish photos of special forces members? If not it is hardly their fault that they have done so.In first world countries it is understood that the identities of all special force members should be kept confidential. The decision to publicise Apiata in 2008 was a major error by the Government. It is hardly the fault of the press that they have followed the lead of the Government.
Things are getting very low when newpaper companies have to resort to putting Willie Apiata's life in real danger, just so they can boost their newspaper sales. How selfish is that?
The reights and wrongs of the war in Afganistan are irrelevant to this debate about the Publishing of a photograph of Willie Apiata. The arguement put forward by the editors of both the NZ Herald and the Dominion Post appear to be along the lines that he is a public figure because of his VC and therefore it is their right to publish and break a long held protocol. They also argue that it was widely known that the NZ SAS were depoyed in Afganistan. Both points are imutable. What they have failed accept is that it was not known that Willie Apiata was in this operatinal group. The media have displayed a level of arrogance on this issue that is dissapointing but predictable. Their self justification does not hold up to even a basic level of scrutiny. Sure John Key confirmed the picture was Willie APiata but the NZ herlad in the first instance published the photo and then want and asked the question already knowing the answer. Key had no choice. The media clearly are more interested in their own interests than the safety or otherwise of Corporal APiata. I seriously doubt that the public interests caused a pause for a second throught
Vaughan, you're not answering the question, you;re just spouting off your own weird political viewpoint.
Lets face it everyone loves a war hero, none more so than the military recruiting tentacles – the Hollywoodisation of characters such as Apiata used as a selling point to lure new recruits and promote national patriotism. The mainstream media gladly plays along and disseminates the war propaganda. But stepping back from the blinding glamorisation of war the truth really is an ugly son of a bitch.The illegal invasion and occupation by the United States has destabilised the entire region that encompasses Pakistan. The so-called war on terror is in itself terrorism perpetrated by the West. Unmanned drone attacks the penultimate crime against innocent civilians, the use of depleted uranium munitions, land mines, torture and the displacement of millions to refugee status. Prime Minister Key has made a conscious decision to commit New Zealand to a prolonged misadventure in Afghanistan. In doing so we as a nation openly support state-sponsored terrorist organisations such as the CIA. Blame Mr Key for endangering the lives of our SAS boys, for he alone committed them to the bogus war on terror - not a picture published in a NZ newspaper.
I personally think the NZSAS is sometimes a little too shy of publicity, but when a simple thing like the media disrespecting the request to not identify soldiers happens, I can see why.
I agree with a couple of comments, money seems to rule thus putting these soildiers lives at risk. As for the head of the 'Dominion Post' she ought to be more responsible, im sure the teleban would be only to happy to have her photo splashed across newspaper, bet she'd be keen to keep herself under cover.