Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Embedded student journalist ousted from Iraq

A San Francisco State University student and former marine who was an embedded journalist in Iraq for five months was ordered to leave Basra earlier this month.

James Lee Jeffreys, who used the pen name James Lee, said he wasn't told why he had to leave, but he was abruptly evacuated on April 2, one day after arriving in Basra.

Jeffreys published photos and dispatches from Iraq in Golden Gate [X]press, the student newspaper at San Francisco State University.

Lee served two tours of duty in Iraq as a marine until he was injured there by friendly fire. After returning to California and enrolling in classes at San Francisco State University, he decided to go back as an embedded reporter.

"I think it's unfortunate that the military that I served so proudly for four years is the same military that prevented me from doing my job as a civilian journalist," Jeffreys told KTVU-TV.

Check out the KTVU report, which includes interviews with Jeffreys and Golden Gate [X]press Multimedia Editor Aaron Morrison -- and a 2-second sound bite from me.

To read James Lee's dispatches from Iraq and see his photos click on the links below:

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