Opinion ID: 186151
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Hustler's attempts to gain access

Text: 2 Shortly after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the United States military began combat operations in Afghanistan in support of the global war on terrorism. On October 30, 2001, Flynt wrote a letter to the Honorable Victoria Clarke, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs, requesting that Hustler correspondents be permitted to accompany ground troops on combat missions and that said correspondents be allowed free access to the theater of United States military operations in Afghanistan and other countries where hostilities may be occurring as part of Operation Enduring Freedom. Two weeks later, on November 12, 2001, Flynt wrote Clarke again requesting the same access and complaining about her failure to respond to his October 30 letter. Three days later, on November 15, Clarke sent Flynt a fax stating that access to ground operations was not immediately possible because ... the only U.S. troops on the ground in Afghanistan are small numbers of servicemen involved in special operations activity. Clarke explained that [t]he highly dangerous and unique nature of their work makes it very difficult to embed media with ground troops, but also stated that there had been extensive media access to other aspects of military operations. Specifically, [s]cores of reporters and photographers have covered the [air] strikes, witnessed the humanitarian drops and interviewed dozens of [soldiers]. Clarke then provided Flynt with contact information for the Fifth Fleet Public Affairs Officer so that Hustler could have similar access. 3 Not satisfied with the access provided by DOD, and that other media outlets had received, Flynt did not contact the Fifth Fleet Public Affairs Officer; rather, he filed this lawsuit the day after he received Clarke's fax. Shortly after filing suit, Flynt sent another letter to Clarke on January 15, 2002, stating that I did not contact [the Fifth Fleet Public Affairs Officer] because I did not request any such access or similar access. Rather, I specifically requested reporter access to actual battlefield combat activities. The letter also characterized Clarke's description of special operations activities as vague. Two weeks later, Flynt sent another letter to Clarke requesting an immediate response to his January 15 letter. Clarke responded by letter on February 4, 2002, reiterated DOD's position, and again described the access that was currently available. Furthermore, she stated that all [your reporter] needs to do is work with [DOD's] people on the ground. She also provided Flynt with an extensive list of contact persons and explained that DOD decisions regarding media access were controlled by Department of Defense Directive 5122.5. 4 On February 19, 2002, Flynt's lawyer sent an email to Lieutenant Commander Bonnie Hebert, one of the contacts Clarke had provided, requesting permission to have Hustler magazine correspondents accompany and report on the activities of American soldiers on the ground in Afghanistan who are engaged in combat actions. Hebert responded three days later, asking [w]here exactly in Afghanistan would you like to go? and requesting the identity of the reporter. This began a series of communications that ultimately resulted in David Buchbinder, a Hustler reporter, arriving at Bagram Air Force Base by May 7, 2002. Once in Afghanistan, Buchbinder placed himself on a list of reporters awaiting access to ground units. Since his arrival in Afghanistan, Buchbinder has filed several stories, at least one of which shows he has accompanied troops on a search for al Qaeda operatives.