Tim Hetherington – Farewell Braveheart

There is a sinister and lethal dimension to the floundering battle in Libya, and that is the savage killing and loss of life of innocent men and women.

Tim Hetherington, who is a “four time winner of the world press photographer award”, and maker of the Oscar-nominated film “Restrepo”, was killed along with American photographer Chris Hondros, a recipient of the Robert Capa Gold Medal for war photography, who apparently were targeted deliberately by government forces.

He was described by James Goldston of ABC News, who worked with him, as “one of the bravest photographers and film-makers I have ever met”.

Hetherington, who was working for Vanity Fair in Libya, was also described by its editor Graydon Carter as “devilishly good-looking and impossibly brave, he was both a ladies’ man and a man’s man. There were few like Tim, and there will be fewer like him.”

Peter Bouckaert, from the campaign group “Human Rights Watch”, said he had a “tremendous reputation and a giant heart”.

Hetherington, who lived in New York and recently married, was educated in Oxford University.

The British Defence Secretary Liam Fox compared the crisis in Libya to that of Afghanistan, which is a fatal situation for the coalition, bringing about the possibility of a decade-long battle to get rid of the foxy Colonel Gaddafi.

We hope this battle will not turn into a quagmire, killing more and more brave and courageous men and women.

In the words of Max Hastings: “our objective now should be to escape from our folly (of committing soldiers to help the Libyan rebels) through a political deal, not a military victory.”

We will make it a priority to watch  Tim Hetherington and Sebastian Junger’s documentary, “Restrepo”…

even though we know it will break our hearts.

Farewell…

Braveheart.

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