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To Stand or Fall in Baghdad
By John
We talk frequently about the media battlespace here at OPFOR, and how important it is to use the press to our advantage.
With the noose is tightening around milbloggers and embedded journalists existing at .0001% of their Operation Iraqi Freedom strength, the importance of a new media strategy has become abundantly clear. Otherwise we'll continue to be subjected to stories like this one, from the New York Times.
BAGHDAD, Oct. 22 — After three years of trying to thwart a potent insurgency and tamp down the deadly violence in Iraq, the American military is playing its last hand: the Baghdad security plan. The plan will be tweaked, adjusted and modified in the weeks ahead, as American commanders try to reverse the dismaying increase in murders, drive-by shootings and bombings.
Its last hand? That's a bit dramatic, even from a paper who purposefully compromises high-value intelligence gathering platforms to satisfy a political end. If you read the whole story, you will notice that none of the interviewed officers express even the slightest bit of defeatism that the Times' lead indicated. Realism, yes. Hopelessness? Not even close.
This article sums up everything that we can do better on the media front. We need to get reporters back into the fight and enable them to do their jobs. Research, report, and deliver an accurate story (this one isn't) to the American people.
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Comments
whoa, slow down there turbo. Make sure you understand what you read.
I don't recall using the words "liberal" or "bias" in that post. What I did say is that it is the military's responsibility to ensure that the press gets the right facts, so that they can report the right story.
"the Baghdad security plan"? If it's going to be our Last Hand make it at least sound cool. The "Baghdad Brawl", "Thurman's Last Stand" or the "Final Countdown"! Roll the music Michael.
"We're leaving together,
But still it's farewell
And maybe we'll come back,...."
*sigh* I'll be in the back, wake me when they start talking about the supposed draft again.
I am wondering if any military bloggers here have thoughts on Michael Yon's recent piece in Weekly Standard (I think. Yon writes about the embed program in Iraq and what he sees as military mismanagement of the press.
I don't have any means to gauge the accurracy of Yon's piece. I am inclined to believe him, but the constant criticism I read of everything military causes me to question Yon's analysis. The media side of The Long War is at least as important as any other. If we are not mananging it well, we should correct that. Thoughts?
Doug Santo
Pasadena, CA
Toss out the reporters and start kicking ass and taking names. Less sensitivity and more cleaning house.
I'm also wondering of your opinion on Kevin Tillman's recent entry into the public domain.
I don't agree with him AZ, but he's certainly earned the right to speak his mind on the GWOT.
If a NYT reporter had as much information as you wanted them to have, would they "want" to write a fair and balanced, or positive story? In other words, isn't it about more than facts and their availability, in that community?
The press has long been sympathetic to the West's enemies. CNN was once part of Hussein's propaganda ministry.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/890515/posts
Eason Jordan was eased out after he accused US troops of targeting journalists and couldn't back it up when challenged.
Jerks.
Imagine seeing this in June 1944: "After two and a half years of trying to thwart the Axis powers in Africa, the Pacific, Burma and southern Europe, the Alliance is playing its last hand: an invasion of France."
As I've always said... it's the police, stupid.
The forces we have in place are not enough to do the job of pacifying Baghdad. If we don't have a capable and competent Iraqi security force, then we will not be able to complete the task.
I do not disagree that we are in an unfriendly media environment, but again I think the administration failed to properly plan for this known factor. It's like a military commander executing a battle plan and then complaining that the enemy is shooting back. The media are a KNOWN quantity... and should be treated as such. Again, another mistake in the planning.
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Do you think the failings of the press are limited to the war?The NYT has always had a partisan slant:towards selling newspapers.Why else would the NYT have created Whitewater stories? Or lies about Al Gore?
I'd like to see the media of all sorts do a better job.It's not just a liberal or conservative slant.
Comment on the story at hand,but STFU about your imagined "liberal" bias.