If you are (or were) an officer in the United States Military, you are hereby required to read this article by former embed James Lacey (thanks to Diamond Jack for the tip). Mr. Lacey is admonishing us. Seriously, look at this:
Military officers constantly lament that most of the successes in Iraq and Afghanistan went unnoticed, while every little setback or problem seemingly received national attention. Many believe national policy is set by the media intent on painting every U.S. military commitment as an unwinnable quagmire.
They are right.
But who is responsible for this state of affairs? While it is easy to blame the media for failing to get the true story or to accuse journalists of a liberal bias against military operations, this fails to identify the true culprit. The reason the military is losing the war in the media is because it has almost totally failed to engage, and where it has engaged, it has been with a mind-boggling degree of ineptitude.
But wait a minute!!!! I already said this! I have proof, because I'm quoted in the new book IRAQ: PROVIDING HOPE by Eric Holmes:
I honestly believe that we are losing the information campaign here. As soldiers fighting this war, we have an obligation to get the word out about what's really going on over here.
Was that a shameless plug? Okay, yeah, that was a shameless plug. But I'm just making the point that I completely agree with Mr. Lacey. We need to do better. But hey- I'm milblogging, so my conscience is clear like the stuff that Jason Giambi puts under his tongue. How about the rest of you? (don't answer if you happen to be Blackfive, Smash, or Froggy)
The last part of the article was almost scary:
Finally, the military needs to develop programs to get more of its senior officers and civilian officials in front of the press on a regular basis. Too many see the press as their enemy or something to be feared. If the media are the enemy, then the military needs to wade into them as if storming ashore on D-Day. Officers who will run any personal risk in combat to ensure mission accomplishment must learn to be equally fearless when dealing with this new foe. Besides, once they wade in, they might find the enemy is not so bad after all.
Whoa- has he been reading my blog?
Seriously folks, I really do think we need to get on our game.
And Speaking of "Game"
Tomorrow, Army will BEAT THE HELL OUTTA Navy and I just found out that I'll be able to watch it- YES!
This is Your Terrorist on Drugs
We recently discussed Mike's revelation regarding terrorists fighting under the influence of hard drugs. Specifically, the question- why weren't we hearing about this from any other sources? As you'll recall, I said "give it some time." Thanks to Cathy for rescuing my credibility:
I thought I’d tell you that just this morning on Fox and Friends, the issue of the found drugs in Fallujah was mentioned. They (Fox) claim that in a public statement Gen. Meyers confirmed that large stashes of drugs were found and that many of the terrorists were doped up when captured. This is the first time I have heard this issue being raised in the MSM.
I won't show you the rest of what she wrote. It was something about "Go Navy, beat someone or something (?)"- pure hogwash whatever it was. But thanks for the scoop!
Cross Blogging
Not sure if I invented this term (I doubt it), but I think Ibn_Afrafidain and I were "cross blogging." Check out the post and read the comments- some good debates going on over there.
And Finally
Have a great weekend as you enjoy Army's glorious (and stunning) victory over the heavily favored Mids. I'll be back Monday...
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