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| Iraq-Jordan |
| "Anti-American Media Is Not A Military Problem" |
| 2004-05-20 |
| Excerpt... The media slant towards the enemy is a problem that does not require a military solution. Speeding up the kill, as Peters suggests, will only lead to greater and greater inaccuracies in who we kill, leading to more reporting on this type of âcollateral damageâ that is so damaging to our warfighting efforts. Speed is a combat multiplier, yes, and we go for speed whenever we can. But the speed of the operation must be driven by METT-T (mission, equipment, tactics, terrain and time), not by whose camera crew is closest. If we kill faster, but sloppier, we will have worse press, not better. There will always be wavering partners in the WOT. They will come and go depending upon their own countryâs view of what they have to gain, and what they have to lose, in the overall effort. The recent actions by the Spanish government are a great example. They chose to leave the WOT not because of something the US Army did, but because of something al Queda did. Would the Spanish have left the Coalition earlier if the Abu Ghraib story was out? Maybe, but in the end, those partners who are of limited belief are also of limited use. We can use them if they want to be part of our effort, but they will never be the deciding factor in whether victory is ours. |
| Posted by:Phil Fraering |
| #3 I've actually sided with Peters in being disgruntled, but I propose an alternate solution -- how about the release of gun camera footage? I remember the infamous ABC video of an Apache gunship's 30mm chaingun at work, but it convinced me that those men were legitimately assumed threats ... |
| Posted by: Edward Yee 2004-05-21 12:27:57 AM |
| #2 I quite like Ralph Peters, but agree with the author's point in this case. The solution to the media problem is better media efforts by the military and the administration. F'rinstance: where is the video footage of the attack on the "wedding party" ? If it was in fact a raid on a safe house, as seems likely, some footage would be useful in dispelling the propaganda about the slaughter of innocents celebrating a wedding. |
| Posted by: Carl in N.H. 2004-05-20 10:58:56 PM |
| #1 I found this link at instapundit; the author is arguing that Ralph Peters has the wrong solution to the problem. |
| Posted by: Phil Fraering 2004-05-20 9:25:21 PM |