Stearns wants to shackle media in the Mideast
Representative Cliff Stearns (R-FL) has joined with other Republican members of Congress to fire off a letter to Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld questioning the level of access journalists have with American troops stationed in the Middle East.
Said Stearns, "I was watching World News Tonight Monday evening (3/10) and was taken aback by Peter Jennings interviews with American troops in Kuwait on the border with Iraq. The questions focused on hypothetical situations that could arise from combat, such as casualties and the enemy response, and he asked a general about fear among his troops; they were asked to dwell on their worst fears and concerns on national TV. Jennings commented to viewers that fighting at night may be confusing and that the4 troops worry about fratricide."
Joining Stearns are Duncan Hunter (R-CA), Roscoe Bartlett (R-MD), Walter Jones (R-NC), Buck McKeon (R-CA), Dan Burton (R-IN), Sam Johnson (R-TX), John Shimkus (R-IL), Tom Tancredo (R-CO), Dave Weldon (R-FL) and Jerry Weller (R-IL).
The representatives are concerned about the policy of including - - or embedding, to use the DOD's term - - journalists with military units in general.
In the letter to Rumsfeld, the representatives wrote, "Though we understand the underlying basis behind the EMBED program (stationing reporters with military units), we found the questions in these interviews highly inappropriate, specifically those asking American troops questions on impending combat. As some of us are veterans, we know the sacrifices that come with service, including loss of life. Our young troops do not need to be reminded of that possibility by those who only seek to generate a story. Nor should family and friends of loved ones serving in the Middle East be subjected to these stories that further exacerbate worries they may already have."
RBR Observation:
We will make several points, and we will keep them brief.
1). How can the Congressman justify a freedom fight, and at the same *time suppress one of most fundamental of those freedoms? The American public has a Constitutional right to know what's going on, particularly in something as important as this.
2). War journalism is nothing new. The Congressman should take comfort from the work of Ernie Pyle in World War II and Matthew Brady in the Civil War, to name just two journalists who kept the public informed in the past.
3). We think the Congressman underestimates the mental state of our soldiers. If they can't stand up to a report by Peter Jennings, then we are truly in trouble when they are required to face the enemy.
4). The Bush administration has a big stake in this operation, and they need reliable confirmation that the things they have been saying about Saddam Hussein and WMD are true. Yet a poll released last week ranking the most trustworthy news sources (3/14 RBR Daily Epaper #52) showed that out of four sources of information from Iraq, the government ranked fourth with only 17.1%. The US news media was first (32.1%), followed by the military (23.6%) and foreign news services (18.6%). It is therefore critical for the government to have reliable third-party witnesses. The US media is the best it has.
New readers can receive our RBR Morning Epaper