 |
|
 |
Prev | List | Random | Next |
June 2008
May 2008
April 2008
March 2008
February 2008
January 2008
December 2007
November 2007
October 2007
September 2007
August 2007
July 2007
June 2007
May 2007
April 2007
March 2007
February 2007
January 2007
December 2006
November 2006
October 2006
September 2006
August 2006
July 2006
June 2006
May 2006
April 2006
March 2006
February 2006
January 2006
December 2005
November 2005
October 2005
September 2005
August 2005
July 2005
June 2005
May 2005
April 2005
March 2005
February 2005
January 2005
December 2004
November 2004
October 2004
September 2004
August 2004
July 2004
June 2004
May 2004
April 2004
March 2004
February 2004
January 2004
December 2003
November 2003
October 2003
September 2003
August 2003
July 2003
June 2003
May 2003
April 2003
March 2003
February 2003
A few days ago Marine Corps Moms posted a letter to family members from USMC Major Adam Holton, one of the updates Marine commanders routinely send home from Iraq. (Note to other service Chiefs: The Marines are doing it right with this sort of stuff.) The whole thing is well worth a read, but this passage twisted my stomach a bit, for what should be obvious reasons:
We had a fairly atypical visit to our company's FOB yesterday. Dan Rather of CBS News came to Iraq to do a story for 60 Minutes II on fighting the insurgency and the upcoming elections. His two-day visit was hosted by Colonel Johnson, our MEU Commander (who is the boss of Lt Col Smith, our Battalion Commander). They spent time on the first day of the visit solely with the MEU Commander, and then yesterday, they visited two sites in our zone, with ours being one of them. The visit here in Lutayfiyah went great from my perspective. There were a few one-on-one interviews, and a group "discussion" with a squad from mostly second platoon and some of weapons platoon (I wish that I could have him talk to everyone, but with operations going on, many of our guys were outside of the wire at the time he visited). If I had to guess, I would say a clip from the group discussion will end up in the final story. I felt good that Rather had the opportunity to talk to enough of the Marines here to get a real sense of the "spirit" of Golf Company. Regardless of what "angle" he was looking for the final story, your Marines did a phenomenal job yesterday in laying down for him how they feel and what the reality on the ground actually is. The producer told us as they were leaving that the story will air this Wednesday night (Thursday morning here) on 60 Minutes II. I would ask as many of you as possible to tape the episode, as I am not sure we will actually get it on the satellite TV here. We have one channel that tends to shift back and forth between news and shows on the major four stations, so we are not guaranteed to get the show here at all.
The result can be found here, and I admit to being surprised. Dan Rather reports:
We were heading to a remote outpost in the town of Ludifayah. Ten of the men based there have died. Still, these Marines insist the enemy is losing, at least in this key area."They?ve got plenty of ammunition," says one Marine. "I think they are running out of bodies pretty soon to plant those IEDs."
IEDs are what the Marines call the roadside bombs. They have killed three men in Sgt. Eric Abbott's squad.
Are those kinds of incidents increasing, decreasing or about the same as when Abbott first got there? "I believe they are definitely decreasing since we have been here," says Abbott.
Is the election, scheduled for Jan. 30, going to come off well? "I believe we are going to make it happen," says Abbott.
So does the commanding officer, Col. Ron Johnson, a 25-year Marine veteran. "I don?t think it will be spot-free incident," he says. "But I think you?ll see you?ll be pleasantly surprised about the number of Iraqi citizens who want to put their name on a piece of paper."
Col. Johnson has made it a priority to keep his troops highly visible That?s why he set up a small outpost in the town of Hasweh, after bombers leveled the police station. A platoon of 40 Marines moved into the building next door.
Johnson says the Marine presence has changed life in Hasweh. His convoys are being attacked much less frequently. The market is busy. Schools, which were closed last year, are open now. And there is water and electricity most of the time.
But Johnson doesn?t think that story is getting out. Neither does Sgt. Lewis. "I am tired of hearing the crap," says Lewis. "The whole, well, 'We are barely hanging on, we're losing, the insurgency is growing.' All that. We are doing fine. It's just a small, a small amount of people out there causing the problems. I mean, it is a small number, and we?re killing them."
The Marines are out every day looking for the enemy, and trying to round up the old artillery shells used to make the deadly car bombs. The ammunition is everywhere.
Johnson?s men thought some of it might be hidden in a van they spotted by the road. So they cordoned the area off while the bomb squad went to work and blew it up safely.
From the force of the explosion, the Marines concluded there was a cache of 12 to 15 artillery shells inside the van. "I?m just glad none of our guys were coming by there when that thing went off," says one Marine. "Could have gotten a lot of people hurt."
But no one was hurt, thanks to an Iraqi teenager who reported the suspicious van to the police. Johnson believes there are approximately 1,500 insurgents still on the loose in the Triangle of Death. At a briefing, he was told about one group said to be planning an election-day attack with 10 barrels of explosives.
There's plenty more at the link, and to their credit the CBS team avoided the all too often seen media device of "balancing" this sort of reporting with "quagmire" quotes or Vietnam comparisons. In other words, Dan was on his best behavior. (Hey, you think his proximity to actual US Marines might have some influence on his style?)
Hat tip for pointer to 60 Minutes piece to Cori Dauber, Associate Professor of Communication Studies (and of Peace, War, and Defense) at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her area of scholarship is the way the media represents war and the military, and her blog should be a daily read for anyone interested in that topic.
