Way to go Sarah and Mrs. G! That's an invaluable resource and I'm glad it's online.

Thank you so much. this is a timeless piece which I wish more people who support MSM reporting of Iraq could watch. Its kinda like giving a copy of Cider House Rules to a strict Pro-life person: you might not change their views but you will force them to at least challenge their own views and self analyze.
Thank you again,
I was able to watch the second half and it was the only decent reporting I've seen in years.

PS the Moderator ROX!

Agree on the moderator comment. Great job of advancing a discussion without unduly influencing, directing, or judging.

Could we find someone capable of such a feat today?

Fascinating! Who was that moderator?

Mrs. G,

Great job on tracking this down. Watched both videos. Amazing how some of the issues we are facing today (prisoners, abuse, journalistic ethics, etc....) were so well discussed in 1987 (the indicated date of the videos).

Two items struck me. How the journalists are complete slaves to getting the story first, instead of getting it right; and how the military has thought so far ahead in the ethical dilemmas and cases hypothesized than the rest of the country. Newt was correct when he indicated that the military's ethics are far advanced beyond the journalists. We have thought about these things ahead of time, planned what our responses should be, and reviewed the history behind our failures of ethics and the consequences of those failures. The journalists go with the flow. Even the clergymen had thought farther ahead than journalists. Guess so, they've been at this ethics thing since well before the Spanish Inquisition (which crystallized much of the Catholic and later Protestant thought on how to live your life correctly in God's eyes.)

The conclusion I must draw from this is that if you want your children to learn how to be firm, but compassionate humanitarians, let them join the Marine Corps; don't let them go to Columbia School of Journalism. Journalists can only blow with the wind when faced with the hard choices of life. The tyrant of the moment will influence their view of right and wrong. Men with backbone and compassion stand up to the tyrants of the Earth and make a better world.

Despite his harsh attitude towards prisoners and atrocities and his seemingly rigid insistence on discipline, I'd prefer the disabled VietNam vet Lieutenant as my platoon leader. He is made of some pretty stern stuff, and I admire his ability to speak truthfully in what must surely have been an uncomfortable and politically correct venue (Harvard?).

Thanks to Sarah for this link. She is having a tough time waiting on her husband's deployment to end and deserves our love and support. Press on.

Subsunk

One more thing:

when the Marine Commander said his part about Journalists not being able to be "journalists and Americans" when they used their story-first, country second justification for not alerting friendly forces of impending enemy ambush, he asked Jennings and Wallace if they thought that was a fair comment and THEY BOTH AGREEED. That is the prime difference in journalists today, they think they are entitled to both. And even though their justification sounded like crap, I could respect them as somewhat responsible, yet misguided.