The Real Story of Fallujah-What I saw in Fallujah doesn't match what makes it into the news

Wall St Journal ^ | 5-27-04 | ROBERT D. KAPLAN

[SJackson]

When Bravo Company of the 1st Battalion of the 5th Marine Regiment led U.S. forces into the heart of Fallujah in the pre-dawn hours of April 6, I was the only journalist present. It had been Bravo Company of the "1st of the 5th" that had been first inside the citadel of Hue in Vietnam in February 1968. Hue City, the sight of one of the most glorious chapters in Marine history -- in which the Marines killed 5,113 enemy troops while suffering 147 dead and 857 wounded -- was foremost in the minds of the Marine commanders at Fallujah.

The Marines never got proper credit for Hue, for it was ultimately overshadowed by My Lai, in which an Army platoon killed 347 civilians a month later in 1968. This was despite the fact that the Marines' liberation of Hue led to the uncovering of thousands of mass graves there: the victims of an indiscriminate communist slaughter. Thus, Hue became a metaphor for the military's frustration with the media: a frustration revisited in Fallujah.

* * * Whenever the Marines with whom I was attached crossed the path of a mosque, we were fired upon. Mosques in Fallujah were used by snipers and other gunmen, and to store weapons and explosives. Time and again the insurgents forfeited the protective status granted these religious structures as stipulated by Geneva Conventions. Snipers were a particular concern. In early April in nearby Ramadi, an enemy sniper wiped out a squad of Marines using a Soviet-designed Draganov rifle: "12 shots, 12 kills," a Marine officer told me. The marksmanship indicated either imported jihadist talent or a member of the old regime's military elite.

[livius]

Without a communications strategy that gives the public the same sense of mission that a company captain imparts to his noncommissioned officers, victory in warfare nowadays is impossible.

This was an excellent article, and I almost posted it myself this morning.

Actually, I think communication has been the biggest problem of the entire Bush administration. If the press were favorable - say, as it was in the case of Bill Clinton's Kosovo warlet - it would be possible to rely on it to get some of the good news out.

But the press is not favorable, and some alternative way of communicating with the American public must be developed.

[SW6906]

AAARRRGHHH! I want to read (and pass on to liberals) the whole article, but it is available only to subscribers!

[livius]

Ping to some Freepers I saw on another media-report related thread.

[2banana]

In early April in nearby Ramadi, an enemy sniper wiped out a squad of Marines using a Soviet-designed Draganov rifle: "12 shots, 12 kills," a Marine officer told me. The marksmanship indicated either imported jihadist talent or a member of the old regime's military elite.

I don't beleive this line:

There were never 12 marines killed in one day
The Draganov is not that good of a rifle
Marine snipers are much better trained and armed, they would have taken out this sniper by the second shot
This type of propaganda would have been all over the arab news.

[RaceBannon]

[wallcrawlr]

Thanks for posting...it is good to read how brave our soldiers are.

Their bravery/courage/skill deserves to be the lead story every night on the news...sadly it ain't.

[LS]

Again, the reporter---who has a great piece---fails to understand that the Bush administration, no matter how "talented" and "sensitive" to PR, can only put the message "out there." THE MEDIA MUST PICK IT UP AND RUN WITH IT. There is simply no way to "force feed" this kind of info to anyone.

(By the way, once again the article confirms what I've told some of you hard-heads here from day 1: the Marines made the strategy, THEY determined when to go in and go out---not "the Pentagon" or Bush---and THEY have been the ones tempering their fire because they understand that most Iraqis are noncommittal and just want to be left alone, and that we DON'T want to turn a city of 200,000 into 200,000 enemies. End rant).

One last thing. My wife was at a jewelry party last night. About 20 middle-aged white women from the 'burbs, very few "rich" in the technical sense of the word, though most comfortable. She was amazed that all of them knew all the contestants on "American Idol"---one had called and voted 75 times!---but NONE knew that welfare benefits were limited to 5 years any more. None were political, and she doubts that most will vote. THIS is who the author thinks Bush is "going to reach" with some dog-and-pony shows?

[Balding_Eagle]

As Marines assaulted Fallujah, the administration should have been holding dramatic slide shows for the public, of the kind that battalion and company commanders were giving their troops, explaining how this or that particular mosque was being militarily utilized, and how much was being done to avoid destroying them, at great risk to Marine lives. Complaining about the slanted coverage of Al-Jazeera -- as administration officials did -- was as pathetic as Jimmy Carter complaining that Soviet Communist Party boss Leonid Brezhnev had lied to him. Given its long-standing track record, how else could Al-Jazeera have been expected to report the story? You had the feeling that the Pentagon was reacting; not anticipating.

It could have been so different, if only the military over here in the US was as smart as those who are deployed.

[drq]

bump

[cookcounty]

Double, Triple bump

[Just mythoughts]

"As Marines assaulted Fallujah, the administration should have been holding dramatic slide shows for the public, of the kind that battalion and company commanders were giving their troops, explaining how this or that particular mosque was being militarily utilized, and how much was being done to avoid destroying them, at great risk to Marine lives."

Actually while it may well for a moment had a dramatic effect upon the nation, seems to me that it would also serve the opposite effect. Heads up for the enemy.

No slide show in the world is going to change the liberal/commie mind, especially if it demonstrates actual creation of a "free" Iraq.

What these Marines need to be told is that while there are no actual bombs or bullets flying at home there is another kind of "war" that the administration is fighting on the home front. That war has just as grave implication for the military and its protection and future as the one where actual bombs and bullets fly.

[eureka!]

Truth bump...

[Toskrin]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1121186/posts

Twelve Marines were killed in Ramadi on April 6th, but sniper story sounds like a myth.

[2banana]

Twelve Marines were killed in Ramadi on April 6th, but sniper story sounds like a myth.

I don't see twelve marine deaths in this article. And, for sure, an entire marine squad did not get wiped out.

[kabar]

Good article. I would also note that the media are not making the investment of resources to cover post-war Iraq similar to what was done with the imbeds during the war itself. This lack of coverage distorts what actually is happening. The "good news" gets overshadowed by the sensational. Our enemy knows how to play the US and world media.

Based on casualties, there is plenty of action going on in Western Iraq along the Syrian and Jordanian borders. The media have not covered it, either because DOD is not giving them access or it is too dangerous. We may be winning the military side of the war, but we are losing on the PR front. It is very difficult to get the word out with a biased media and Dems who amplify the bad news for partisan political advantage.

[cookcounty]

"Eating with the hajis" is one thing you would never guess was occuring, given the" hate-Americans ethic" of our TV news people. My son's unit mostly "eats indigenous" ---in the Sunni Triangle.

Are we welcomed as "liberators?" Well, mostly, and with caution, yes.

[Cap Huff]

BTTT

[Guenevere]

bttt

[RonF]

Again, the reporter---who has a great piece---fails to understand that the Bush administration, no matter how "talented" and "sensitive" to PR, can only put the message "out there." THE MEDIA MUST PICK IT UP AND RUN WITH IT. There is simply no way to "force feed" this kind of info to anyone.

One last thing. My wife was at a jewelry party last night. About 20 middle-aged white women from the 'burbs, very few "rich" in the technical sense of the word, though most comfortable. She was amazed that all of them knew all the contestants on "American Idol"---one had called and voted 75 times!---but NONE knew that welfare benefits were limited to 5 years any more. None were political, and she doubts that most will vote. THIS is who the author thinks Bush is "going to reach" with some dog-and-pony shows?

Please understand the implications of these two paragraphs. They are much more closely linked than you think. Consider this; while the administration cannot forcefeed information to the press, the press in turn cannot forcefeed information to the public. If a television station or newspaper or radio station provides programming to the public that the public does not care to consume, they will go out of business. The TV station is in business to make money; they are not an altruistic concern.

There is a reason why People sells more copies than any serious political magazine (of any stripe), and why a very small proportion of people read The Wall Street Journal. There are many in the media who have a bias, both liberal and conservative, but they're feeding the beast what it wants to eat, they are not the beast itself. Nobody crammed American Idol down those womens' throats. They turned it on and watched it instead of something else that you and I feel is much more worthy of our time because they chose to. It's that choice that's the enemy of America, not the media.