Posted on 11/07/2004 12:28:34 PM PST by Ramonan
CAMP FALLUJAH, Iraq(Nov. 07, 2004) -- With what seems an immenent assault on Fallujah coming in the next few days, media embedded with the Marines are rethinking their rolls in what looks to be the largest assault in Iraq since the end of major combat operations last year.
This isn’t what they expected, said one CNN journalist while finishing up the latest edits about a patrol that took place the night before. Many of the media here have been in combat zones before but this time is different, he said.
The latest display of emotion by such media has come as they have learned more about what role the Marines would play during an offensive on the insurgent hotspot where Marines have been fighting for months.
In one of the only buildings that has electricity in the camp where they are currently living, reporters and photographers from many well-known outlets like LA Times, NY Times and CNN to name a few, have discussions nightly about what may happen to them while they charge their batteries and file their stories about what their units did that day. Some of them are even reconsidering whether they want to carry through with their original plan of moving with a front line unit.
The Marines recently embedded more than 30 media agencies with units that are operating in the Al Anbar province where the well-known towns of Ramadi and Fallujah are located. All were invited, many accepted the offer, but now some have doubts.
The Marines are trained for this, the media is not, continued the CNN reporter who was actually covered other battles including the Iraq invasion during the spring of 2003.
One photographer, who has prided himself since his arrival here, on being in more than 17 conflicts, says he is more worried about this operation than any before. Because of the tactics the insurgents are using there is much more uncertainty, he explained. He went on to say that he did not expect to have this much access or be this involved with the Marines when he arrived.
“What if I get separated, what if I think I’m in a safe place and all of a sudden an insurgent walks in with a gun,” he said.
When asked what they thought they were getting into, many of them explained that they did not expect to have such good access to the Marine units they were embedded with and told how thankful they were for the treatment they received since there arrival. However, many are scared that this “five-star” treatment will not keep them safe from the dangers Marines have been facing daily before any media arrived.
For some, the embed program seemed like a good idea and a good way to be on the forefront of a historical event, but now some aren’t so sure.
The media has some real thinking to do and has some critical decisions to make about whether they should continue with their unit into the face of battle, said an accomplished LA Times photographer.
Their concerns are valid. Just days after their arrival, a fellow embed female photographer who was riding along with the Marines on one of their daily patrols was wounded when the vehicle she was riding in was hit by an improvised explosive device or an anti-tank mine. After being treated at the Marine’s Bravo Surgical Company here, she was flown to Baghdad for further treatment. Her husband is currently embedded with the Marines.
They all say they know someone in their line of work who has been wounded covering conflicts like the one they are now involved in, but some are wondering if they want to be next.
As artillery and airstrikes continue to pound away at weapons caches and insurgent defenses in the town right outside the relative safety of the camp, the journalists, reporters, and photographers with the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force are forced with the decision of how close they want to really be when Marines are called to battle.
Outside their hangout, a makeshift “chow-hall” in a building that Saddam Hussein used not too long ago, they smoke cigarettes and contemplate how important telling this particular story really is, and whether they really need to be at the “front” like many of them originally asked.
They all say this has been a great opportunity and are thankful for the help the Marines have provided. However, some have already changed their plans on how they are going to report the events of what seems will happen any day now.
Meanwhile, Marines and other service members continue to prepare for an operation that will help decide the future of Iraq – media by their side or not.
(Editor’s note – the names of the media representatives were left out of this article as a courtesy because they are doing the Marines, the United States and the world a great service by accurately reporting on the rebuilding of Iraq.)
Info can be obtained by simply watching news reports via tv or from the internet.
The presstitutes will continue to slime our military from the comfort and safety of their luxury hotels.
No sympathy for these schmucks... if the liberal media hadn't been so blatantly siding with the foreign terrorist "insurgents" there to put obstacles in Bush's path, this would have been resolved long ago IMHO.
The MSM should be apologizing every damn day to the Marines and all our other Coalition troops for helping the military conflict drag on much longer than necessary.
In the initial assault at the beginning of war they were probably thinking, that they "know" that you're safe inside of a tank in open ground against inferior armor and great air support... but guess what, house to house, alley to alley, street to street for miles.... very, bad things are waiting for the Marines.
From some of the stories I've been reading many of the Marines have just gotten "right" by the Lord, have faith in their brother Marines and wrote the last letter, cleaned their weapon.... the press knows that this will be like the last scene of Saving Private Ryan with Blackhawk Down and the Sands of Iwo Jima thrown in..... to them it's all a "story".. the Marines are "fighting" for something that they are willing to lay their lives on the line for. That my friends is the difference. One is a way of the warrior life the other is just a "job". The embeds won't get in the way other than seeing what war is really like and the second guessing p#ssies back home won't be able to "fake" stories about atrocities or the "honorable" enemy.
God Bless the Marines and God Bless America... move fast, stay low and keep your heads on a swivel brothers.
One of the bravest journos I've ever known is Al Rockoff (the photographer in The Killing Fields), who eagerly inserted himself into a unit in the 1997 Cambodian coup with the aid of a case of Tiger beer stuffed into his backpack.
He was right smack in the middle of the fighting and came back with the photos to prove it.
You can't really blame these guys in Iraq, unlike more "civilized" conflicts the jihadis will not honor the tacit understanding of journalistic immunity. And they've been spooked by all the beheadings.
I wish ill will towards none of the reporter, pray for their safety along with the troops', and I think that some of the embedded journalists may have really seen a different view of the war than the media has tried to portray.
That said, some may be getting nervous now because they are in the midst of a war purely as journalists now and not as Kerry campaigners trying to spin the President out of office.
Media Father Dan says, "Courage".
-come on, that's no Danism...
maybe something along the line of: "Christmas may come early with a hot fallujah fruit cake baked with one part courage, one part kevlar, and plenty of insurgent nuts"...
ping
What kind of man would allow or send his wife into harm's way?
Just like when Edward R Murrow embedded himself with the Nazis?
Really, any American reporter who embeds with the jihadis should be considered an enemy combatant and either shot in the field or tried for treason.
The embedded media has seemed to be very fair in their reporting, especially in the beginning.
I don't see why this would be different.
When my hubby was in Iraq he described the media as coackroaches...scurring out of their hotels to report every soldiers death, getting their story, and scurring back to their hotel rooms before dark.......btw..I don't want any Marine or GI killed thinking they have to protect some idiot reporter....watch your back, boys..
Perhaps the media believed that Kerry would now be the Commander in Chief elect
and that the assault would consist of the Marines waving a white flag and bearing croissants and cafe au lait for the insurgents.
Oh, excuse me, insurgents is such a hateful, Red State term-perhaps we should call the terrorists who kill our troops-
" resistance fighters," as Chris Jansing of MSNBC did, a few months ago.
Pyle died on April 18, 1945. A sniper's bullet killed him on the island of Ie Shima, just off the coast of Okinawa, where island-hopping American forces were making a push toward mainland Japan.
In previous tributes written about him, it's been said that Pyle died because he didn't duck. He apparently looked up to check that his companions were O.K. and that's when the sniper's bullet found him.
Saying that he didn't duck is itself a tribute to Pyle's doggedness in covering the war; he didn't duck danger.
“What if I get separated, what if I think I’m in a safe place and all of a sudden an insurgent walks in with a gun,” he said.
We won't see what happens on the nightly news.
LOL! You're correct. That's the Dan I know.
I have to disagree. Anyone who isn't nervous/scared/worried before going into combat isn't normal. Ther Marines have the training, and the hands on combat experience....they understand what's going to happen, as much as one can, and they can rely on their training to kick in...the reporters don't have that experience..
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.