Raybbr, maybe you didn't read this page of his blog where he names soldiers by name, rank, State of origin and then gives explicit details on their mission, and he quotes them.
Maybe it's permissible to name names of all the soldiers, wounded and otherwise in the company, along with detailed photos of the day's action, street names and what appear to be identifiable landmarks and descriptions, but it doesn't ring right with me.
Every paper and media outlet in the country gives that info when talking about someone in the service. I see it all the time in the local newspapers. Maybe it's permissible to name names of all the soldiers, wounded and otherwise in the company, along with detailed photos of the day's action, street names and what appear to be identifiable landmarks and descriptions, but it doesn't ring right with me.
Isn't that what all media does? It's past tense. For all you know that info could be days old. How could that have any effect?
You guys want to trash Sites. I see his site as being pretty objective.
If you really want to place blame, blame the pentagon for allowing anyone there in the first place. It's war. Nasty things will happen and allowing hundreds of reporters into the middle of it surely will bring out the nastiness.
In postwar Iraq these guys are the Hail Mary squad—ready to do what their asked, from treating drinking water, to building bridges, to destroying weapons caches which could be used against coalition forces. Their portfolio is as broad and diverse Leonardo Davinici’s—and like the renaissance genius, they use both sides of their brain—creative and logical to accomplish their mission.
Taking the lead from their commanding officer and their Sgt. Major, they seem to me the calmest, most even tempered men in the Army.
Sgt. Major Wells has been in the Army for 23 years and doesn’t plan to quit until they make him.
“Why should you leave a job when you’re having fun,” he asks.
He is soft spoken but commands respect with a quiet confidence built on vast knowledge and institutional memory. In his Humvee he has a Saint Christopher medal on his visor. He says he touches is it and says a little prayer before every mission.
“What do you pray for,” I ask him? He chews on the question for a moment, then answers.
“For the safety of me and my men. But also that we do the right thing out here. You have to do a lot of things that aren’t so nice. Ugly things."
Seems pretty good reporting and unbiased to me. In fact, generates a lot more respect from me towards our troops. Tough men with hearts and lives back home. Trying to do a good job while being hamstrung by the pentagon and Bush due to their lack of willngness to kick the shit out of the Iraqi scum.