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'I Love Those Guys' [Embedded journalists in Iraq are having their minds changed by US soldiers]
Opinion Journal Online ^ | May 23, 2007 | JEFF EMANUEL

Posted on 05/23/2007 5:36:47 PM PDT by Thebaddog

Operation Iraqi Freedom saw the advent of a practice that revolutionized modern war reporting: the embedding of journalists with frontline combat units in war..."We were offered an irresistible opportunity: free transportation to the front line of the war, dramatic pictures, dramatic sounds, great quotes," said Tom Gjelten of National Public Radio. "Who can pass that up?"

... The most spectacular recent case of a journalist with an antiwar mindset being completely overwhelmed into a change of heart by American soldiers, according to the public affairs officer, was a Greek public television reporter who had been embedded with an infantry unit that became entrenched in a 45-minute firefight with insurgents. Yanked out of the line of fire by a soldier who put the journalist's life above his own, he waited under cover and in fear of his life for the almost hourlong duration of the battle, with the best view possible of American soldiers in action against an armed and murderous enemy. He credits his having lived to tell the tale directly to those young troops. "He had tears in his eyes as he talked about it," said the public affairs officer. "He just kept saying, 'They saved my life, they saved my life. . . . These are great men; they are heroes.' Even after telling it several times, he couldn't get through the story without choking up--and this was a man who had arrived here with all of the disdain for the Iraq mission and for the American soldiers who he [like seemingly most Europeans] had seen as the bad guys in this fight."

(Excerpt) Read more at opinionjournal.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs; Front Page News; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: embed; embeds; heroes; iraq; waronterror
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I don't care if this has been posted already, I want to do it and thank those guys myself for protecting us.

This is an excerpt. Read the whole article, please. Our soldiers are freaking heroes. And where are our two most recently captured soldiers? We have to try to help them any way we can.

1 posted on 05/23/2007 5:36:51 PM PDT by Thebaddog
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To: Thebaddog

How your self-image must be shaken to the core, when you see first-hand how mislead you’ve been all your life...how what you believe to be true in every fibre of your being is shown to be just so much pig slop...

Our young men and women serving now in harm’s way are some of the finest people we’ve ever known.


2 posted on 05/23/2007 5:41:34 PM PDT by HiJinx (Ask me about Troop Support...)
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To: SandRat

ping

bump!


3 posted on 05/23/2007 5:46:31 PM PDT by Calpernia (Breederville.com)
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To: Thebaddog

Heros and courage bump! Yes Virgina, there still are real Americans, who don’t whine because they didn’t get their latte at Starbucks today.


4 posted on 05/23/2007 5:49:22 PM PDT by HisKingdomWillAbolishSinDeath (Christ's Kingdom on Earth is the answer. What is your question?)
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To: HiJinx

They can’t mine enough medals for them in my opinion. All of those young people know what the fight is and what their risks are and are there willingly. I am so proud.


5 posted on 05/23/2007 5:51:57 PM PDT by Thebaddog (My dogs are tired)
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To: Thebaddog

Excellent article; thanks for posting it. I wish more people would see this.


6 posted on 05/23/2007 5:54:06 PM PDT by rightwingintelligentsia
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To: Thebaddog

Bump To The Top for my brothers.


7 posted on 05/23/2007 6:00:20 PM PDT by The Pack Knight (Duty, Honor, Country. Thompson/Franks '08)
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To: HiJinx

That sir is the self-evident truth that shakes the elites to the core. Average people doing extraordinary things every day. The founding fathers understood this. The american soldier. God bless them all.


8 posted on 05/23/2007 6:04:25 PM PDT by bubman
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To: Thebaddog

Good post. I wish more average Americans could get to know the young folks who are in this fight.


9 posted on 05/23/2007 6:05:33 PM PDT by 68skylark
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To: Thebaddog

Thank you! Excellent read. God bless our troops and those who spread the word about their courage and dedication.


10 posted on 05/23/2007 6:12:17 PM PDT by fishergirl (My warrior, my soldier, my hero - my son. God bless our troops!)
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To: Thebaddog

I’ll be headed that way in December. I leave behind my wife, five kids and two grandkids. Want to know what my biggest concern is? My family while I’m gone. To know that they will be taken care of will give me the best peace of mind I could hope for.


11 posted on 05/23/2007 6:12:31 PM PDT by rfreedom4u (My Freedom of speech trumps your feelings!)
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To: rfreedom4u

What’s your thing to be over there?


12 posted on 05/23/2007 6:14:11 PM PDT by Thebaddog (My dogs are tired)
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To: HiJinx

I firmly believe that if there is hope for this country, it lies in these young men who are going to come home knowing what we have, having risked their lives for it, seeing the other side and knowing who our real enemies are, the ones right here in this country starting with the press and ending with those who ruin our children.

They are truly our last best hope.


13 posted on 05/23/2007 6:16:13 PM PDT by cajungirl (no)
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To: Thebaddog

Paging John Effin Kerry, truth is here to bite you on the arse!


14 posted on 05/23/2007 6:21:48 PM PDT by Grizzled Bear ("Does not play well with others.")
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To: Thebaddog

So damn young and so damn good. Our guys defy what we read and hear about from the MSM, “commode experts” and some political leaders everyday and for that I am totally disgusted.


15 posted on 05/23/2007 6:24:05 PM PDT by caisson71
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To: Thebaddog

Great article, thanks for sharing!


16 posted on 05/23/2007 6:27:40 PM PDT by Teflonic
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To: Teflonic

Pass it on. And keep an eye out for Jeff Emanuel, I’ve seen his byline a lot lately. He’s a good one, IMHO.


17 posted on 05/23/2007 6:30:53 PM PDT by Thebaddog (My dogs are tired)
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To: cajungirl

Yes, not in some “I’m living in a commercial” dudes, but guys who have seen the effects of evil face to face, met the people, walked where it walked, slept in its palaces.


18 posted on 05/23/2007 6:31:52 PM PDT by MonicaG (In hoc signo vinces. The whole world will see justice done.)
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To: Thebaddog

good call, bad dog! thanks for posting!

These guys make me so proud to be an American.


19 posted on 05/23/2007 6:57:18 PM PDT by AprilfromTexas
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To: Thebaddog

Great article


20 posted on 05/23/2007 7:23:08 PM PDT by CPT Clay (Drill ANWR, Personal Accounts NOW.)
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