Posted on 03/04/2003 7:01:28 AM PST by TADSLOS
DoD promises press freer access to war
With the U.S. military on the verge of war with Iraq, the Pentagon plans to give the media a wide-ranging and essentially uncensored view of the fight.
And if it does, soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines will find themselves going into combat with reporters at their sides.
The plan is ambitious and unprecedented.
About 800 reporters, photographers and TV crews — 20 percent from non-U.S. media, including, possibly, the controversial Qatar-based network al-Jazeera — will be assigned slots in specific ground units, ships and headquarters throughout the combat zone.
Once assigned, they will stay "embedded" with those units as long as they wish and are to have what the Pentagon ground rules call "minimally restrictive" access to U.S. forces.
The only restrictions will be to protect operational security, public affairs officers said. "We don’t want the story going out two hours before something starts — if it does — saying, ‘We’re going to start in two hours,’" said Army Col. Guy Shields, director of the Combined Press Information Center Kuwait. "Journalists understand that."
Truth is worth the risk
Shields, a former combat infantry officer directing his 10th such operation — others are up and running in Bahrain, Qatar, Germany and, sources say, Cyprus — will coordinate the movement of embedded journalists and possibly hundreds more who hope to cover ground operations a day or two at a time. He admitted that granting such widespread access, with the possibility for graphic depiction of combat, is a risk. But, he said, "My personal feeling is that it’s worth the risk to get the actual truth out."
The plan grew out of talks with reporters, editors and commanders in the field, said Bryan Whitman, deputy assistant secretary of defense for media. After the Afghanistan campaign, journalists overwhelmingly expressed a desire to cover combat alongside U.S. troops, he said.
This time, the Pentagon aims to provide that opportunity.
And journalists are scrambling for a piece of the action. At Fort Cambpell, Ky., for example, nearly 40 journalists from all over the world showed up Feb. 26 to embed with units of the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault).
Any doubts the assembled print reporters, photographers and TV news crews may have had that they would be going into harm’s way were quickly dispelled.
After briefings on chemical and biological threats in Iraq, journalists were offered both smallpox and anthrax vaccine. Many rolled up their sleeves. They also were issued M40 protective masks and the Joint Service Lightweight Integrated Protective Suit technology, the latest of the U.S. military’s nuclear, biological and chemical protective suits.
"What you are going into is not a training exercise," said Maj. Trey Cate, spokesman for the 101st. "It’s real. This is dangerous stuff."
Whitman said journalists’ desire to cover the war from the front lines with the troops in the field would be "reason enough" for assigning journalists to combat units. But another major element of having journalists accompany combat troops is to "counter disinformation" by the Iraqi regime and actually help advance the allied cause.
"There is a value in making truth an issue," Whitman said. "[Saddam Hussein] uses disinformation. What better way to counter that kind of disinformation than to have ... reporters on the battlefield reporting objectively what is actually occurring?"
Reporters traveled with units in World War II and sometimes had great access to operational plans, but their censored reports, often hand-carried, were slow to air or see print and posed little threat to operational security.
In Vietnam, reporters had great freedom of movement in the theater and the ability to fly back to Saigon to file reports of the day’s action.
The vivid, uncensored stories and images helped turn public opinion against the Vietnam War, and many in the military felt the media’s efforts aided the enemy.
In the 1991 Persian Gulf War, most reporters covered the long buildup and the war itself via a system of "pools" that shared their stories with other outlets in the rear, while others worked unilaterally. Many had good access to front-line units, but military censors reviewed stories from both groups of media. And when combat began, story flow was fitful. Some reporters had their stories flown back to the rear and filed the same day, but many endured long delays.
This time, it remains to be seen what embedded reporters will find more advantageous: unfettered movement or the ability to operate within a single command and gain insight that might not be readily apparent to short-time visitors.
"Unlike Vietnam, we won’t have the ability to move around the battlefield [to different units]," said Knight Ridder reporter Drew Brown, a former Army Ranger who writes for 31 newspapers and is covering the 3rd Infantry Division. "But this will be the first time since Vietnam that U.S. journalists will have had this much access."
Mike von Fremd, a 25-year veteran ABC News reporter, said that if the system works, "it will be quite remarkable. Many of us, though, will really believe it when we see it."
One exception to battlefield access will be access to injured U.S. troops, Shields said. "I would not anticipate us making casualties available," he said.
The possibility that journalists might transmit digital photos or televise images of U.S. casualties before families are notified is of great concern to commanders. Pentagon guidelines, agreed to by journalists, say battlefield casualties may be covered "as long as the service member’s identity is protected from disclosure for 72 hours or upon verification of [next of kin] notification, whichever is first."
Even if TV reporters with combat units manage to capture live and potentially graphic action, television crews in Kuwait say quality generally will be poor.
"Everything is not up-close and personal out there," said Craig White, an NBC cameraman who has covered wars in Afghanistan and Beirut during his 32 years with the network.
That could change if the war hits Baghdad and daylight street fighting erupts. "There’s a high probability that the images will be much, much, much more than smart bombs going through windows. I think the American public, the world, will see what war’s really all about," said Air Force Lt. Col. Jeff Fanto, deputy operations chief of Combined Press Information Center Qatar.
And, said von Fremd, "I think you might see some heroic, very brave people. And they might get more of the recognition they deserve if you’re able to watch them in action."
William H. McMichael reported from Kuwait, Vince Crawley from Washington. Staff writer Matthew Cox also contributed to this report from Fort Campbell, Ky.
As it still should be.
Yup, directly infron of Kilo 3/6.
They will get a good view of the action.
LOL!! Somehow, I doubt that few of these media commandos would venture past the Brigade TOC.
He's a good guy and a great father, please remember him in your prayers
I will, and I submit that he already knows more about the military than any prime time anchor or Newsweek reporter does.
I don't trust 'em. I've witnessed how they operate first hand. From a commander's point of view, they had best follow the rules. The first time one of them decides to break ranks in order to scoop a story and put soldiers in jeopardy because of their insatiable appetite to hog air time and/or print space, would be their last.
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