U.S. general emerges from the shadows, 60 hours on

Reuters | 3/22/03 | Jeff Franks

[kattracks]

U.S. general emerges from the shadows, 60 hours on

By Jeff Franks

CAMP AS SAYLIYAH, Qatar, March 22 (Reuters) - In the run-up to war, the U.S. military spent $1.5 million to convert a warehouse into a modern press centre, with a Hollywood-designed set for news conferences by U.S. General Tommy Franks, commander of the invasion forces.

On Saturday -- more than 60 hours after the war began -- he finally planned to use it.

So far, Franks has not spoken one word to the media, testing the patience of some 600 reporters desperate for information at the As Sayliyah Camp command headquarter on the bleak outskirts of Qatar's capital, Doha.

It could hardly be more different from Franks' garrulous predecessor, "Stormin"' Norman Schwarzkopf, who became an enduring memory of the 1991 Gulf War.

Analysts say the lack of information is probably deliberate policy to leave Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and his military guessing about the U.S.-led forces' plans.

Answers to questions about the invasion of Iraq have been as hard to come by here as water in the surrounding desert at a press operation that has been roundly criticized by reporters.

"I have no information on that, sir," is the typical response from one of the many public affairs officers on staff in the "Coalition Media Centre."

"You've got 600 hacks locked in a warehouse and you won't tell them anything. It's laughable," said one veteran U.S. television reporter.

"This is the worst public affairs operation I've ever seen."

Even some of the soldiers who work at the centre have begun to joke about it. "Just tell your editors we only have one word - 'can't', as in 'I can't confirm that,"' one told Reuters.

On Friday, some of them met U.S. Navy Captain Frank Thorp, the media centre chief, to express their disgruntlement.

"IT'S PATHETIC"

A reporter at a newspaper in the U.S. southwest complained that he could not get basic information on Friday about a U.S. Marine killed in action in Iraq.

"They wouldn't give me a name, a time, a place -- any detail at all," he said. "We had to go to the British. It's pathetic."

The comparative openness of the British, who have offices in the press centre, appeared on Friday to create some problems.

The Australians and British planned a news conference in the new briefing room, but sources said the U.S. military opposed it because it did not want to be upstaged or lose control of the flow of information.

All sides denied U.S. intervention. But as reporters filed in to the briefing room, the Australians and British announced they would hold separate conferences outside of the centre and allow in only the press from their own countries.

The most prevalent journalist theory of why the U.S. is being so tight-lipped is that the press operation is an extension of White House policy to control information. The journalists point out that Franks' communications director, Jim Wilkinson, is a recent transplant from the White House.

In their defence, U.S. officials say the centre's role is to provide a big picture of the war while the reporters with front-line military units provide the details.

The reporter from the U.S. southwest said he was mystified when a television crew filmed him while he got a cup of coffee. "It turned out they were doing a story on how reporters here don't have anything to do but drink coffee," he said.

[kattracks]

So far, Franks has not spoken one word to the media, testing the patience of some 600 reporters desperate for information at the As Sayliyah Camp command headquarter on the bleak outskirts of Qatar's capital, Doha.

Aww, poor babies. I guess they haven't noticed that General Franks has had more important things to do in the last 60 hours.

[Caipirabob]

"This is the worst public affairs operation I've ever seen."

That'd be because it's actually a war, moron.

[Russ]

What in hell could they possibly want to know that they don't already? All the reporters have to do is watch Fox News.

[RightOnline]

Don't you know? It's all about them.

[dennisw]

Gen. Franks doesn't need to say a darn thing because the embedded reporters are telling it all much better. Same for the videos of cruise missles swooshing into Bahgdad.

[toddst]

Don't you know? It's all about them.

10-4! How inconsiderate it is for General Franks to concern himself with conducting war operations over talking to the press. Yeah, right.

[Sunnyvale CA Eng.]

"This is the worst public affairs operation I've ever seen." That'd be because it's actually a war, moron.

Exactly! All of the major cable outfits have live video from advancing troops with reporters riding shotgun! This guy is an idiot. They want a continuous stage show from senior military and spoonfeeding of info on the half hour.

[xlib]

Geez. Real-time video from embedded reporters all over Iraq and they still complain about media access.

[Future Snake Eater]

Real-time video from embedded reporters all over Iraq and they still complain about media access.

Exactly what I thought!

[Mrs. P]

These guys want to be able to give out the Unvarnished Communist Press version of what's going on, and their embedded buddies are ruining it for them. We're getting snips of real life on TV and radio, and these weenies whine that it's "biased". Biased my butt.

Maybe this is sour grapes because these guys couldn't or didn't want to go through the field training so they could be one of the real reporters in the field.

[Cvengr]

I begin to wonder if there might be some hidden socialist Fifth Column within the presscorps.

I've noticed how some reporters on the tube live from Iraq, will leak live actions such as, well we've traveling at such and such rate,...we're now stopped, had been under fire, and now fuel trucks are approaching us so it must be safe....on live TV.

If I get this by satellite TV via CNN, I suspect many in that part of the world will also be tuning in.

Hard to tell if all those little bits of info were intentionally directed or merely a data dump habit by a traffic reporter transported to a war zone.

I have noticed though, repeated queries about rates of advance and speed of columns, which would be key intel for the enemy.

Some might counterargue that the locations are non-descript and could be anywhere,...to which I counter,...in the today world of GPS and GIS, digital photography and photogrammetrics, all of those live scenes could possibly be correlated to their pos on the map within a finite period. I wouldn't discount the military value of the info in a dymanically changing battlefield where we are likely to face assymmtric warfare.

The delay of units at small detachments could be too easily used by the enemy to further prepare defenses.

I'd say there is a lot of lessons learned to better qualify and screen future reporters on the battlefield.

[ItisaReligionofPeace]

So, there are multiple journalists who are allowed to actually go into action with the military, and the morons are still complaining. As far as I'm concerned, the military can release a weekly written press release.

[mewzilla]

That'd be because it's actually a war, moron.

Presstitute bump.

[mewzilla]

Actually, I think the Pentagon's decision to embed is brilliant. You'll notice that the clymer who made this remark is not out at the front. I'll make you a little prediciton that there will be a sea change in reporting after this war. Maybe not obvious at first, but there will be one.

[libertylover]

Analysts say the lack of information is probably deliberate policy to leave Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and his military guessing about the U.S.-led forces' plans.

Ya think?

[mombonn]

The most prevalent journalist theory of why the U.S. is being so tight-lipped is that the press operation is an extension of White House policy to control information.

An alternative theory could be that by remaining so tight-lipped, the enemy has less of a chance of attacking THEM or our troops. Just a thought, you selfish bunch of whining narcissists.

[HighWheeler]

AWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!

Poow Wittow Cwying Wibbawo pwesstitutes!!!

[snippy_about_it]

"You've got 600 hacks locked in a warehouse and you won't tell them anything.

LOL. Hey, the reporters wanted to know the 'war plan', perhaps this is it, keep the reporters locked up.

Seriously, the reporters with the forces have been doing a good job of actually 'reporting'. The six hundred mentioned here are probably just the left's mouthpieces.

[Wallace T.]

Britain at least has some patriotic news sources in their mainstream media, such as the Telegraph and the Times. In America, you have to drop down to the new media, such as Internet news sources and the conservative talk shows, to find pro-American reporters and commentators. This might explain the greater openness of the British military to the news media.

[Octar]

Didn't they demonstrate to General Franks that they couldn't be trusted with information? One strike and yer out.