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Going forward, I think the embedded reporters need to be removed from their units at whatever point in the advance where it is anticipated that the deal is going to get hellishly real. There is no reporting, no single participant view, that provides context or proportion when bullets and bombs are flying and everybody is tunnel visioned and conjuring the reflexive power of their training, command and deadly skills. Reporters can't accurately process a situation like an ambush assault or a terrorist attack - there's no accurate and authentic report, it's just myopia and fear and mortal danger. David Bloom and Michael Kelly left two wives and 6 children to grow up and without their love and support. For what?

"David Bloom and Michael Kelly left two wives and 6 children to grow up and without their love and support. For what?"

David Bloom died of natural causes and Kelly was killed in a traffic accident near some fighting. Pick better examples to prove what may be an interesting point of yours.

Personally, I like the embeds. It's very close to what we had in WWII, with satellites.

Michael

Going forward, I think the embedded reporters need to be removed from their units at whatever point in the advance where it is anticipated that the deal is going to get hellishly real. There is no reporting, no single participant view, that provides context or proportion when bullets and bombs are flying and everybody is tunnel visioned and conjuring the reflexive power of their training, command and deadly skills. Reporters can't accurately process a situation like an ambush assault or a terrorist attack - there's no accurate and authentic report, it's just myopia and fear and mortal danger. David Bloom and Michael Kelly left two wives and 6 children to grow up and without their love and support. For what?

Realistically speaking, David Bloom and Michael Kelly were not combat fatalities. One was a pure and simple accident and the other was a medical problem. That does not diminish the families' loss.

The media wants the story beyond the limits of rational sense during a war as chronicled by the deaths of several non-embedded journalists by mines and hostile fire in addition to the Palistinan hotel incident last night Baghdad time. In truth, there's absolutely no place for non-combattants on the battlefield but they're there and some damn fools (journalists) put themselves in the middle of the fuzz-ball to get the scoop.

The DOD made the absolute best of a bad situation with the embedding process. Right now, they control the movement and protect the journalists from harm (hostile and friendly). If they were to start pulling the journalists out of the units, they could revert to their natural state of running freely around the battlefield and wondering why they are being swatted down like gnats by the Iraqi irregulars and coalition forces. In this case, there would be Iraqi regular hostile, irregular hostile, journalists, civilians and friendlies roaming the cities and country side - a situation ripe for accidents and blame. They also become targets for assault, murder and kidnapping outside the protection of coalition forces. Their reports would provide information to the enemy. The proplems they could cause the coalition can go on and on.