Marine general slams 'Chicken Little' news: Military critique of war coverage rebukes "reporters"

WASHINGTON -- A Marine general in Iraq ripped front-line journalists for "Chicken Little" coverage of the March invasion, and advised military leaders to "never forget how quickly the press jumped on the bandwagon of doom and gloom," a critical internal study of the war reveals.

"Visions of Vietnam danced in reporters' heads" during halts in the march to Baghdad, griped the commanding general of the 1st Marine Division in a 67-page draft report obtained by WorldNetDaily.

Maj. Gen. James N. Mattis heaped scorn on "unilateral" correspondents in his May 29 report. He said they "routinely" breached security and reported "errors" from the battlefield.

Unlike "embedded" reporters, who were approved by the Pentagon and attached to combat units, unilaterals were free to report what and where they wished.

"Unembedded, unilateral journalists routinely released information jeopardizing OPSEC [operational security] and frequently misreported [sic] errors in fact," he said, while providing no examples.

On the other hand, "embedded media were able to clarify their understanding of events with the participants before releasing their story to the world," he added.

Mattis said he was pleased that "adopted" media, as he called embeds, got close enough to the action to dispel Iraqi propaganda about "roasting the stomachs" of U.S. soldiers at the gates of Baghdad and expose Fedayeen treachery, such as "hiding behind women and children while shooting at Marines [and] using mosques, hospitals and schools to store ammunition and weapons."

But he suggested that, when it came to covering civilian Iraqi casualties, they "reported skewed or inaccurate information."

As a result, Mattis stopped short of recommending the media embed program for future combat operations, calling it a "limited success."

His conclusions about the program are not as positive as those publicly expressed by U.S. officials, including Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and CentCom commander Gen. Tommy Franks.

The Pentagon declined comment other than to say the report, entitled "Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF): Lessons Learned," is an internal draft that has not been authorized for release.

The same report reveals U.S. troops were "caught flat-footed" by Saddam Hussein's guerrilla warfare tactics, because they did not have adequate human intelligence on the ground to predict his commanders' moves. It blames a "dearth" of information about the "personalities" and "idiosyncrasies" of the enemy leadership, as WorldNetDaily first reported Friday.

The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists says cases of alleged security breaches by unilaterals were rare.

A Christian Science Monitor correspondent, for one, was detained by U.S forces after he was accused of revealing a unit's location. A few unescorted foreign reporters also were scolded during the invasion.

Fox News war correspondent Geraldo Rivera was kicked out of the unit he was traveling with after he went on the air and drew maps in the sand showing troop movements. Rivera later apologized for violating Pentagon ground rules.

The military report, which does not mention Fox, praises coverage by CNN, NBC and CBS, which also were part of the embedded media program.

It notes that the networks helped the Pentagon "establish a firm link between the regime and international terrorism" after Marines took them to a grade school in Baghdad it says was used as a Fedayeen suicide-bomb vest training site. It also extolled CNN for using its own satellite-capable Humvee to report "live on the fly" from the battlefield, an idea it says was originally pitched last year by CBS News correspondent Kirk Spitzer at Camp Pendleton, Calif.

At the same time, the report faults unilateral media for recklessly driving their own vehicles.

"The division did experience significant problems with the unilateral media vehicles on the battlefield cutting into convoys and getting in between enemy and friendly units during firefights, in one instance resulting in the death and injuries of the unilateral reporters," it stated, referring to British TV reporter Terry Lloyd.

The 50-year-old Lloyd was killed when his car, clearly marked "TV," was hit by U.S. and Iraqi gunfire in a battle near Basra. After first denying it, Marines later admitted firing on the car, explaining that they thought it contained Iraqi suicide fighters posing as journalists.

When the media were "confused about events, they reported skewed or inaccurate information," he said. "In the few instances when things went badly, the media reported on the killing of civilians, and in one case, the killing of Andrew [sic] Lloyd, a unilateral ITN reporter from the UK who died in a clash between the division and Fedayeen."

Joel Campagna of the Committee to Protect Journalists says the Pentagon showed little sympathy for unilaterals, who wanted to see and report things from outside U.S. convoys and without the permission of on-the-scene U.S. commanders.

"There was a disturbing attitude from the Pentagon toward unilaterals," said Campagna, Mideast program coordinator for the nonprofit group. "They gave the perception that if you weren't embedded, you covered the war at your own risk, and that U.S. troops were under no obligation to at least avoid endangering you."

Campagna said that while many unilateral journalists covering the war expressed strong fear and reservations, "embedded journalists we talked to said they were extremely pleased with the arrangement."

Mattis said that, on the plus side, the program allowed for "quick assimilation of journalists into the ranks, rapidly establishing strong bonds."

In fact, "many family members used the reporters to pass e-mails to their Marines and sailors, and vice versa," he said. "The media also allowed the Marines to use their satellite and cellular (in Kuwait) phones to communicate with family back home."

Mattis added that the "trust" built between soldiers and reporters for the most part enabled "our story to be told."

"To the viewers and the readers, the First Marine Division was not an anonymous killing machine," he said. "It was an 18-year-old Marine from Anywhere, USA."

Campagna says that although such close ties between media and military tended to discourage critical reporting, not all the reporting about troop actions was flattering.

For instance, he says, an embedded New York Times reporter quizzed a Marine sharpshooter about the killing of an innocent Iraqi woman by his unit, and he got a chillingly blithe reply which he reported in a page one story. "I'm sorry," the soldier was quoted as saying, "but the chick was in the way."

a) Committee to Protect Journalists??? What do they need a committee for? Can't the newspapers hire bodygards?

b) The Pentagon isn't in the business of showing sympathy. Just the opposite. Is this guy implying that the Generals should have dropped their plans in deference to these idiots?

Rummy & Co. needs to come out swinging at the presstitutes. In their faces with facts, saying things getting headlines beyond WND, IMHO....

GR was outed for not having official permission to embed. He was let back in after getting the proper paperwork approved.

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