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Thoughts on Iraq coverage
In response to Onlooker (briefly) on the NY Times on conditions in Iraq:
Yeah, it doesn't surprise me how much stuff soldiers will buy to make their places nice. At Airborne School we had guys bringing XBoxes and DVD players for a three week school. If you're going to be in country (in shitty, dusty, getting-shot-at country at that) for a year or more, you're going to want at TV and some decent escapist entertainment for your downtime.
But that's not really the point. This is: What someone (and at present it looks like only the NYT or the WaPost could actually pull it off) needs to do is show us data, not anecdotes. It's nice reading about the people in this or that FOB (forward operating base) have nice trailers and big DVD collections. It's also nice for the Times to point out that this is not the norm for many. These are nice anecdotes about Iraq. But it's not what I want. I want data. I want someone to say that x% of all troops live in these nice trailers, the y% live in captured Iraqi palaces (ala the folks from Gunner Palace, and not actually as nice as the trailers) and the remainder (z%) live in tents, or are constantly on the move from one patrol base or seized house to the next. Then give your examples, your personal narratives that involve the reader. Give me a full section (not just a couple of unconnected stories) that details how many units are actively seeing combat in Iraq, how many are staying in Kuwait, how long they've been there, how many times they've been there, etc. Give us articles breaking down who's got what kind of equipment (HMMWVs armored and not, APCs, M1A1s, M16A1s vs. M4s, Interceptor Armor, etc.) and why (Artillery units w/o artillery as in Gunner Palace, etc.) and in what regions.
Basically I want systematic intelligence, not scattered factoids. Obviously I don't want information that will comprimise anyone, but you can give me that kinda of data without endangering anyone. There's nothing really wrong with the scattered articles that are being put out by the major outlets (I will generally exclude TV from this because the time allotted per segment is significantly less than print). A lot of them are interesting and useful. But what would be infinitely more useful would be something that would give a concerted, overall picture of how US forces are living, working, and sadly, dying, in Iraq.
I don't want snapshots. I want a mosaic that shows an overview.
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2 Comments:
Amen. I did a little further commenting. Nice new blog, by the way.
You said it. It's nice to know that they've got some of the comforts of home, but it's such a red herring. When are people going to wake up to the reality of this war? Will it take another 4 years?
And by the way, hello you!
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