Instapundit has two posts today that should keep the “chairborne ranger” corps glued firmly in their seats in “mom’s basement.”
Post 1 – Interview with J.D. Johannes, whose name rings a bell. I think we went through DINFOS together back in ’93 at Fort Benjamin Harrison. There can’t be that many public affairs Marines named Johannes. Definitely a ding going off on that name.
Johannes: Journalists are human beings. I mean, we come into everything with our own personal views, which are formed by our experiences; how we’re brought up, the way we view things. It’s impossible to say that people can be blank slates.
One of the biggest flaws in the media — and I wouldn’t exactly always put it on individual reporters themselves — the problem is in the structure of the overall media coverage. You just have a handful of reporters covering a major conflict in a large country. The pressure comes in the various complexities of covering Iraq.
Case in point: I get a call (about a month or two ago) from a TV news director who had known what I had done in Iraq. He was hoping I was still there so he could hire me to go out and do what I had done in the past because there was a reserve unit from their area being deployed. But the parent affiliate said: “nope, we don’t leave the Fortified Hotel — ever.” So a lot of the employers aren’t willing to bear the risk. And that is the structural program that really tilts the war.
Post 2 – A free bed in Baghdad. But wait – there’s more! A pissing contest is always fun. War can wear on people. I know some days I’m snippy. I guess others aren’t immune. Go read.