posted on April 13, 2003 05:42:50 PM new
I KNOW MANY OF YOU ARE VERY COMPUTOR SAVY AND COULD HELP FAMILIES THAT HAVE SOLDIERS IN IRAQ. LET THEM KNOW THE MAJOR NEWSPAPERS HAVE REPORTERS EMBEDDED WITH THE TROOPS AND THEY CAN FOLLOW THE TROOPS MOVEMENTS AND PICTURES OF THEIR SOLDIERS. OUR FAMILY IS FOLLOWING THE BOSTON HERALD, BUT ST PETERSBURG, ATLANTA, CHICAGO, NY, WASHINGTON, ETC NEWSPAPERS ARE ALL DOING THIS WITH PICTURES AND STORIES. THEY ARE TOO BUSY TO WRITE LETTERS FROM THE FRONT,BUT YOU CAN FOLLOW THE DIVISIONS ETC IN THESE NEWSPAPERS PICTURES AND STORIES THRU THE WEB.THIS HAS BEEN VERY REASSURING AND HELPFUL TO OUR FAMILY AND I AM SURE MANY OTHER FAMILIES WOULD APPRECIATE THE INFORMATION
posted on April 13, 2003 06:46:47 PM new
In our area, the Washington Post has a good site that is current and I think that it offers more information than TV.
A special reports link on the lower left corner of the page is helpful.
posted on April 13, 2003 07:05:53 PM new
It's too bad that DOD did not think to set up a page listing what companies each embedded reporter was with so that family members could keep up on those specific reports. While I hope that this type of action is never again required, maybe that should be something that is filed away in the "next time" file.
posted on April 13, 2003 08:16:54 PM new
If the families could "keep up" with the movement of troops by following embedded reporters, then the enemy could locate the units also.
Watching reports on TV and using webblogs is the most popular way for family members to keep updated on this invasion.
posted on April 13, 2003 08:38:07 PM new
Helen - personally I am not redferring to attaching a GPS system to them and I doubt that anyone else is. I was referring to knowing what they are going thru, is everyone alright in the company and maybe the occasional photo.
I have been amazed at the audacity of all of those that have asserted their superior knowledge of battlefield integrity over that of the military itself and stated that the reporters endangered the soldiers. If this was truly the situation, do you think that the military would have put them in place? Each of the embeds has been observed by a military officer. When one did reach over the line (Rivera) he didn't get slapped on the wrist, he went home.
posted on April 13, 2003 09:21:24 PM new
There is some concern that the reporters, because of their loyalty to the group and the military will lose their objectivity. But, I think that depends on the individual reporter and the news source that he represents.
For example...... from the LaTimes
William Branigin of the Washington Post filed last week while being embedded with the Army's 3rd Infantry Division. Soldiers in that division killed seven women and children in a car the troops said failed to stop, despite commands and warning shots.
Branigin's story quoted Capt. Ronny Johnson, who ordered the warning shots, as subsequently telling his platoon leader, "You just ... killed a family because you didn't fire a warning shot soon enough!"
The Pentagon has ordered an investigation, but I suspect that military brass wasn't happy with Branigin's account -- and we should be grateful for it, an account we would not have had if he had not been embedded.
For now, embedding is giving us a rare window on war. The critics should stop carping.
posted on April 14, 2003 06:24:44 PM new
the talking points are already veering away from WOMD...witness the ranting about their existence that went on here before we entered Iraq...not now...odd...
