All opinions posted. None too pathetic or contrived. Everyone gets their say.

"...even the wicked get worse than they deserve." - Willa Cather, One of Ours

Tuesday, May 25, 2004

All Right You Bastards! I'm Calling You Out!

IRAQ NOW (US Army officer just back from Ramadi, Iraq)
Moral of the Story: Reporters are essentially lazy.

Jason Van Steenwyk has a fantastic piece shattering the pretension to journalistic professionalism of reporters for many of the world's major newspapers.
To: the editors of almost every news report I've seen who quote General Mattis saying "I don't have to apologize for the conduct of my men."

As exhibit A, I present to you a verbatim transcript of the press conference in question.

As exhibit B, I further note the pertinent part of the conference:
Unnamed Reporter: What happened yesterday at 3 a.m. in Al Qaim? Was there a wedding on? A wedding celebration?

Gen. Mattis: You joined us a little late, as I said to the young lady here, I said how many people go to the desert 10 miles from the Syrian border and hold a wedding 80 miles from the nearest civilization? Over two-dozen military-aged males... let's not be naïve. Let's leave it at that.

(Question unintelligible)

Gen. Mattis: I can't...I've seen the pictures, but I can't...bad things happened. Generally...in Fallujah, I never saw a Marine hide behind a woman or a child or hold them in their house and fire out of the building. I don't have to apologize for the conduct of my Marines.
As you can plainly see, General Mattis clearly shifted his point of reference from the site of the so-called 'wedding party' to Fallujah. When he said he did not have to apologize for the conduct of his Marines, he was contrasting his own Marines' tactics with those of the insurgents, who make a common practice of hiding behind women and children.

Contrast this with these accounts:

The [Toronto] Globe and Mail:...

From the UK Guardian:...

The New York Times:...

Reuters:...

Agents France-Presse:...

The [UK] Independent...

Ummm, there's nothing "cryptic" about the General's comment to someone actually familiar with the source material, putz.

The Washington Post, to its credit, gets it right.

For the most part, though, the news outlets are committing the same sins: distorting the general's meaning by omission, by skipping the ellipses (in the same places), and by making the same mistakes.

Essentially, it looks like they're quoting each other, or some apocryphal Q source material. They're not quoting General Mattis. They didn't even show up at the press conference, and they didn't bother to get a transcript or listen to the tape...
This is a common problem I encounter in the media. Reporters often conflate statements concerning two different topics in order to make their stories match the intended theme.

This is just plain unprofessional. Lazy bastards.
Posted by: Zayphar / 5/25/2004 02:06:00 PM 0 comments

Gen. Sanchez Loses Three Jobs in One Week, That Must Be Some Sort of Record

New York Times
No. 2 Army General to Move In as Top U.S. Commander in Iraq
...Pentagon officials said that replacing General Sanchez with the Army vice chief of staff, Gen. George W. Casey Jr...

[...]

His intended new assignment, which was to lead the United States Southern Command in Miami, may now have been given to Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld's senior military assistant, Lt. Gen. Bantz J. Craddock, leaving it unclear where General Sanchez will be assigned...

[...]

Under a new American military command structure drawn up for the post-June 30 political setting, a four-star officer will have overall responsibility but will focus on political and reconstruction issues with the designated American ambassador, John D. Negroponte. A three-star officer, Lt. Gen. Thomas Metz, will oversee daily military operations.

[...]

But something happened in the past few days to derail [the original] plan...

[...]

"Casey is a more forceful type than Craddock," said the defense official, who suggested that the last-minute changes may have been a result of Mr. Rumsfeld and his top advisers deciding they needed "a different personality."

"More importantly," said the official, "where is Sanchez going, because Craddock is going to Southcom instead, leaves no seats when the music stops."
Wow. Now Sanchez is being double demoted.

And the PR spin to make this sound like it isn't what it appears to be is definitely pretty weak.

First he loses his job as CJTF-7 (Command Joint Task Force 7, Iraq). Then he lost command of military forces in Iraq (Multi-National Forces Iraq), and now he has also lost command of the security liaison forces (Multi-National Corps Iraq).

On top of that it sounds like he has lost his scheduled promotion to the theater commander job (Southern Command would have been equal to Abizaid's job at Central Command).

"...the last-minute changes may have been a result of Mr. Rumsfeld and his top advisers deciding they needed "a different personality."

Rumsfeld was definitely not happy about Fallujah. Putting someone more "forceful" into the job was to be expected.

What it comes down to is that Rumsfeld must be well and truly pissed at Sanchez.

Remember, I predicted this last Sunday.

First Rule for Ambitious Generals: Never ignore the wishes of the boss.

And in particular, don't make him look out of touch in the media in the process.

Posted by: Zayphar / 5/25/2004 12:53:00 AM 0 comments

We go to liberate, not to conquer


“We go to liberate, not to conquer.
We will not fly our flags in their country
We are entering Iraq to free a people and the only flag which will be flown in that ancient land is their own.
Show respect for them.

There are some who are alive at this moment who will not be alive shortly.
Those who do not wish to go on that journey, we will not send.
As for the others, I expect you to rock their world.
Wipe them out if that is what they choose.
But if you are ferocious in battle remember to be magnanimous in victory.

Iraq is steeped in history.
It is the site of the Garden of Eden, of the Great Flood and the birthplace of Abraham.
Tread lightly there.

You will see things that no man could pay to see
And you will have to go a long way to find a more decent, generous and upright people than the Iraqis.
You will be embarrassed by their hospitality even though they have nothing.

Don't treat them as refugees for they are in their own country.
Their children will be poor, in years to come they will know that the light of liberation in their lives was brought by you.

If there are casualties of war then remember that when they woke up and got dressed in the morning they did not plan to die this day.
Allow them dignity in death.
Bury them properly and mark their graves.

It is my foremost intention to bring every single one of you out alive.
But there may be people among us who will not see the end of this campaign.
We will put them in their sleeping bags and send them back.
There will be no time for sorrow.

The enemy should be in no doubt that we are his nemesis and that we are bringing about his rightful destruction.
There are many regional commanders who have stains on their souls and they are stoking the fires of hell for Saddam.
He and his forces will be destroyed by this coalition for what they have done.
As they die they will know their deeds have brought them to this place. Show them no pity.

It is a big step to take another human life.
It is not to be done lightly.
I know of men who have taken life needlessly in other conflicts.
I can assure you they live with the mark of Cain upon them.

If someone surrenders to you then remember they have that right in international law and ensure that one day they go home to their family.
The ones who wish to fight, well, we aim to please.

If you harm the regiment or its history by over-enthusiasm in killing or in cowardice, know it is your family who will suffer.
You will be shunned unless your conduct is of the highest -- for your deeds will follow you down through history.
We will bring shame on neither our uniform nor our nation.

On Saddam's chemical and biological weapons:

It is not a question of if; it's a question of when.
We know he has already devolved the decision to lower commanders, and that means he has already taken the decision himself.
If we survive the first strike we will survive the attack.

As for ourselves, let's bring everyone home and leave Iraq a better place for us having been there.

Our business now is north.”

Colonel Tim Collins

Col Collins gave this speech to the 800 men of the battlegroup of the 1st Battalion of the Royal Irish Regiment, part of the 16 Air Assault Brigade. It was given at their Fort Blair Mayne camp in the Kuwaiti desert about 20 miles from the Iraqi border on Wednesday 19 March 2003

Posted by: Zayphar / 5/25/2004 12:30:00 AM 0 comments