Saturday, September 02, 2006
From the comments section
I am struck by the how far we have apparently come since VietNam. I say apparently because we didn't have access to DOD reports as we do now, in those days. I don't really know whether DOD was hiding bad news from me in 1969.
What is almost undisputable today is the your Dept of Defense provides astronomically more facts and more Truth in its press releases than the entire newspaper industry in the United States. Without doubt, you can accept the facts written in a DOD or MNF or CENTCOM press release as the gospel Truth today. There is no speculation, no "spin", and no analysis provided in their press releases. The facts are what they are. Military reports of a formal nature, which are released to Congress or the public, are also more accurate and all encompassing than the reporting done by ANY US or European newspaper.
My question is why should any of us believe anything else but DOD? I agree that sometimes the reports may seem wrong or be spun wrong, but the basic facts are not disputed by the MSM in DOD releases. I hesitate to say we should just accept a DOD press release unquestioned. I don't want to trust my government undisputably in everything, because I know it is made up of people just like you and I who make mistakes occasionally, even frequently.
But I am appalled at the unprofessional opinions and spin embedded in almost every news story released by the MSM today (and that includes Fox News). I just want the facts. I'm smart enough to interpret the intel for myself and make my own conclusions of what success looks like and what failure looks like.
I don't want a Columbia Journalism major telling me what works and doesn't work in war. I have professionals for that. The Dept of Defense. A Columbia Journalism major (and almost every reporter I can think of today) knows how to write. He doesn't know war or fighting, even if it walked up and bit him in the ass.
And Mr. Burns, Seymour Hersh, the NY Times, the Wash Post, and LA Times, and all other MSM news organizations have lost all credibility with me.
And they will play Hell getting that back.
What is almost undisputable today is the your Dept of Defense provides astronomically more facts and more Truth in its press releases than the entire newspaper industry in the United States. Without doubt, you can accept the facts written in a DOD or MNF or CENTCOM press release as the gospel Truth today. There is no speculation, no "spin", and no analysis provided in their press releases. The facts are what they are. Military reports of a formal nature, which are released to Congress or the public, are also more accurate and all encompassing than the reporting done by ANY US or European newspaper.
My question is why should any of us believe anything else but DOD? I agree that sometimes the reports may seem wrong or be spun wrong, but the basic facts are not disputed by the MSM in DOD releases. I hesitate to say we should just accept a DOD press release unquestioned. I don't want to trust my government undisputably in everything, because I know it is made up of people just like you and I who make mistakes occasionally, even frequently.
But I am appalled at the unprofessional opinions and spin embedded in almost every news story released by the MSM today (and that includes Fox News). I just want the facts. I'm smart enough to interpret the intel for myself and make my own conclusions of what success looks like and what failure looks like.
I don't want a Columbia Journalism major telling me what works and doesn't work in war. I have professionals for that. The Dept of Defense. A Columbia Journalism major (and almost every reporter I can think of today) knows how to write. He doesn't know war or fighting, even if it walked up and bit him in the ass.
And Mr. Burns, Seymour Hersh, the NY Times, the Wash Post, and LA Times, and all other MSM news organizations have lost all credibility with me.
And they will play Hell getting that back.
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