This ain't Hell, but you can see it from here

Category: Media

  • Why The Military Times Is A Joke

    At the Military Blogging Conference a few weeks ago, Jonn made the case (rightly so) for going after the media and calling them out when they do wrong. Well what happens when the media is supposed to be “our media.” The publications and press that cover the military exclusively?

    We’ll call them out too.

    This is the latest cover of the Marine Corps Times, which falls under the umbrella of the Military Times. Take a good look. It’s not Weekly World News, Star Magazine, or the National Enquirer. It’s a publication that is sold at every Marine Corps installation and read by Marines worldwide.

    The most important story, or lead, is about a “swinger couple”. That’s the attention grabber. That’s the one that’s supposed to make you pick this up and take it to the register and put down three dollars and fifty cents.

    Now look to the right: 2 Navy Crosses, which they then term, “Legendary Badassery”. Yeah, that was certainly the case. Then right below that, the Faces of the Fallen. Apparently the fact that two Marines earned our nation’s second-highest award isn’t exciting enough.

    During the engagement, Wooldridge snatched a machine gun from the hands of an enemy fighter and, following a tense struggle on the ground, killed his opponent by striking him in the head with the weapon’s butt stock. The remaining Taliban then retreated, ending a potentially deadly ambush against Wooldridge’s platoon, according to an account of the battle provided to Marine Corps Times in late 2010.

    This must be a pretty boring story, according to Military Times. The rest of the media will not cover these amazing acts of heroism — at least not enough. They are brushed aside as one-minute segments at the end of the broadcast, pushed to page D12 of the newspaper and forgotten. Politics, the economy, and what Lady Gaga is wearing is much more important.

    And Military Times has fallen in line.

  • 13-year-old arrested for possession of big piece of plastic; media scares public

    SGT K sends us this link which describes the terrifying scene as a boy captured by police with a BB rifle, a replica and an expended, inert AT-4 tube with their K9 team and tossed in the hoosegow;

    Three weapons were recovered, including an inert M136 AT4 “LAW” anti-tank weapon, a b.b. gun rifle and a replica 9mm hand gun, police said.

    Mario Bruton Sr., 43, was booked into county jail and the 13-year-old was taken to juvenile hall on suspicion of possession of a stolen weapon and possession of illegal weapons.

    Yeah, I’m shakin’ here. While someone needs to be punished for having a stolen large useless piece of plastic, and whoever took it was a bonehead, I’m pretty sure that no one was ever in danger of anything worse than getting their eye shot out by the BB rifle. It certainly doesn’t warrant a picture to warn the public that folks are running around in their neighborhoods with a piece of military garbage which looks especially cool. And I’m pretty sure that an expended AT-4 can’t really be considered a weapon beyond it’s potential use as a club.

  • More on the Parade In Richmond

    I’m sure Jonn will be back soon with some good photos from the event, but just wanted to pass along that the parade was a success and had some media coverage as well. From the Military Times:

    Thousands of people turned out for the parade, which ended with a free outdoor concert and what organizers call a veterans’ resource exposition. Active-duty personnel and veterans from all military service branches marched in the parade alongside high school marching bands, Army and Air Force units and the Marine Band.

    “I’m absolutely thrilled that everybody took the time out to support the military,” said Army Staff Sgt. Jason Harich, a parade participant who has served two tours each in Iraq and Afghanistan.

    “In my 17 years, I have never seen an event like this, and I am honored and thrilled that it is being done,” Harich said. “This is how I like to see our community, together as one.”

    There are also some photos at the Richmond-Times Dispatch.

     

  • Regarding Counterstrike . . . .

    Remember the outcry after publication of the book about the bin Laden raid Counterstrike? That the authors had published operational information that could hamper future operations and endanger US lives?

    Well, according to the authors, that information was given to them by the White House.

    “I was stopped by a very senior officer in the special operations community who basically wanted to rip my lungs out,” said Thom Shanker, who co-authored “Counterstrike: The Untold Story of America’s Secret Campaign Against Al Qaeda,” with Eric Schmitt.

    But, he revealed at a counter terrorism expo this week, the info came directly and officially from the White House, not some garbage can digging operation. “I said to him, ‘Sir, that information came officially to us from the podium at the White House,’” Shanker said.

    As CINC, it is the prerogative of the POTUS to authorize the release of military information.  Often this is done for political purposes. Since Eisenhower, most US presidents have done that – either accurately or via lying through their teeth. Kennedy used the nonexistent “missile gap” as a candidate, and continued to use it as an excuse for increased defense spending. (He also famously lied when asked point-blank if American troops were in combat in Vietnam, answering:  “No.”)  LBJ exposed the existence of the SR-71 (and actually renamed the aircraft in doing so – the original designation was R/S-71, for “Reconnaissance/Strike”).  Nixon’s credibility problems are legendary.  Carter openly acknowledged US satellite reconnaissance, . Reagan and also caught heat for announcing the existence of the B2 US stealth aircraft programs. Bush(43) was wrongly accused of lying about Iraqi WMD as an excuse to invade Iraq. And I’m sure that I could find other examples from most other presidencies if I tried.

    But I really wish the POTUS and his staff would think things thru better when it comes to talking publicly about US military capabilities and intentions. When it comes to divulging military capabilities, saying less is usually better than saying more.

    Because inadvertently saying too much can cost lives.

  • Yet another Milblog 2012 post

    My editor at Business Insider, Eloïse Lee, just posted an article about what she took away from the Milblog Conference this year from the perspective of a real journalist.

    A common theme we encountered at the conference was that bloggers were surprised people were reading their content. We couldn’t reiterate enough how civilians are interested in the military and defense issues — and whatsmore, milbloggers offer an authentic, fresh perspective on the stories that are reported, misreported, or even unreported in the traditional media.

    Eloïse also put together a slide show of some of the people she met there. You’ll see StrikeFO and Doc Bailey in the mix, well, and me.

    I really enjoyed my weekend with Eloïse and her editor, Robert Johnson, I learned more from them than they learned from me, I’m sure. But mostly I was just glad to see some non-bloggers who were interested in what we do. Unlike the Old Media who were there and preached to us about how we were only interfering in them doing their jobs, and the service New Media people who were telling bloggers we had been replaced by Facebook and Twitter, Robert and Eloïse actually asked us questions and tried to understand the unseen intricacies of blogging.

    I feel lucky that they approached me and found some value to their bosses in my mindless prattling. So, click over and read the rest of Eloïse’s article.

  • Zombie: Associated Press releases staged fauxtographs from Lebanon

    Our buddy, Zombie, highlights the staged aspects of the photo above and a few others in Zombie’s latest post; Associated Press releases staged fauxtographs from Lebanon .

    For example, the firer clearly seems to be at ease with a smirk on his face. Not to mention all of the spectators who don’t seem to be concerned about return fire that might go slightly wide. Do you really think that during a firefight, those tourists would hanging out the window watching?

    In another picture, one of the mighty warriors is firing his shotgun just behind another dude’s head. Now I know that the shot stays in the wadding for a few feet after it leaves the barrel, but I don’t think that I’d like someone firing behind me, not to mention the noise factor when it’s fired so close to his ear.

    In the fourth photo, while the gunman looks intent on his bound for cover, while there are two spectators relaxing behind him with big grins on their faces with total disregard for cover from incoming rounds.

    Yeah, those pictures look pretty fake. I guess if you can’t get to the action in a timely manner, it’s OK to just make some shit up.

    So, I’ll be releasing some photos from my walk on the Moon last week soon.

  • LA Times still in the business of ignoring actual battlefield conditions

    Tman sends us a link from the LA Times article “A U.S. soldier and the Afghan soldier who killed him“. It’s basically about US Special Forces soldier, Andrew Britton-Mihalo and the Afghan special forces sergeant named Zakirullah who killed the American in a green-on-blue murder, which was immediately punished by Britton-Mihalo’s brother troopers who gunned down the Afghan on the spot.

    The LA Times seems intent on blaming Britton-Mihalo instead of the reasons that obvious to the rest of us;

    In outposts like the makeshift base in Kandahar province where Zakirullah and Britton-Mihalo were deployed, the punishingly primitive, close-quarters conditions can foster strong bonds — or allow small irritants to fester.

    “They work together, they patrol together, they are together all day of every day,” said Col. Bismullah Waziri, executive officer of the Afghan commando brigade. “We are all aware that there are cultural issues. Sure, they are different from us. And we are different from them.”

    Naamdaar said that although he remembered his nephew as a generally easygoing boy, his temper occasionally flared if he felt he was being treated with disrespect.

    “In an argument,” he said, “he could sometimes go a little crazy.”

    And, like the Afghan government, the LA Time refuses to acknowledge that this is part of a conspiracy by the taliban and an actual tactic to divide the US forces from their Afghan allies;

    After the shooting, the Taliban claimed that the attack had been carried out at the group’s behest, specifically mentioning Zakirullah by name. Although the group could easily have learned his identity after the fact, investigators are looking at whether he could have had some link to the insurgents.

    But they admit that these murders are becoming more common;

    At least 21 NATO troops have died in these assaults this year, accounting for a stunning 14% of troop deaths, with the latest shooting coming Friday in northeastern Afghanistan, the victim an American. The total number of such attacks is unknown; they generally go unreported publicly by the military if they result in injuries only.

    So, it looks, by reading the LA Times article that somehow Britton-Mihalo insulted Zakirullah which caused Zakirullah’s cheese to slide off his cracker. Since being respectful of their allies’ various cultures is part of Special Forces training, that scenario seems unlikely. It’s more likely to be an actual conspiracy against NATO forces to which no one is apparently willing admit – especially, since no one is being truthful about the actual number of the attacks.

    But, you know, that’s just me being logical again.

  • Nice try, Reuters

    Old Trooper sent us a link to a Reuters article entitled “Weary warriors favor Obama” which tells the story of some guy, who I can’t find in AKO, who was supposed to have retired last year after thirty years in the Army. A guy who hangs out at gun shows and “drools” over the weapons there, but he’s voting for Obama because he “plans to vote for the candidate least likely to wage “knee-jerk reaction wars.””

    If the election were held today, Obama would win the veteran vote by as much as seven points over Romney, higher than his margin in the general population.

    Yeah, I’m sure, because, we all look forward to a weakened and more expensive health care system and and a weakened national security, so we can keep buying food stamps and big screen TVs for people who’ve never had a job.

    And how many of you guys in the 82d have a 82nd Airborne Division yearbook;

    In his study, below a movie poster of “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly,” McDowell, the Ron Paul supporter [who is now intending to vote for Obama], flipped through pages of an 82nd Airborne Division yearbook, lingering on photographs of dead comrades. He recalled their ages, how many children they had, and how they died.

    And this supposed 20-year Air Force veteran who voted for Santorum in the SC primary is dismissed in the article;

    The Graftons’ votes, however, like many veterans’, can’t be taken as evidence of a hard-line military stance. Registered Republicans, they cast their ballots for Obama in 2008 because he promised to bring the troops home from Iraq.

    The end of our participation in Iraq was determined long before Obama took office, so of course, he could promise to bring the troops home. But, in reality, the article only names one veteran (about whom I have doubts as to his service), Mack McDowell, who says he’s voting for Obama as evidence of massive support for Obama. I checked every McDowell in AKO (because I understand Mack might be a nickname) and unless he’s a woman or was in the National Guard, there are no Army Master Sergeants by that name.

    But, like Old Trooper, I wonder how Reuters could publish this POS with a straight face.