NYT Combat Embed
In the Korengal Valley. An account of combat, loss, and some of the complicating factors in this corner of the Afghan war. More like this, please. Great photo gallery at the link.
This is a relatively tight focus on a single incident, that doesn’t in itself offer extensive insight. But combat embeds give reporters, media organizations and the public a chance to understand the nuances and realities of the conflict. They didn’t make enough use of them during critical periods in Iraq, when rather than actually covering the war, they obfuscated it, facilitating the gross, opportunistic distortions of Congress and some presidential candidates to the detriment of US soldiers and the Iraqi people at that time.
Now is the time for the Associated Press, the national newspapers, the cable and broadcast networks and all major news organizations, if they intend to cover this conflict in any meaningful way, to embed through the swath of Afghanistan where NATO forces are actively engaged in countinsurgency operations.
Korengal is the same region covered in Sunday’s suggested reading post, Victory Point.
Topics: Afghanistan, media, military
Posted by Jules Crittenden at 9:45 am on Monday, April 20, 2009
One Response to “NYT Combat Embed”
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April 20th, 2009 at 9:27 pm
Clicking on the reporter’s bio I find:
“From 1988 until 1994, Mr. Chivers was an infantry officer in the United States Marine Corps, serving in the Persian Gulf War and performing peacekeeping duties as an infantry company commander during the Los Angeles riots. He was honorably discharged as a captain in 1994.”
Not your typical NYT reporter.