American news reporters, TV news political talking heads, and politicos either clamor for withdrawing from Afghanistan or pursuing a more aggressive military campaign.
A recent The Wall Street Journal had an article that had a lead with: “McChrystal’s Fall Because of News Article Sends Shudders, Through (Though?) Strategy Dictates Good Relations With The Press.”
The article went on to say that according to U.S. military doctrine in order to defeat an insurgency commanders must engage with the news media to win hearts and minds of the local population and the American people.
Two things wrong with that last statement.
Americans will never win hearts and minds in Afghanistan and the American news media is not a friend of the U.S. military.
Afghans are so far different from Americans it’s like talking to Martians. There is no connection in culture, religion, politics, etc., and the list goes on. Americans are foreign occupiers, non-believers and they hate the American version of democracy. We can never win hearts and minds but we might co-opt their hearts and minds by leaving their institutions intact.
If everyone has not learned by now from Rolling Stone that the American press is no friend of the military just wait to see what the Washington Post does when it releases its upcoming series on U.S. Intelligence activities. Now the Washington Post has published articles and an interactive website that contains a compendium of government agencies, U.S. military, and contractors allegedly conducting Top Secret work.
The American news media can bring more friendly fires on our troops than our enemies.
