In Bed

If you were active in the military, stationed in Iraq, active in combat near Ramadi, had lost many comrades to death and injury, and were identified by name on the air--what would you say if a reporter asked you "Should the US withdraw the troops now?" Well, obviously any fool can guess that someone in that situation is going to say they want to stay and finish the mission. But this uniformative set-up interview is what we get from Philip Reeves and NPR this morning. Being embedded with the US unit in Ramadi, how can Reeves ask the hard questions like: "How would you feel if it's true (as many intelligence experts and scholars assert) that the war has actually helped al-Queda grow and become more effective?" or "How would you feel if it's proven that all the reasons for invading Iraq were made up so that a small group of people in the US Government could try out their ideas about reshaping the Middle East and improving the climate for US business there?" or etc. etc. Instead, this worthless report clearly illustrates the deleterious effects of "embedding" reporters with the US Military. BTW if you want to know what US Troops think about the war in Iraq you can listen to anecdotal embeds or you can look at the poll conducted with anonimity by Zogby International--you decide! If you're curious you can even see a PDF copy of the questionnaire given to the troops.