This letter was published in today's Daily Telegraph (which for o/s readers not familiar with it is a "conservative" paper favoured by the establishment):
Re: The war is being televised
Date: 24 March 2003
Sir - Whatever its rights and wrongs, the war has highlighted the frightening pace at which telecommunications have advanced, even since the last high-profile conflict with Saddam Hussein.
The terror of a Baghdad skyline lit up with digitally programmed bombs is now witnessed as it unfolds. The sight of Jon Sopel delivering his broadcast from behind a gas mask is shocking, no matter how much the use of chemical and biological weapons has been mooted.
And with live videophone links allowing us to ride side-saddle with the 7th US Cavalry through desert plains, the horrors of war spilling out of our screens really could be courtesy of Steven Spielberg. Unfortunately for millions of innocent Iraqis and thousands of our own troops, these scenes are all too real.
What a very grave pity then, that America cannot match the advancement of telecommunications with any thought for how their message is being received by the outside world. The image of Vice-Admiral Timothy Keating striding on stage to address troops aboard USS Constellation, accompanied by the thumping sound of We Will Rock You by Queen, was utterly abhorrent. Not content with that, he plumbed the depths of bad taste, trumpeting that, "when the President says, 'Go', look out! It's hammer time."
The American forces who planted the Stars and Stripes on Iraqi soil at Umm Qasr while advancing to the capital were following suit (report, Mar 22). How did they think this gung-ho aberration looked to others - those back home, the doubters of the UN, not least, the Iraqi people?
The self-made mandate of the coalition forces was not only to rid the world of a despot, but also to allow these poor people to start afresh - in a democracy, we hope. Would it not be more prudent, and a clear communication of their righteous intentions, for American troops to plant in the ground the three stars and three stripes of the Iraqi flag as they advance to free Baghdad?
From:
Larner Caleb, Leeds
I think that it is fair to suggest that opinion is divided on this subject, and to suggest that it isn't is to distort the complexities of public opinion.
JDSC now sprends a considerable proportion of the JCSC dealing with media ops at the Coy HQ level. Officers are taught how to handle situations where there is intense media interest and how to fight and/or conduct an operation in this environment. At no point is operational effectiveness to be compromised, and where it is likely SOPs are in place to handle the media presence in such a way as to minimise the risk of compromise and any serious and unnecessary risk to the film crew. JDSC have managed to address this problem sufficiently well to ensure a compromise between freedom of reporting and operational effectiveness where operational effectiveness is the overriding factor.
It would be interesting to understand what, if any, consideration the US forces give to this issue, and how much latitude sub-unit commanders are given to decide on how to apply those procedures.
just proves to me that the coallition has absolutely no chance of ever winning the
PR battle when reporters interpret it as bad taste
Not necessarily. In fact the JCSC module on media handling is designed to manage the media at Coy level. Thus far (and there is always room for error) the British have not been shown in a bad light in the way that the Americans have. Perhaps there is a degree of nievety on tha parts of some that the rest of the world views events in the same way as those at home in America do, and see the world "through American eyes".
As for the images of a grinning sadist standing over the body of a dead American, words of disgust fail me. I believe in a God of infinite justice. I have faith that that man will meet his judgement in the next life if not in this.