Over at BlackFive, they've organized an email writing effort to "surge" American support for Victory in Iraq to the Marines of RCT-6 (be sure to check it out). I had a run in with a Mr. Rod Nordland of Newsweek a few weeks ago at a lecture entitled "The War Correspondent." I thought the Marines of RCT-6 might get a kick out of it.
Marines,
You may hear all the bullshit from the media, all the hype from Hollywood actors/activists and the crazy talk from the “hill,” but here’s the thing – I have yet to talk to a NORMAL American, democrat or republican, that believes that we can afford to walk away from Iraq. I have talked to friends; friends that marched in anti-war demonstrations before OIF-I that now understand and actively support what you are doing in Iraq. Don’t get me wrong - the Honorable Mr. Reid and Mrs. Pelosi may have a way of making you feel like your balls have been dipped in dog shite from time to time but here’s a story to brighten your day:
I work at Penn State University. Several weeks ago the former Baghdad bureau chief (2003-2005) from Newsweek magazine came back to his alma mater to receive a distinguished graduate award. While Mr. Ron Nordland was here he gave a lecture entitled “The War Correspondent." When this distinguished gentlemen stood before the audience (journalism department faculty, a journalism summer session class, a few other cats and dogs plus me) his multimedia presentation failed and he was forced to read from a backup lecture about why it’s no fun being a war correspondent anymore.
Now I could appreciate the gallows humor involved in stories from Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia about booze and women, about hopping on Huey’s and bombing around the countryside in search of a story, but I was a bit taken aback by the dismal portrayal of the plight of the modern foreign correspondent in a war zone since everything went down hill in Lebanon in the 1980s. Mr. Nordland described his Iraq experience in terms of a military that only shows the journalist what they want them to see, a journalist that can’t go into the country side to report on the war without fear of kidnapping and beheading, and a journalist forced to hide behind contracted bodyguards and body armor. Once the Q&A period opened up, he proceeded to explain to the audience why the situation in Iraq is consumed by the hopelessness of the death spiral (Here’s a Newsweek article by him that clearly illustrates his position http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8101422/site/newsweek/).
At this point I announced my presence.
(Please understand that all these quotes are paraphrased from memory, but I haven’t changed the tone or message.)
"My name is Mike Hendrickson; I work in the Applied Research Laboratory here at Penn State. In my part time job I am a Marine Infantry Officer preparing for a deployment to Iraq. Mr Nordland, can you explain why the Iraq analysis of a distinguished professional journalist is completely divergent from the estimate of the situation of a professional war fighter like me? Can you explain why you feel the situation in Iraq is lost, but I feel that the United States Military can and will be successful in the long term?"
I don’t believe that he had anticipated that a military person would be in the room. He shot back “Have you been to Iraq?"
I don’t believe that he had anticipated that a combat veteran would respond to that question either. I returned fire “Nope. I was in Afghanistan."
The essence of his response to my question can be paraphrased by the following: you military guys believe what you are told to believe.
Roger that.
Needless to say the exchange continued. I silenced myself, feeling that further debate was not acceptable in that forum.
One of the professors then asked Mr. Nordland – “If you were SecDef, what would you do in Iraq." Nordland responded (to his credit) “Hey, I’m just a journalist; I’m not qualified to answer that question."
So the moderator looked at me “Mike, what do you think we should do?"
I said “Look, I’m just an infantry captain. I would not presume to be able to parse the National Security Strategy of the United States into a coherent plan in Iraq from the vantage point of the SecDef. However, I will tell you that the commitment of the American people to support the long term efforts of the United States military’s mission in Iraq will be key to our success. Please remember this – 63 years after the end of WWII, we still have forces in Germany and Japan."
A few more questions were fielded and I eventually asked a non-Iraq, general American media question:
“Mr. Nordland, do you believe that there is a burgeoning political divide in the American media between Fox News and Rupert Murdock on one side and news organizations like NBC, who have apparently made a conscious decision to go after the liberal demographic, on the other? Is it just background noise?"
He immediately responded “Fox News is the Satan of the American media."
Wow. For a split second I felt like Bob Woodward.
The moderator then looked at a cute little second year journalism major in the second row who had stated earlier that she wanted to be in “entertainment,” and said “Ok, you’ve got the Newsweek Baghdad bureau chief here; you have one question to ask him, fire away."
She cocks her head to the side, thinks for a split second, and fires out the FPF “Sir, given the reality of the situation on the ground in Iraq, given the fact that you must do your reporting behind bodyguards and body armor and give that it is logistically challenging and expensive to even leave the safety of the green zone, doesn’t that create a serious bias in your reporting?"
After a long winded response Mr. Nordland paused and said “Does that make me biased, yeah probably."
So here’s my point – Initially I felt that I had lost the argument with this guy. I didn’t feel that I could stay on the attack as it would not have been the proper venue for debate. I felt I had missed my opportunity to demonstrate the magnitude of the problem that the media creates for the grunts slugging it out on the ground. However, that second year journalism student at Penn State who wants to be the next Mary Hart on Entertainment Tonight got it in a heart beat. My faith in the American public was resurrected on that day. Each one of you need to take comfort in knowing that even Ron Nordland, despite his bias, understands that leaving Iraq without finishing the job will be catastrophic to the regional security of the Middle East and eventually a serious threat to the National Security of the United States. But what is even more important is that the American public is beginning, however slowly, to come to a definitive understanding about Iraq – they refuse to walk away when marines are willing to charge into the fray.
America might not be able to verbalize it yet, but they are telling you that they support victory in Iraq.
Luck, Safety and Godspeed my brothers.
Semper Fidelis.
Capt H, USMCR/0302
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