But when reporters get up close to real Americans, Americans who?ve volunteered to fight and die for the rest of us, some believe we should be frightened these journalists will be incorrectly influenced.
On the contrary, if anything, we ought to insist that journalists ride along with our troops for a few weeks, just to make sure the journalists are in touch with the very best people America has to offer.
As to Whillock?s specific criticism: Journalists would have lobbed criticism, if there?d been any to lob. The fact is, they reported what they saw: American service members working hard, winning battles while minimizing casualties -- on both sides.
Embedded journalists saw Americans going out of their way to avoid damaging religious shrines. They didn?t report that Americans were committing atrocities, for the simple reason that we weren?t committing atrocities.
Of course, journalists should keep investigating the Abu Ghraib prison story. If there are more horrible photos out there, we ought to see them. However, journalists should also investigate how the abused Iraqis came to be in prison in the first place. That?s a side of the story that would make for interesting reading, especially if it turns out that many of the prisoners had directly attacked Americans.
Whether or not one supports our policy, the United States is now attempting to improve the world by building a healthy democracy in Iraq. The military is doing its part.
Officials say they plan to keep 138,000 troops there through the end of next year, enough to provide security as Iraq becomes a sovereign nation.
Along with those service members, we also ought to have enough journalists on hand to record our many successes at least as completely as they?ve recorded our few failures.