> Eugen Leitl[SMTP:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > On Thu, 13 Mar 2003, Trei, Peter wrote: > > > 1. An journalist doing what he was specifically told not to do? > > Most probably. Those pesky civilians. No backbone, no way to gag them by > extreme sanctioning after perfunctory tribunal. > If a journalist is hazy on the distinction between the Darwin Awards and the Pulitzer, I have limited sympathy. Think of it as evolution in action. Geraldo, anyone?
> > 2. An Iraqi or Al-Queda forward fire director, calling in coordinates > > for a VX loaded missile attack on your side. > > They don't have anything stronger than dirty sarin or crappy lost. Tipping > bad SCUD clones. > I wouldn't want one landing in the vicinity. Would you? Or are you arguing that the military should let themselves be targeted, and just deal with it? Remember, one explosive-laden scud killed over a hundred US soldiers in GW1. > > > If you wait, and it's a bad guy, the signal will be lost, and you can't > use > > your missiles. The attack will take place, and your friends will die. > > All they want is to blow up enough journalists to deter them from > reporting from hot areas thus acting as a leak thus acting as bad PR > (Merkins don't do shredded meat by FAE, minimally invasive peachy-clean > strategical surgery strictly). > Ever since the mid-1800s, when telegraph networks started to get significant, the media has been restricted in reporting on-going military operations. During the Napoleonic Wars (before 1815), it was common for British newspapers to report on the departure of troopships, with numbers of soldiers, and their destinations. French spies in London could read the papers, but the fastest means of getting the word to someone to whom it would be useful was no faster than those troopships. By the Crimean War (1854-1856) telegraph networks allowed such intelligence to outrun the troops, and the British had to implement their first military press censorship laws. Stopping useful information on *ongoing* operations from reaching the enemy has been a normal, unremarkable part of waging war for over 150 years. If the US military does Really Bad Things to Iraqi civilians with any frequency, I have little doubt we'll hear about it in time. There are journalists 'embedded' in many units. Peter Trei
