According to U.S. military doctrine, in order to defeat an insurgency like the one in Afghanistan, commanders must engage with the news media to win the hearts and minds of both the local population and the American public. But in the wake of the firing of Gen. Stanley McChrystal as Afghan commander over intemperate remarks to Rolling Stone magazine, Pentagon officials are concerned the military may recoil in fear and anger from the press.
The chill couldn't come at a more inopportune time for the Pentagon's leadership, with skepticism about the war's progress growing among U.S. politicians and officials in Afghanistan ahead of what is likely to be the war's most important operation, the imminent move by thousands of U.S. forces into Kandahar, the spiritual heartland of the Taliban. "If we recoil, if we go underground, if we get defensive, it's self-defeating," said Geoff Morrell, the Pentagon press secretary. "We need to remain as engaged as ever, if not more so because we are at a crucial point in this war."
Even before Gen. McChrystal's ouster, senior defense officials had been contemplating an overhaul of their communications strategy to get top officers in the war zone to brief reporters more frequently, a strategy regularly employed during the Iraq surge three years ago. Defense officials described the effort as an attempt to keep Washington-based reporters regularly informed of operations in Afghanistan amid concerns that news coverage was increasingly providing narrowly focused snapshots of insurgent violence in southern Afghanistan...
More at The Wall Street Journal.
Comments
The problem for Gen. McChrystal and his staff is that their discipline and self-control broke down. They should have approached their engagement with <i>Rolling Stone</i> as an operation within a campaign plan, employing the same planning and discipline as they would with any other component of the campaign.
The men at Kitty O'Sheas in Place Vendome, Paris (I have had my ration of beer there) would no doubt have a steely temperament while on an ambush patrol or while conducting an artillery fire mission. The same should have been the case during this media operation.
This was one of my first thoughts when this came out. Rolling Stone got their story, but in the process, screwed over the rest of the media that still want to do some good reporting over there. Because now, absolutely no one in the military will trust the media. If this was the desired effect with this story, they certainly got their way.
On the bright side, I think if there is to be any media given access into the tent, it will only be those that have a proven history of being fair and respected. They will also be severely restricted, and vetted (even more so than they are now)
The folks at anti-war rags like Rolling Stone will be forced to quote other peoples stuff, or actually have the guts to freelance it in Afghanistan or Iraq. And good luck there....
I heard the Taliban likes to do interviews in Pakistan. lol