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Rumsfeld Cites 'Gap' in Media Reports on Iraq
DoD-AFPS ^ | June 4, 2003 | John D. Banusiewicz

Posted on 06/04/2004 3:32:10 PM PDT by Ragtime Cowgirl

American Forces Press Service


Rumsfeld Cites 'Gap' in Media Reports on Iraq

By John D. Banusiewicz
American Forces Press Service

SINGAPORE, June 4, 2004 – The real situation in Iraq and its depiction in the media are two different things, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said here today.

Rumsfeld, here to meet with Singaporean officials and attend the annual "Shangri-La Dialog" conference of Pacific nations, made the comment during a town hall meeting aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Essex.

Responding to a question from a Marine assigned to the 3rd Marine Division about when he might get a chance to serve in Iraq, the secretary expanded on his explanation of deployment policies to comment on the work service members are doing in Iraq. He said he visits Iraq every few months, and the success stories and progress he sees and hears about aren't reflected in the media coverage he sees back home.

"I come back to the United States, and I see in the press the difficulties – only the difficulties, the hardships, the ugliness -- and goodness knows it's there, and the reality that people do get killed and do get wounded," he said. But a "gap between what you see out there and what you feel" and the media coverage of Iraq is something, he said, he can't explain. "I suppose that for whatever reason, people seem to think that news isn't news unless it's bad news," Rumsfeld said, "because that's essentially what's getting reported."

With the 60th anniversary of the Allied invasion of Normandy approaching on June 6 – and invasion that turned the tide of World War II -- Rumsfeld recalled the carnage of the D-Day assault. He wondered aloud what would have happened to Supreme Allied Commander Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower had the landing been reported by today's media, with so many outlets covering events 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

"I suppose they would have been calling General Eisenhower back for congressional hearings," he said.



TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events; United Kingdom; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: gnfi; iraq; mediabias; rumsfeld

1 posted on 06/04/2004 3:32:10 PM PDT by Ragtime Cowgirl
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To: TEXOKIE; xzins; Alamo-Girl; blackie; SandRat; Calpernia; SAMWolf; prairiebreeze; MEG33; ...

SINGAPORE, June 4, 2004 – The real situation in Iraq and its depiction in the media are two different things, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said here today.

...Rumsfeld recalled the carnage of the D-Day assault. He wondered aloud what would have happened to Supreme Allied Commander Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower had the landing been reported by today's media, with so many outlets covering events 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

"I suppose they would have been calling General Eisenhower back for congressional hearings.."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~    

   Rummy defending America, truth, justice, our honorable troops,

          ~ adults in charge at the DoD, ping!
 

2 posted on 06/04/2004 3:33:49 PM PDT by Ragtime Cowgirl ("The future belongs to the free." - R. Reagan)
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Rummy day, at DoD news:

American Forces Press Service 

Terrorist Acts Uncover More About Terrorists

By John D. Banusiewicz
American Forces Press Service

SINGAPORE, June 4, 2004 – Noting various recent terrorist attacks around the world, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said today that while each is a tragedy, each also uncovers more about the terrorists.

His comments came during a town hall meeting with sailors and Marines on the flight deck of the amphibious assault ship USS Essex, following a re-enlistment ceremony for 30 sailors and two Marines. The secretary is in Singapore meeting with officials and to participate in the annual "Shangri-la Dialog" conference of Pacific nations.

"Each time (a terrorist attack) occurs, people are discovered, people are captured, people are killed, pocket litter is found, computers are found, information is gathered that enables people to go out and stop still additional terror attacks," the secretary said.

"I think that the fact that there is not a lot of publicity about what is happening out here may be kind of misleading, because there is pressure being put on terrorists in this part of the world every day by the close cooperation we have, for example, with our wonderful friends here in Singapore, but also with many, many other countries in this region."

When an officer asked the secretary when naval forces in the Pacific might start "hunting some terrorists in this theater," Rumsfeld replied he hopes it will be soon. "I know that the only way that we're going to deal with this problem is to recognize that it's truly global (and) that we have to bring all elements of national power to bear on it. You simply cannot wait for another attack and expect to defend against it. We have to go out and find those terrorist networks and the people financing them, and the countries that are providing safe haven for them."

Rumsfeld pointed out that the U.S. armed forces were organized to fight armies, navies and air forces. "These terrorists don't have armies, navies or air forces. They don't even have countries. They have very little to defend," he said.

"Therefore, they have to be found through intelligence gathering. We have to put pressure on them in terms of their ability to move money, their ability to move between countries, their ability to communicate with each other, and we have to do counterterrorism techniques that are increasingly more sophisticated, sharing intelligence as we've done."

One town hall attendee asked whether the publicity surrounding the Abu Ghraib prison scandal has overshadowed progress being made in Iraq. Rumsfeld said anyone who has seen the pictures of the prisoner abuses "has to just be stunned and heartbroken that Americans would do that to people who are in our custody, in our charge and who are our responsibility." He termed as "inexcusable" the abuses depicted in the widely published photographs.

"It's perfectly proper to report things that aren't going well, things that are unfortunate, such as that," he said. But he noted a disparity exists between reporting such things and not reporting successes as widely, and that no one should be surprised at the ups and downs that are part of any nation moving from totalitarian dictatorship to democracy.

"What we're seeing in (Afghanistan and Iraq) is not terribly different than what we've seen in other countries that have tried to navigate from a vicious dictatorship, if you will, to a freer system," he said. He pointed out that the transition wasn't smooth in Japan and Germany after World War II. When the United States was working to attain its independence, the path was bumpy, he added, with the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution separated by 13 years, with riots and people being killed in the interim.

The people on the ground in Iraq, he said, are assessing progress and noting the good things, but the difficulties and ugliness are what people in the United States and around the world are seeing and hearing about. "They're basing that on testing what's taking place there against how they'd like it to be, what a perfect world might look like, what smooth transition might be," he said.

"But there has never been a smooth transition, so it seems to me our expectations have to be recast, and be realistic. It's a tough, ugly business to get from a dictatorship to a freer system, and our task is to help them do it. The president of the United States is determined to do that, the coalition is determined to do that, and I believe we will be successful in doing that."

The hunt for Osama bin Laden was on the mind of one questioner. Rumsfeld dismissed reports that surface about supposed near-misses in capturing the al Qaeda terrorist group's leader.

"Close doesn't count," he said. "If he is alive and well out there, my guess is he's very busy trying to avoid being caught. I doubt that he's doing much communicating except by courier, and only occasionally. He is under pressure, but where he is, we don't know. If we knew, we'd go find him."

Rumsfeld noted that deposed Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein hid near his so- called "spider hole" for months, with troops hunting for him passing nearby every day. "The only way we ever found him is finally somebody put enough pressure on enough people to find out that somebody had an idea where somebody might know somebody who might know somebody who would know where he might have been," eventually leading to someone who took U.S. soldiers right to the spot.

"Even standing over the spot, you couldn't tell that he was down there, or that there was even a hole," Rumsfeld pointed out. "So it is like finding a needle in a haystack, and it will not come by just a discovery process. It'll only come by successful interrogations and tracking people who have some connection one way or another. And our folks are working their heads off trying to do that."

 


3 posted on 06/04/2004 3:38:38 PM PDT by Ragtime Cowgirl ("The future belongs to the free." - R. Reagan)
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To: Ragtime Cowgirl
Now reporters will jump all over Rumsfeld for creating a hostile environment toward the media and threatening freedom of speech.
4 posted on 06/04/2004 3:43:34 PM PDT by zencat (Visit my profile for MAGNETIC Bush/Cheney '04 bumper stickers!)
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To: Ragtime Cowgirl

I finally find out where I need to go to find some balanced reporting of the situation in Iraq - the Armed Forces Information Service.

I received an e-mail that had been forwarded by many people this week by a marine enlisted man. It listed the accomplishments, which are NEVER reported on by the media, and they were truly impressive.


5 posted on 06/04/2004 3:47:25 PM PDT by phil_will1
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To: phil_will1
It listed the accomplishments, which are NEVER reported on by the media, and they were truly impressive.

There are many good things happening over there. Good news doesn't attract viewers or sell papers. We'll just have to search it out and try to get it highlighted somehow.

6 posted on 06/04/2004 4:00:35 PM PDT by barker (Normal people scare me.)
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To: Ragtime Cowgirl
But a "gap between what you see out there and what you feel" and the media coverage of Iraq is something, he said, he can't explain.

The media wants to report mostly the bad news, the government mostly the good news.
Same problem when you're buying something - the seller wants to show you only the good stuff, the buyer wants to know about the bad stuff.

Caveat Emptor.

7 posted on 06/04/2004 4:22:32 PM PDT by liberallarry
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To: phil_will1
Yes. AFPS is the DoD press service, and far more trustworthy than the mainstream press.

Another great source site, the main DoD 'war on terrorism' site is Defend America, with excerpts and links to the day's highlights from the major military news sources - including AFPS, CENTCOM, and homefront news. Enough good news to fill mainstream news wires daily.

8 posted on 06/04/2004 6:21:08 PM PDT by Ragtime Cowgirl ("The future belongs to the free." - R. Reagan)
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To: Ragtime Cowgirl
a question from a Marine assigned to the 3rd Marine Division about when he might get a chance to serve in Iraq

Transfer to the Army. There are tens of thousands of soldiers that are on their second and even third combat tour. Of the 33 combat brigades in the Army, all but four have now been in either Iraq or Afghanistan, some more than once. And that isn't counting the Army National Guard.

9 posted on 06/04/2004 7:00:10 PM PDT by mark502inf
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To: Ragtime Cowgirl

The news media could learn a lot from the old Movietone news clips...but they won't. They don't know how to act during wartime. The only model they follow is Viet Nam. Jerks.


10 posted on 06/04/2004 7:10:46 PM PDT by Musket
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To: Ragtime Cowgirl
With the 60th anniversary of the Allied invasion of Normandy approaching on June 6 – and invasion that turned the tide of World War II -- Rumsfeld recalled the carnage of the D-Day assault. He wondered aloud what would have happened to Supreme Allied Commander Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower had the landing been reported by today's media, with so many outlets covering events 24 hours a day, seven days a week. "I suppose they would have been calling General Eisenhower back for congressional hearings," he said.

Rummy's great. 16,000 French civilians were killed in the pre D-Day bombing campaign designed to isolate the beachhead area and disrupt the German ability to reposition forces. Although tragic, that was considered an unavoidable part of the price for victory.

If today's media was around then, Dan Rather would be asking Ike why he was destroying France if the goal was to save it. Tom Brokaw would ruminate on the human cost of war as he broadcast live for 30 straight nights from French and German hospitals. And Peter Jennings would be asking "Why do they hate us? The United States claims it invaded France to liberate it, but many of the French don't see it that way. An interview with World War I French war hero Marshal Petain coming up."

11 posted on 06/04/2004 7:16:55 PM PDT by mark502inf
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To: liberallarry
Partly, but the mainstream press has been using unreliable sources, printing readily verifiable lies, hyping the strength of our enemies, while minimizing both the honorable character, and strength of our military.

The troops know the importance of clear communications - that careless words can get them killed on the battlefield.

There's a reason our troops called our press "enemy #1" - as they discovered their families and friends were hearing a story far removed from their primary news source reality - as they risked their lives doing good work across a nation the size of California after the embeds left last year.

Meanwhile, American reporters often wrote the news from a bar in the Palestine Hotel, based on the opinion of an anti-Coalition 'source' - who knew just where to find our free press....

12 posted on 06/04/2004 7:40:07 PM PDT by Ragtime Cowgirl
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To: mark502inf

"Transfer to the Army."

Tell a jarhead to transfer to the doggies? You've never served in uniform, have you? LOL


13 posted on 06/04/2004 8:33:07 PM PDT by phil_will1
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To: mark502inf
Today's media would have huddled in a London hotel. Each time a V1 or V2 landed, they would have announced how terribly wrong things were going for the Allies.

It's amusing to compare Operation Overlord with today's environment. It was in planning for three years and yet so many things went wrong.

Despite this, today's media (and other liberals) cling to this infantile notion that "a plan" would resolve all of our problems in Iraq. Somehow our enemies would pack up and go home if we wrote a script. They are idiots.

14 posted on 06/04/2004 8:36:52 PM PDT by Dilbert56
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To: Ragtime Cowgirl
after the embeds left last year.

Why were the embeds removed...and, in your opinion, was reporting better when they were there?

15 posted on 06/05/2004 5:44:17 AM PDT by liberallarry
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To: Ragtime Cowgirl
Embeds and Unilaterals

A pretty good article on the embed program.

The press has different interests, training, experience, problems than the military. And a much different budget and time-schedule. Problems are inevitable.

If one believes that the press has a legitimate role to play - and I do - then we all must live with those problems, and try to evaluate reports in that light.

16 posted on 06/05/2004 6:19:25 AM PDT by liberallarry
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