that opens the possibility that the claims made by the other side might be true, because if they weren't, what would be the need for an investigation? If in fact the truth is not known, then by all means an investigation is in order, because nothing will erode credibility more rapidly than to have to reverse positions already taken. But it is critical that investigations be completed as quickly as possible, while issues remain in the public eye, and that they not be used as a rhetorical crutch if there is no real need for them.
Consider what happens when military units think strategically about the role the media play in operations. In November 2004, the first thing the marines did before beginning the full brunt of the assault on Fallujah was to take control of the hospital,[1] ensuring that it could not be used as a center for negative, false propaganda—at least without that propaganda being immediately countered, or without Western media being able to confirm or deny claims for themselves.[2]
Despite the fact that much of the press coverage centered on a series of themes designed to downplay the marines' accomplishment in clearing out the city of Fallujah,[3] the overall effort was still perceived as a success—or at least was not seen as a failure. Several polls showed the slightest rise in positive attitudes toward the war at around that time.[4] Put simply, the "absence of Western media in Fallujah allowed the insurgents greater control of information … Because Western reporters were at risk of capture and beheading, they stayed out and were forced to pool video shot by Arab cameramen and played on Al Jazeera."[5] By contrast, "[f]alse allegations of noncombatant casualties were made by Arab media in both campaigns, but in the second case embedded Western reporters offered a rebuttal."[6]
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- ↑ Jim Krane, AP, "US Forces Storm Fallujah," Washington Times, November 8, 2004, available from www.washingtontimes.com/world/20041108-125353-3217r.htm.
- ↑ Jim Miklaszewski explicitly reported on November 8, "At the same time, the US military will be fighting a propaganda war. As their first target last night, US and Iraqi troops seized Fallujah's general hospital to keep the insurgents from inflating the numbers of civilians killed or wounded." NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw, NBC News, Lexis Nexis Academic. Interestingly, there was no suggestion in the report that there might have been a reason the marines would consider such a possibility, for example, that prior numbers might have been inflated and erroneously reported.
- ↑ The ways in which the press suggested that what had been accomplished in Fallujah was not that important shifted over the course of the operation. The bottom line was that, since terrorist attacks continued in other parts of the country, even appeared to increase in the short term, and since the need to telegraph the operation to permit civilians to get out of the way also permitted terrorist leaders to leave, the operation (if not an out and out failure) was not portrayed as being a complete success, either. Thus Jamie McIntyre of CNN on November 10: "Mosques, used by insurgents as command posts, have come under heavy attack. But with most of Falluja resembling a ghost town, it is now growing more apparent that along with much of the population, many of the insurgents fled in advance of the assault. What is left appears to be a small number of desperate and disorganized remnants." Wolf Blitzer Reports, CNN, Lexis Nexis Academic.
- ↑ In response to the question, "Do you think the US should keep military troops in Iraq until a stable government is established there, or do you think the US should bring its troops home as soon as possible?" In a Pew Research Center Poll on November 3, 58 percent of the respondents said "keep troops there" and 39 percent said "bring troops home." However, on the next polling period beginning on December 19, 63 percent said "keep troops there" and only 32 percent said "bring them home" Reprinted in Pollingreport.com, available from www.pollingreport.com/iraq4.htm.
- ↑ Sean Edwards, Complex Environments: Battle of Fallujah I, April 2004 (Classified), Charlottesville, VA: U.S. Army National Ground Intelligence Center, March 31, 2006, pp. 13–14. I quote only paragraphs marked U, or Unclassified.
- ↑ Edwards, Complex Environments, p. 14.
