Remember embedded reporters? Most people probably forgot about them after the fall of Baghdad. They were regarded with suspicion on the right and openly reviled on the left. But I thought they did, for the most part, a good job.
Since the fall of Baghdad, I think they've done a much better job. The pell-mell chase across the desert was a difficult thing to capture in words and an easy inspiration to enthusiasm and hyperbole. Reporting on the slow grind of a fight against insurgents and terrorists, however, is exactly the kind of thing that requires close and long-term contact with the grunts. And the question of military morale is so important to the domestic debate about the war, with widely ranging estimates of where it stands, that you'd think the embedded reporters would have everyone's attention right now.
You'd be wrong....
Exactly when they became useful, the big media seemed to lose interest in them. Who will give you better pictures of realities from Iraq? An embedded freelancer in Ramadi or Mosul, or a high-priced son of the First Amendment who never leaves the Green Zone except for a ride home to Manhattan?
My money's on the embeds. But they rarely seem to get into print outside their hometown newspapers. I keep up with them via the occasional update wraps provided by Greyhawk and others.
Recently he linked to this one, and this one, and this one, and this one. All are excellent. Just plain good reporting. Some readers will breeze by these links, thinking, "it will just be more of that phony 'good news' bullshit spun by the Pentagon" But you're wrong. Here's a random passage:We rolled out the gate and picked up our interpreters. From there, we worked our way through the checkpoints and finally found our way out past the wire and into open country. The convoy tooled over tarmac, gravel roads and finally a rutted goat path that claimed to be a road of some variety. Finally, we pulled up in front of a brand new building sitting in the middle of a broad field surrounded, at some distance, by several small villages.Now is that good news? I'd say you could read that any number of ways. You can bring your own biases to it and come away confirmed, no matter where you're coming from. Liberation, or neo-imperialism? Universal human nature, or learing to kiss up to the occupiers? Fact is, it's just plain good solid reporting.This was a new school that the 1/48th had built for the locals. By built, I don’t mean with their own two hands. They contracted local builders, infusing money into the economy and encouraging them to develop the skills and experience needed to repeat this project on their own. Throughout the process, they provided professional advice and overall supervision, ensuring that the school was built to the proper specifications and that no corners were cut.
The result was a marvelously clean and well-built facility with several classrooms, indoor plumbing, power and all the furniture and equipment needed to teach the next generation of Iraqis reading, writing and arithmetic. This stood in striking contrast to the old school; a ramshackle collection of mud brick huts that were now slowly falling down and dissolving into the countryside.
The children were remarkably well disciplined, going through their lessons in a sing song Arabic, despite the fact that armed and armored Soldiers, along with a camera wielding member of the American press were wandering through their classes. Of course, this discipline lasted only so long as the teachers were present. As soon as they left the room, the kids began hamming it up for the camera, flashing thumbs up, "V for victory" hand signs and before long the inevitable hand gestures that conveyed a desire for cash, candy or whatever else we might have.