[Marxism] Commando Correspondents

[Les Schaffer <schaffer@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

from a local weekly rag:



Commando Correspondents
Armed with computers, cell phones and digital cameras, today's soldiers are
the real embedded journalists.


by Brita Brundage - December 2, 2004

The e-mail came from 27-year-old soldier Ryan McNutt, who returned from Iraq
last April. In plainspoken language, it voiced his support for the troops in
the 343rd Quartermaster Company. In mid-October, 18 reserve soldiers in that
company refused orders to transport fuel down dangerous Iraqi roads from the
Tallil Air Base to Taji, north of Baghdad, because their trucks were not
properly armored, the fuel was contaminated and they had no armed escorts.
Four members of the unit considered "ring leaders" will probably be
court-martialed, involving prison terms, while others will likely receive
reprimands. The company commander was relieved of her command. Contacting
their families via e-mail, the North Carolina reservists involved were able
to generate instant media attention to the lack of proper equipment and
unsafe conditions in Iraq, illustrating a growing unease and resistance among
the part-time soldiers sent to fight the war.

[snip]

Soldiers aren't supposed to question their command, let alone their
Commander-in-Chief. But today's soldiers, many of them college educated,
politically savvy, and connected via e-mail and cell phones to the outside
world, even in the field, are beginning to take an active role in how this
war is perceived. Like the American public, they're divided over the war's
necessity, torn by the nonexistent Weapons of Mass Destruction, and are
registered Democrat and Republican. These troops are armed with digital
cameras, laptops and writing blogs; they're alerting the media and forming
organizations, flexing a new kind of military power.

[snip]

full: http://fairfieldweekly.com/gbase/News/content?oid=oid:92052

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