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Time to once again open my life up a little in order to share the plethora of wealth I'm about to absorb. I'm going to be back in Iraq through September, so hop on board and check back every couple of days, I'll do my best to update as much as possible. Questions? dtate38@cox.net And check out the site I'm working with: http://www.billroggio.com Support independent journalism!
Sunday, June 13, 2004
I really have nothing else to talk about. The days are the same: I have five press conferences a week and try to turn at least four stories. The calls from the desk come every day with the same questions. I'm also getting no where with the Army. 12 hours after being told I was going to Salerno again, I was told I'm not going to Salerno, again. I continue to demand an explanation, and have yet to get one. Just the simple, but true: "It's up to the base commander." I've also told them the explanation needs to be "releasable". Afterall, IHA is the largest non-Western news agency in Afghanistan. I also cover more from the coalition view, in the field, than anyone in the country (not a 100% sure, but pretty sure).
Did I mention that Geraldo got three aircraft to haul his crap around? Either way, he got two of one and one of the other in regards to a large airplane C-17/30 and a helicopter. All I have is a rucksack. I don't even have a cameraman!! All I need is a jeep ride!
So, there are three major reasons why the world hears little out of Afghanistan. The first is the simplest: Iraq. Very little about Afghanistan is noticed because of the abundance of news coming from that war. This is one of the major reasons I believe that George Bush is failing here. By invading Iraq, including the subsequent events, the U.S. policy has robbed Afghanistan of the much needed press that is essential for Afghanistan's rebuilding efforts to be successful.
As we speak, UNAMA is not only 30 million dollars short in pledges to have the elections, but not one dollar of 70 million dollars that has been pledged has made it to UNAMA. Not one dollar. They need 80 million by July 1st, and that's just for the elections (which were originally scheduled for this month but are currently delayed until September).
Point is, this very controversial war (in Iraq) has slowed the efforts in the true war on terrorism to a trickle. The armed forces are getting a low intensity workout, but the real problems are not being addressed: Drugs and madrases. The only way to address these essential terror driven problems is to have a concentrated effort of rehabilitation. Rehabilitation is a word that is long an afterthought due to the war in Iraq. Amazingly enough, as near-impotent as NATO is here in Afghanistan, I'm still spinning in amazement that both Bush and Blair called for NATO to contribute to Iraq. How about fufiling the commitment to Afghanistan?
Second: American secrecy. The Americans have so many "special op" qualified people fighting the "real war" here, that it's nearly impossible to get the story. To encounter any sort of the true "combat experience" here is very rare. To be clear: The contact in this country is not easy to predict. It's actually near impossible. The problem is that a large majority of combat falls under "special operations". It's such a shame that such a large role of such a unique experience will only be conveyed in books... sometimes.
Third: The third problem is also U.S. Army linked, and that is its inability to devise a simple formula to handle the press properly. I've written before about the fun I had with the 10th Mountain-era public affairs. It would really be hard to get worse, but it has. I hope one day I am proved wrong, because the people running the show are incredibly nice.... uh.... period.
First of all, I will note that they have been at it a little over a month or so, which is not a ton of time. Beyond that, I'm at a loss. In total, they have just eight soldiers at any given time to act as the "media facilitator" (escort), who could be juggling 2-6 journalists.
Once you verify you'll be in country, you get put on a list that is supposed to be followed to get you to as close as you want to go. Often times, it takes a month of waiting before you get the "media opportunity" that you want.
Even then, there are only select places that the media is allowed. You can ask to go to a particular base, but if it's not on the regular list, you probably won't be going.
Once you do accept one of the opportunities, it's a 5-7 day visit to wherever you are going. It's always escorted. With that said, the rules of what you shoot are sensible and there is no censorship/review of material.
In a sentence: The U.S. military controls what little media that leaves Afghanistan through lack of accommodating resources and lack of accessibility to areas of interest.
Did I mention Geraldo is getting his own air force? How about the fact I just want to go to the field?
Did I mention that Geraldo got three aircraft to haul his crap around? Either way, he got two of one and one of the other in regards to a large airplane C-17/30 and a helicopter. All I have is a rucksack. I don't even have a cameraman!! All I need is a jeep ride!
So, there are three major reasons why the world hears little out of Afghanistan. The first is the simplest: Iraq. Very little about Afghanistan is noticed because of the abundance of news coming from that war. This is one of the major reasons I believe that George Bush is failing here. By invading Iraq, including the subsequent events, the U.S. policy has robbed Afghanistan of the much needed press that is essential for Afghanistan's rebuilding efforts to be successful.
As we speak, UNAMA is not only 30 million dollars short in pledges to have the elections, but not one dollar of 70 million dollars that has been pledged has made it to UNAMA. Not one dollar. They need 80 million by July 1st, and that's just for the elections (which were originally scheduled for this month but are currently delayed until September).
Point is, this very controversial war (in Iraq) has slowed the efforts in the true war on terrorism to a trickle. The armed forces are getting a low intensity workout, but the real problems are not being addressed: Drugs and madrases. The only way to address these essential terror driven problems is to have a concentrated effort of rehabilitation. Rehabilitation is a word that is long an afterthought due to the war in Iraq. Amazingly enough, as near-impotent as NATO is here in Afghanistan, I'm still spinning in amazement that both Bush and Blair called for NATO to contribute to Iraq. How about fufiling the commitment to Afghanistan?
Second: American secrecy. The Americans have so many "special op" qualified people fighting the "real war" here, that it's nearly impossible to get the story. To encounter any sort of the true "combat experience" here is very rare. To be clear: The contact in this country is not easy to predict. It's actually near impossible. The problem is that a large majority of combat falls under "special operations". It's such a shame that such a large role of such a unique experience will only be conveyed in books... sometimes.
Third: The third problem is also U.S. Army linked, and that is its inability to devise a simple formula to handle the press properly. I've written before about the fun I had with the 10th Mountain-era public affairs. It would really be hard to get worse, but it has. I hope one day I am proved wrong, because the people running the show are incredibly nice.... uh.... period.
First of all, I will note that they have been at it a little over a month or so, which is not a ton of time. Beyond that, I'm at a loss. In total, they have just eight soldiers at any given time to act as the "media facilitator" (escort), who could be juggling 2-6 journalists.
Once you verify you'll be in country, you get put on a list that is supposed to be followed to get you to as close as you want to go. Often times, it takes a month of waiting before you get the "media opportunity" that you want.
Even then, there are only select places that the media is allowed. You can ask to go to a particular base, but if it's not on the regular list, you probably won't be going.
Once you do accept one of the opportunities, it's a 5-7 day visit to wherever you are going. It's always escorted. With that said, the rules of what you shoot are sensible and there is no censorship/review of material.
In a sentence: The U.S. military controls what little media that leaves Afghanistan through lack of accommodating resources and lack of accessibility to areas of interest.
Did I mention Geraldo is getting his own air force? How about the fact I just want to go to the field?
