The First Report Is Always Wrong

"I hate newspapermen. They come into camp and pick up their camp rumors and print them as facts. I regard them as spies, which, in truth, they are. If I killed them all there would be news from Hell before breakfast."
                                                                          ~General William Tecumseh Sherman

Before I started training members of the Iraqi Army, I was the Intelligence Officer for an Infantry Battalion in one of the most violent sections of Baghdad as many of you know.  One of the things that my section tried to promote throughout the Battalion was what we called "tactical patience."  Tactical patience is giving a situation enough time to develop and unfold before trying to determine its meaning, significance and how to react to it.  Tactical patience can sometimes require only a few seconds and sometimes require many hours. 

Many times during operations in the TOC, we would get calls over the radio of enemy contact or hear explosions inside or outside the walls of the FOB.  Immediately everyone would want to know what was going on.  Reports often mixed with speculation in the early minutes following initial contact.  Was it an IED, mortar, or rocket?  Was that a drive by shooting or just the Iraqi Police squeezing off a few bursts from his AK-47 to clear traffic?  This kind of confusion is commonly referred to as the "fog of battle."

As the intelligence adviser, the commander would come to me and ask me for my analysis of the situation and if it indicated a pattern or a new development.  Many times, my first answer was that we didn't know enough yet.  "We just got the initial report in, Sir, and the first report is always wrong."  On several occasions, what was thought to be a rocket impact based upon hearing a nearby explosion and seeing the resulting plume of smoke, turned out to be merely a controlled detonation of captured explosives by the EOD team.  This is why tactical patience is so important - so that we don't overreact to what we think something is.  We take the time to find out what it really is.

I was thinking about this as I watched media hysteria over Hurricane Katrina.  Predictions and reports of over 10,000 dead (turns out to be a little over 1,000), wide-spread murders and thuggery (a few instances), months to drain New Orleans (days), and hundreds of corpses at the convention center (4), turned out be either false or wildly exaggerated.  Instead of pitching in to help, the media types fanned the flames of hysteria and panic, making the situation appear much worse than it really was.  They report selectively.  They sanctimoniously criticize the efforts of those actually trying to help.  They stand on the sidelines with cameras and microphones when they should be grabbing buckets and shovels.  After their viewership has come off of its peak, they pack up and leave while patting each other on the back for doing such a "great job" by "raising awareness."

They are doing the same thing with regard to our efforts here in Iraq.  They disgust me.  I know there are few good ones out there, but sadly, they are the exception, not the rule.

Comments

[devildog6771]

I couldn't agree more Major. Do you remember the pictures taken by that woman in Kuwait and published in Seattle? She took them to help the families of the lost loved ones see the care and respect their loved ones were shown. The nedia made it into a circus. Now go to this past weekend. See any real pictures from this past hooplah? NO! Well, check this out:

http://conprotantor.blogspot.com/2005/09/marching-with-moonbats-in-dc.html

I warn you in advance, you wiil see red. Now go halfway down or so. Then, please tell me what you think about the media's failure to say anything about this sacrilege!
As soon as you get to what I am referring to you'll know it!

I'm going to see if the guy will give me permission to copy the picture then I have some things I want to say and some letters to write.

[PebblePie]

"If It Bleeds, It Leads"

I would very much like to see some journalists prosecuted. I don't understand how some escape prosecution...
Where are the "Journalist Police"

[Toni]

I think the media has created such an atmosphere of hate they all should be boycotted. Michael Brown has become the whipping boy or FEMA just like the military in Iraq. In NO all of the sudden the military can do no wrong but in Iraq the military can do no right. Now Fema can do nothing right, I'm not really protecting FEMA because I think thru the years FEMA has alot to answer for but this isn't a sudden thought on my part. It would be nice to see an adult of intellect, logical reasoning and plain old common sense in the MSM for a change.

[Theresa]

It’s the reason I sit at my computer and surf the blogsphere. The entire debacle, which is new orleans, can be laid at the feet of the police chief, city council, mayor and governor. The black caucus and jesse “the opportunist” jacksons racist coalition showed their true "color" spewing their bullshit at a time when the people they supposedly represent where in need. It’s also disgusting that the other areas, which were hit just as hard, were forgotten about in the media race frenzy. This entire event highlights once again how skewed the msm has become. Stay safe and God Bless you and all our deployed Warriors.

[Eagle1]

Exactly right!

Tactical patience is sometimes a hard lesson to learn, but it is a very important one.

[nds]

Hilarious quote from Sherman, made me laugh out loud! Although most of male ancesteors were proabably confederate soldiers, I am big admirer of Sherman.

Good luck on your mission Major K, and thank so much for you service.

[Phil]

Hehehee. That quote from General Sherman cracked me up. First time I've laughed all day, and boy I needed it.

Thanks!

[Wild Thing]

Great quote!
I agree with everything you have written.

[matt Johnson]

As big an SOB as Sherman was he is right on the money. Same deal in Gulf War I and Panama those media morons are as useful for reporting truth as a politician.

As a Texan my favorite sherman quoute,
"If I owned Texas and Hell, I would live in Hell and rent out Texas.

Semper Fi!

[tnunn]

Manipulation of the American minds! ( Brain Washing)

[Gypsy]

I continue to ponder at what point the majority of reporters and MSM went from reporting the news to literally creating it. A frustrating exercise at best. I continue to read your blog Major and others for the truth as to what is going on out there. And I couldn't agree with Theresa's post more. God bless you all and take care out there.

[Yankee PaPa]

Very interesting article posted by Tiger Hawk (web address below) on a speech given by Lt. Gen. David Petraeus at Princeton's University..below are a few excerpts from that post..More information on just exactly how huge this training business is..YPP..

The festivities surrounding the 75th anniversary of Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School For Public and International Affairs continued yesterday with a speech by Lt. General David Petraeus (M.P.A. '85, Ph.D. '87).

Notwithstanding the huge size of Saddam's military, even experienced Iraqi officers did not know how to train. For example, they did not train with live ammunition because of shortages, and expressed wonder at American methods for teaching marksmanship. Historically, “the inshallah school of shooting” prevailed. Iraqi soldiers in combat would hold the weapon over their head, shoot wildly until the magazine was empty, and “inshallah -- meaning if God wills it -- you will hit something.”

http://tigerhawk.blogspot.com/2005/10/lt-gen-david-petraeus-speaks-at.html

The most impressive thing about the Iraqi units is how tenacious they have become, notwithstanding early reports that they would cut and run. According to General Patraeus, since the January elections, from which the Iraqi security forces “took an enormous lift that still persists,” the Iraqi forces "have not run from a fight, they have not backed down." This strikes me, by the way, as enormously hopeful for the future of Iraq, the persistence of the counterinsurgency, and the power of democracy to motivate the fight against the war on terror.

The key objectives for the future must be to continue to build infrastructure, transition bases to Iraqi control, but mostly we need to continue building and training Iraqi leaders. This is "the most critical thing."

..There is so much more..and Thanks to you K for being a part of this..Your hard work will pay off.."Inshallah"..

[Reg Jones]

re: tactical patience

Can't we also talk of "strategic patience" which is measured in months and years? Isn't this concept related to the necesary conditions to defeat an insurgency?

[patd95]

I can't begin to tell you what a breath of fresh air your site is. After reading your posts for the last day or so, it truly is amazing how much we do not hear from the front(s). I have linked your site to mine and I hope to 'liberate' as many posts as I am allowed so that my readers (few, but growing) know the real stories coming from Iraq and elsewhere. Thanks

[Nicholas]

Reg Jones: Agree.

In today's world of instant gratification (I confess - I expect most things to be instantaneous or I am upset), people can't stand to wait 10 minutes let alone the years it takes to create order out of chaos.

In a sense, strategy is the tactics of tactics (or meta-tactics), so I think what Major K. said also applies as you state.

"Amateurs talk about tactics, dilletants talk about strategy, professionals talk about logistics." ;)

[nds]

Wild Thing,

Another great Sherman quote! And I am from Texas! (now in California)

Sherman was a great American. he created and distilled an American form of WhoopAss that has served our country well in desparate times. And may yet be needed again if the more civil tactics that Major K and the US military confine themselves are at present are seen to be insufficient.