Expect more on this shortly. For now, though....
Dahr Jamail is described as an unembedded independent reporter. He and IVAW are, shall we say, entwined.
Jamail wrote an artcle published last October 26 by Asia Times entitled:
US soldiers shy from battle in Iraq
The article quotes four sources. Two of them, Phil Aliff and Geoff Millard, are identified in the article as members of IVAW. Perhaps to provide journalistic balance, Jamail’s other two sources, Eli Wright and Nate Lewis, are not identified as IVAW members.
But Eli Wright and Nate Lewis are also IVAW members.
Four out of four sources. Clean sweep! Tens of thousands of National Guard and Army troops stationed at Fort Drum, where the story was written, and all four sources are members of a group with only several hundred members in the whole country. This is honest journalism!
Stephen Kinzer, former NY Times foreign desk chief says of Jamail’s reporting "International Journalism at its best".
Figures!
Hat tip to Chickenhawk Express and BLACKFIVE.
Like I said, stand by for more on the Dahr Jamail and IVAW connection.
1 comment:
I saw your comment in the GoE forums, but as I was requested not to post there (due to my outrageous claim of being active duty military), I'm happy to answer here.
I'd love to be able to tell you what percentage of the 700+ (though I think it's up around 800 by now, that's not really updated. I know we have more chapters now.) actually served in Iraq. Unfortunately, I was taught by a sergeant who said not to bullshit answers, so I'm not going to. I flat-out don't know.
I can tell you my impressions just based on people I've met. I personally have not met an IVAW member who hasn't taken part in the Iraq/Afghanistan wars. However, this could include, say, being in a ship off the coast and helping with the flight deck. The thing about the Iraq conflict is it's really hard to say what precisely constitutes Iraq service. Do you count the medical personnel at Walter Reed who handle the wounded from the war every day? Or someone who was in Iraq physically, but never aided in a combat mission? How do you define it? That's actually a fairly serious question.
About eighty percent of the people I've met have had boots on the ground in Iraq or Afghanistan, I would say. But again, I'm one person, and anecdotal evidence is hardly anything to look at. Just as my evidence for Fort Drum having more active duty military members is anecdotal: I met them. It's not really stats and figures. I don't handle that stuff-I have a day job. And a night job. And a night-and-day job. You get the picture. :)
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