The dear friend has made the point that if we had embedded reporters in the invasion of Normandy and if the footage could be broadcast that night across America, then the outcry to get our boys home would have been irresistable. Just imagine the opening scene of Saving Private Ryan as a live news feed or at minimum the lead of the evening news. An extra kicker is that the vast majority of the soldiers were draftees.
There is no comparison between the casualty rates of WWII, Viet Nam, and Iraq. The biggest change between these conflicts is that the cost of war was brought more and more immediately to the awareness of the American public. With that immediacy, the conviction necessary to carry on in war has been spread from the military and government onto the general populace. Given that power, a great deal of responsiblity falls upon the media. While I do not advocate general government cesnorship, the media must recognize the direct influence it has on the strategic considerations of morale of the military, public, and enemy. No amount of military power can achieve victory without the will to use it. The only hope that our foes have is that we as the people will come to believe that the fight is not worth the cost. Lord help us if we go the way of Spain and the Phillipines.
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