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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 26, 2001)
War tactics should "l not be disclosed pse demolition nd other debris Monday. -long bridge - a the mainland ngest bridge ini: Americans. America’s media has been at id cost $5 milliot he forefront of every battle we have the federal Sj ought since the Persian Gulf War. To pro- Monday to acm ectthe safety of our soldiers, this cannot m allowed to happen anymore. In the Persian Gulf Wi 'ith the reality of war getting clos er every day, America has a battle to fight other than the one against he terrorists that killed more than 6,000 :r Loan prograi inty affected bj War. CNN crews traveled with many soldiers, broadcasting their battles with the Iraqi soldiers live on television. While informing the American public and gaining its top ratings, CNN also served as Iraq’s intelligence sys tem. While Iraq did not eem to gain much of an upper hand by ing on a resoL^vatching CNN, we cannot allow anything ay at tail shops were cut short the to; icet financial obi uses because of amounts w-otild a call for a se; nmission wass Holly h Ige near the Qi dge at the ons rrent bridge, toan in Brownsville plan for a seo d Holly Beach S IN BRIEF jrader helfl ib threat P) — An 11-yeai i of making a to er school has te juvenile i. grader was cha® THOMAS CAMPBELL ooccur which would have the possibility )f threatening our soldiers' safety, look at altem Sporting troop movements live via satel lite could compromise our soldiers’ safety s well. In Kosovo, television crews broadcast >ur planes leaving bases on live television. Ihis proved to serve as advance warning or Kosovo air defenses. There is no viable fexas Transport: easontodo anything that would allow in. BMiemies to know the location and move- tient of our soldiers. As war looms in the near future, Secretary of State Colin Powell ordered hat no civilian reporters or cameras w ill )e allowed to travel with infantry units or ravel on our ships. This may save many ives because the Afghanistan soldiers will j tot be able to know where we are by watching the news. Our soldiers are heroes on par with the firefighters in New York City. They have given an oath that they will use all means to protect our country from all forces, for- a false alarm of elgn or domestic. By giving this oath, U.S. misdemeanor sad < soldiers have offered their lives so that all pos, assisbvz- $ Americans can sleep another night under McLennan W •bation Depaftwt :alled West ice about l:30pjn determine that ft ed from her homt ‘he school was the blanket of freedom. Americans are all indebted to soldiers, past and present, for the sacrifice they have made so that we can d'Robert Hartfe *‘ ve ' n freedom. Now is our time to protect t School Disltitl ourtro °P s b y 1101 reporting their locations 'fit.' Officials { S| dn( * Hi ovements - While our technology has improved so much that we can broadcast Jive anywhere in the world, we must show restraint for the benefit of the country. Afghanistan held off Russian forces for a 'ear before Russia finally pulled out. They lay prove to be a formidable foe. Whether )r not Afghanistan has a tough military, the media should not do anything that would lelp the Afghan army in any way. Reporters that travel with combat units make for a security risk. All reporters are coking for the best scoop, and in that ski tearch, they may compromise the security orders. Our soldiers should not feel the girl r the rest West is about of Waco d County tishes Sun 3 UTEP ve; ina Fexas - Owner: owl will transfer ty of Texas all impelled in any way to have to protect an agreed he El Paso Coni! )n their orders and their enemy. By having ers Court and ft rivilians there, our soldiers may be dis- racted or divert from orders to protect the eporters’ lives. The military also has what is called :ombat camera. Those soldiers that are in :ombat camera are field trained and can ivilians, but rather should keep their mind )f Texas ents. is agreed Mond? 3 to receive the sS lange for thei ingthecountyC,., ^ D • jrships everyV #1 if the situation arises. By utilizing r $1,600 -ft combat camera soldiers, we would be lue of the stadin' issured that no secure information would antee thattheS^ >ereleased, and the Afghan army would I game will lot be able to get intelligence updates from it local schools#! elevision news stations. :o the stadium. Our number one priority in this upcom- n waiting for a ing conflict is to win the war of terrorism, ong time andtlfc ^ sav j n g as man y American lives as ng moment, ® possible. This will only be possible with i Dolores Bi# ^ ^ cooperation of all Americans — win situation, es|^ s T ,• tmilies of El Rasof s P ec,a,| y the media nent, which rear of legal receive appro* Board of Ref signed by a ji alized. , the county velop scholarsti? e first 10 set# awarded emester. ersy over the Si' ., , 0 x in August 20ft' M'P on Monday Sept. 24th Thomas Campbell is a senior agriculturaljournalism major. WAR The public must be updated on tactics GEORGE DEUTSCH T hough it may seem ugly, America once again finds itself faced with an impending war. Some, including Secretary of State Colin Powell, would deny the American public any overseas civilian media coverage of this war, claim ing that this coverage would only compro mise national security. But in reality, a decision to deny civilian reporters the right to deliver the news only compromises the United States’ freedom of press, thereby stripping all Americans of their First Amendment right. Because of the poten tial loss of American life involved, no one is happy with the possibility of a — new war. But as this possibil ity becomes a reality, the American public is entitled to witness the day-to-day devel opments of this war from the front lines. A war waged against the American people requires that the American people themselves know what they are facing, whether at home or abroad. Just as sol diers must man their posts, reporters, too, have obligations to the public during these trying times. Their duty is to relay the news, and this duty becomes increas ingly more important in times of war. Every citizen now has a responsibility to his country; reporters must not be stopped from fulfilling theirs. Critics of civilian war coverage will argue that it can potentially divulge sol dier locations and military maneuvers to opposing forces. But for those who do not remember, the war in the Persian Gulf was a decisive American victory. No amount of media coverage in the world could have saved Iraq; the fact is, news coverage did not play a significant role. Ultimately, warfare is waged on both physical and mental fronts. If terrorist forces are allowed to dictate U.S. media involvement, the global community will see America as intimidated and the Unites States will lose much of its psychological edge. No matter the circumstances, out siders cannot be allowed to control this country’s actions in any way, whether they are military or media related. Admittedly, if the American news were to somehow divulge sensitive military maneuvers or battle strategies to the Afghans, it could present a problem. But civilian reporters should nonetheless be allowed to accompany soldiers with the understanding that they, for the safety of their country, will not report militarily sen sitive information of any kind. The govern ment has no legitimate reason to remove the media from the picture entirely. The potential for overseas news cover age of “Operation Infinite Justice” may already be looking bad. The Taliban, the ruling Afghan government, has told CNN to leave Afghanistan, and it looks as if much of the U.S. reporting there will be done illegally. If civilian news crews are allowed to accompany U.S. soldiers, they have a much more realistic chance of not only reporting the news, but also survival. The Taliban has also taken steps to ban the Internet in Afghanistan, as they consid er it “wrong, obscene, immoral and against Islam,” according to Foreign Minister Mahlui Wakil Ahmad Muttawakil. A war- torn nation such as Afghanistan does little to embrace technology. They do not stand to gain any significant wartime advantage from the U.S. media. Whether the coverage is extensive or limited, the American media has an obliga tion to history to capture this country’s new war. Terrorism has done enough to infringe on the rights of Americans, the government cannot be allowed to do the same. George Deutsch is a junior journalism major. MAIL CALL , CARTOON OF THE DAY Corps overreacts In response to the comic isked the ... to build a $91*' I seem to have misunder- ilning centers*' >tood the point of a comic $3 million ^ strip. For a while I thought it and repairsvas intended to be taken ight-heartedly and with a i was built ^ augh, yet the Corps has once ey in 1961 a* ig a j n 'taken it to far. I was ;d to UTERbyh imderthe impression that the a year ever# ;omic wou |d have only taken asked to use! ,^^^6 Trigon and/or the days each year ^3^ personnel who called JTEpTeW orBravos t0 be WOrn by the Cadets on game day. This was not a hit on their patriot ism just a joke about how their khaki uniforms looked mixed in with a sea of blue. If the Cadets had an issue with people commenting on how they looked they should not have. Everyone on cam pus knows that they have to wear their uniforms everyday and that they take pride in that, so why even let some comic strip offend you about not matching the rest of the students at the game. And as for the many Americans who have died for our country and our flag, they did it not only for themselves, but also for those whose opin ions differed from their own, so think twice before throwing their legacy into the Battalion's face. Camille Munoz Class of 2003 Aggie show their true colors I watched the game with a dozen other Aggies here in California and was stricken with goose bumps every time the cameras panned the crowd. The Red White and Blue Out at Kyle Field was truly remarkable. As always, the 12th Man finds a unique way to show its spirit. You reminded me why I’m so proud to be an Aggie, and even prouder to be an American. Kathy Clarke Class of 1995 AT TOE KEILOO'S BAPn 'TVL£