Charles Sheehan-Miles

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OpSec trumps information operations

Over the last several years, I've been a consistent reader of a number of military bloggers, as well as Iraqi bloggers, because I'm obsessed with the war and want to know what's actually happening on the ground. Over that time, much of what I read from both Iraqis and soldiers and marines serving in Iraq has had a deep impact on my views of the war.

Among other things, I've come to strongly believe that leaving Iraq prematurely would likely be an even bigger disaster than the ongoing war is.  That's why, nearly two years ago, Erik Gustafson and I co-wrote Why Abandonment of Iraq is Wrong for TomPaine.com.

Soldiers blogging about their real experiences on the ground there has given both the good and the bad on the war. Nowhere in the media do I find reporters writing about real reconstruction projects in Iraq, or the interaction between the troops and the folks on the ground. The often heard conservative complaint that the media "only reports bad news" is pretty much true.  For example, I've seen almost nothing in the media about the fact that the US Marines brokered a truce with the Sunni tribes in Anbar province, and that those same tribes are now not only providing recruits for Iraqi Security Forces, but they are also actively seeking out and combating al-Qaeda.  That's a huge story, much bigger than the so-called surge, but it might as well not have happened as far as most Americans would know.

That's why it's such a tragedy that the Army is now going to essentially wipe out the ability of young soldiers to be ambassadors to the broader American public.  Operational security is important, and any solder facing the daily hazards of fighting an insurgency knows that. But how much has to be balanced with the fact that the Pentagon apparently has no plan at all to communicate with the rest of us about how things are going.

See the discussion and blog at Small Wars Journal for more. 

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