On the heels of the Washington Post's investigation into the intelligence community our government has come to depend on, comes another nugget that fell into the laps of The New York Times, The Guardian, and Germany's Der Spiegel. It's being called "The War Logs," or, "The Afghan War Diary," and there's been a big surge in media coverage to interpret this sudden release.
A note on WikiLeaks. MotherJones has a feature story in their August issue called "Click and Dagger," in which it does make mention of the Pentagon Papers, and it's just ironic that the site got its own version of those documents:
It took nearly two years for Daniel Ellsberg to get the Pentagon Papers into the public domain. "As a leak, it's almost an example of what not to do," says [founder Julian] Assange. "By the time he got the info out, it was of little political consequence." The basic model hasn't changed much since then: Most whistleblowers still need a sympathetic reporter or politician to get the word out.
There is a warning in that paragraph for the present situation. The political consequence of this Afghan Diary might be too little too late, because, as The White House was quick to point out, the details of these documents refers to a time period prior to President Obama's decision to both call a three month policy review and send 30,000 additional combat troops. And what's missing? There was no reporter that these documents were leaked to, no face to put it in print. Today The White House elaborated on the leak at the press conference, saying it could do "potential harm" to the war and relations with Pakistan.
The War Logs, and subsequently, the specific documents that number 92,000+ (note that there appears to be an agreement between WikiLeaks and the three publications to not publish their respective stories/investigations at the same time, nor can they have access to all the documents right away) are not an indictment of a failed military operation that has lasted nine years. I think the aim of the anonymous leaker was to get hard information about what has happened so far out into the open. Many publications have deep access to the US military, but rarely do they get physical information that identifies operations that have taken place deep in the mountains of Pakistan, and how difficult maintaining order within the regions of Afghanistan really has been.
Many have already said, either on Twitter or on blogs or in print, that these are most decidedly not the Pentagon Papers of this war. At first glance of some of the substance of the documents, it gives names, places, and other things that appear top secret, but maybe that's in the eye of the beholder. I'm sure Pakistan would not like some of what is in there, and there's always potential to miss something and have some name get out that wasn't supposed to, and endanger someone's life. The Pentagon Papers were about proving to America that its adventure in Vietnam was not worth the cost in blood it had paid. The papers were released at the tail end of combat operations, so there was not much that could be done to reverse the policy. It was a first-hand account of the government's thinking, and gave hard evidence to the long-held suspicion that American officials did not think the Vietnam War could be won. There is a stark difference between learning that you've been lied to by your government, and learning that your government and its military has been up to far more than was originally told. It's like finding out your high school teachers actually had lives outside the school during the summer.
The primary effect of this Afghan War Diary is one of transparency, not shock. We know what the grand plan for Afghanistan is, and we know what the President wants to accomplish. There isn't a whole lot of discrepancy towards the endgame, and the reason we're still there is because the administration implicated in these very documents did not fully understand the hornet's nest they were poking with the biggest of sticks, the US military, but this isn't a indictment of the overall strategy. The Obama administration might be concerned about how the public interprets this event, but I say bring it on. Too many don't believe in absolutes, and Afghanistan is an absolute, and it took an anonymous leak of things we already know to get it back into the conversation. I'm hopeful to see how journalists go forward with this information.
26 July 2010
05 July 2010
I Have Not Yet Begun to Fight!
I've published another piece on The US Naval Memorial's blog...the site doesn't appear to be working correctly so I pasted the piece below:
America's First Naval Hero
by Kevin Bunkley
Fireworks go with our Independence Day like peanut butter with jelly, but the American Navy during the Revolutionary War made what I consider to be the America's first display of naval firepower.
The Continental Navy, the third of the original three branches of service (Continental Army and Marines were the others), was arguably the most vital to keeping the machine of revolution lubricated. The American frigates kept sea lanes open for supplies from France, and harassed British privateers attempting to cut off those supplies. There wasn't a professional sailor among the bunch, with the exception of one now-famous naval hero. Possibly the first real hero of naval history, John Paul Jones gave America the roots of what would become The United States Navy and its track record of able seaman overcoming insurmountable odds.
Jones himself was a Scotsman, but it took an unorthodox journey to get him to the American colonies. He ended up in Virginia after fleeing the authorities hunting him for a murder charge, and pledged to join the rebellion the engulfed the American colonies six months later. Benjamin Franklin then gave him a commission, despite having no battle experience, no crew, and no naval training. Jones, a lieutenant, commanded theBonhomme Richard, a small privateering ship, and he made it all the way to the coast of England.
Jones and his crew caused a panic in Britain, destroying several frigates, thus forcing King George to commission a frigate that would come to be linked to Jones's most heroic moment. The H.M.S. Serapis was sent out to find and kill Jones, and when they found him, Jones fought to win. Half the Richard crew deserted Jones, and the Serapis severely damaged Jones's ship. The British ship commander wanted Jones to surrender, but he instead tied himself to his ship's mast, and shouted to the British, "I have not yet begun to fight!" Jones sent the Richard to ram the British ship, and with his ship in flames, fought the British hand-to-hand with whatever remaining crew he had, and took the Serapis for the Continental Navy. Despite being labeled a "desperado" and "bad fellow" by the British press, Jones became a legend in the colonies on September 23, 1779 when he beat the British.
The tale ends bitter sweetly, because Jones found little appreciation from the Continental Congress. He asked that the United States of America officially create a fleet of ships to rival the fleets of France and Britain, but it fell on deaf ears. The true naval fleet wouldn't be created until John Adams convinced President Washington to authorize such an undertaking, but Jones was no longer on American soil.
John Paul Jones left America for France, to advise the French navy in fighting the British, and even got all the way to Russia, to fight in Catherine the Great's navy during her ascent to the throne. He died in France in 1794, having earned a more notorious reputation abroad than in his adopted America, but his legend is intact. The US Navy likely has more of the spirit of John Paul Jones than any of the nations he interacted with, and has likely fought dozens of its own Serapis-style battles, but a large reason for the Navy's existence can be traced to an ornery Scotsman who was determined to fight.
America's First Naval Hero
by Kevin Bunkley
Fireworks go with our Independence Day like peanut butter with jelly, but the American Navy during the Revolutionary War made what I consider to be the America's first display of naval firepower.
The Continental Navy, the third of the original three branches of service (Continental Army and Marines were the others), was arguably the most vital to keeping the machine of revolution lubricated. The American frigates kept sea lanes open for supplies from France, and harassed British privateers attempting to cut off those supplies. There wasn't a professional sailor among the bunch, with the exception of one now-famous naval hero. Possibly the first real hero of naval history, John Paul Jones gave America the roots of what would become The United States Navy and its track record of able seaman overcoming insurmountable odds.
Jones himself was a Scotsman, but it took an unorthodox journey to get him to the American colonies. He ended up in Virginia after fleeing the authorities hunting him for a murder charge, and pledged to join the rebellion the engulfed the American colonies six months later. Benjamin Franklin then gave him a commission, despite having no battle experience, no crew, and no naval training. Jones, a lieutenant, commanded theBonhomme Richard, a small privateering ship, and he made it all the way to the coast of England.
Jones and his crew caused a panic in Britain, destroying several frigates, thus forcing King George to commission a frigate that would come to be linked to Jones's most heroic moment. The H.M.S. Serapis was sent out to find and kill Jones, and when they found him, Jones fought to win. Half the Richard crew deserted Jones, and the Serapis severely damaged Jones's ship. The British ship commander wanted Jones to surrender, but he instead tied himself to his ship's mast, and shouted to the British, "I have not yet begun to fight!" Jones sent the Richard to ram the British ship, and with his ship in flames, fought the British hand-to-hand with whatever remaining crew he had, and took the Serapis for the Continental Navy. Despite being labeled a "desperado" and "bad fellow" by the British press, Jones became a legend in the colonies on September 23, 1779 when he beat the British.
The tale ends bitter sweetly, because Jones found little appreciation from the Continental Congress. He asked that the United States of America officially create a fleet of ships to rival the fleets of France and Britain, but it fell on deaf ears. The true naval fleet wouldn't be created until John Adams convinced President Washington to authorize such an undertaking, but Jones was no longer on American soil.
John Paul Jones left America for France, to advise the French navy in fighting the British, and even got all the way to Russia, to fight in Catherine the Great's navy during her ascent to the throne. He died in France in 1794, having earned a more notorious reputation abroad than in his adopted America, but his legend is intact. The US Navy likely has more of the spirit of John Paul Jones than any of the nations he interacted with, and has likely fought dozens of its own Serapis-style battles, but a large reason for the Navy's existence can be traced to an ornery Scotsman who was determined to fight.
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