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What happened to confidentiality ?
Great post, Bill.
Political "chest thumping" has polluted the environment throughout the "AQ events" (from the 1993 WTC bombing).
I think one reason for that "chest thumping" lies in the symbiotic relationship (like them bug pictures) between the Political Class and the Media (mainstream and otherwise): Political Class < > Media. Both have a need to fill the 24-hour news cycle.
I think a second reason lies in the uncertainty and outright disputation (among the same performers) about how to tackle the "AQ events". If one is not certain about one's course of action, then one reverts back to the "Great Gorilla" plan - chest thumping.
I think a third reason is a loss in the sense of personal confidentiality - that is, that certain facts and communications remain confidential, regardless of whether or not they are "classified" (and at what level). What happens in Vegas today, is not likely to stay in Vegas.
In any event, we (as viewers) have been treated to - and probably in the future will be treated to - an event-based play by play and color commentary by the formal and informal spokespeople of whatever administration is in office. That is contrary to everything I was taught.
A definite need exists for extensive force feeding of the Political Class with very large amounts of this (orig. HT to a guy named Moore):
Attachment 1467
I was struck by Dave Maxwell's brief article at SWJ, A Recommendation for Quiet Professionals, which also deals with "chest thumping" - but of such a lesser order of magnitude than the Politico-Media "chest thumping".
My three cents worth.
Regards
Mike
Concur with Dave's article
I just read Dave's article and concur with it. I think he would agree with my post (maybe not the tone). Somethings are classified for a reason, and others are classified out of habit. As the SECDEF stated above, all agreed to keep their mouth shut about this operation (the who done it part) for legitimate reasons. To add insult to injury I see they released a new video game that includes UBL's house, so want to be warriors can pretend to be heroes why they drink their coke and munch on their potato chips, again misrepresenting what war is to our public.
My take from Dave's article was we're obligated to write about our experiences in a professional manner so we can our thoughts to the existing body of knowledge. I agree 100% when you're not writing about classified operations and techniques (this only represents a small percentage of what we do). He also said not to chest thumb, and we have seen plenty of that. We may disagree (we'll see), but I think advocating for SOF to lead certain operations is far from chest thumbing, but appropriate based on SOF's unique training, education and task organization. If we're not unique from conventional forces (I hate the term special, but it is here to stay), then we wouldn't need SOF and I don't think many rational professionals would agree with that statement. Dave also hit the nail on the head about this persistent myth that conventional forces are out to "get SOF." Fort Bragg is home to many great conspiracy theories and this is one of them.