Good decision-making (and I'm aiming at the political decision down to individual voters here) requires good information (or luck).

It's for this reason why propaganda has been banned in some countries; it biased the information pro-war and was too often about misleading the electorate. That's not acceptable in a democracy.

We need either neutral information (German media strives for this, and comes close with a relatively limited influence of partisanship on news) or balanced information (the U.S. approach as it seems).


Now from this point of view, it was an unacceptable imbalance and lack of neutrality to have reporters embedded on one side, but not on the other. It's irrelevant which side has the information advantage here - there shall be no such information advantage.

Voters shall not be mislead, never be pushed to support a war that's not worth its expenses or probably altogether stupid. On the other hand, they shall not fall prey to hostile propaganda overmatch and cower away from warfare against their interests and values.
Warfare isn't about winning at all costs; it's about taking the least terrible path. Yes, sometimes it's better to accept defeat than to keep on fighting till an eventual declaration "victory" (or till a more serious defeat).


It's a good thing to see such a video. The fourth estate does its job (or begins to do it).


Btw - yes, this reporter has balls of steel. Or he knows he's ill and will die soon anyway.