Posted by
Doctor Poddy on Sunday, October 14, 2007 8:41:05 PM
There's a lot of political buzz about General Sanchez' speech, but luckily, thanks to the internet, Powerline actually has a link to the speech HERE.
Alas, most of the speech is not being reported, and even good news papers, like the WAPO report of the speech,
play down a lot of the speech, and add their own commentary (read
criticism) of the General to their article, so that the impression one
has is that the General only criticized Bush.
So what does the speech actually say? I'll number the paragraphs and summarize them.
One: That the press and military need to respect each other in a time of war.
Two:
Despite some good reporters, much of the press prefers to write
according to their own preconceived ideas. By preferring
sensationalism, you miss the real story.
Three: You've called me names in the past.
Four: You
destroy reputations of dedicated professionals just to generate
headlines, but you yourself never are made to take responsibility when
your stories are wrong.
Five: You allow people with agendas to
exaggerate things, you report sensational stories that later turn out
to be untrue, and you allow "deadline pressure" to let unchecked
stories run. All of this has damaged America's reputation and the war
effort.
Six: "According to the code of ethics for the Society of Professional Journalists:
THE BASIC ETHICS OF A JOURNALIST...CALLS FOR:
1. SEEKING TRUTH,
2. PROVIDING FAIR AND COMPREHENSIVE ACCOUNT OF EVENTS AND ISSUES
3. THOROUGHNESS AND HONESTY"
Seven: Economic competition to get headlines and political agendas have led to journalists ignoring these basic ethical laws.
Eight:
"For some of you, just like some of
our politicians, the truth is of little to no value if it does not fit
your own preconceived notions, biases and agendas. "
Nine: The enemy has many propaganda outlets, but you dismiss
official Military reports to correct this disinformation. Instead, too
many reporters are engaged in political propaganda. A free press is
necessary to democracy, but that press must be ethical.
Ten:
Who is responsible for maintaining the ethical standards of the
profession in order that our democracy does not continue to be
threatened by this dangerous shift away from your sacred duty of public
enlightenment?
Eleven: We are in a generational struggle against extremism.
Twelve: The administration has underestimated the problems of the war, and has failed to educate the public on those problems.
Thirteen:
The military cannot win a war. But the failures in the war can be
placed at the feet of the Administration, the Congress, and Federal
agencies. The Department of State is especially at fault.
Fourteen: There are a lot of incompetent people in these agencies.
Fifteen:
The Democratic leaders prefer to play politics to gain power, even if
it means that soldiers are endangered. The search for political power
is more important to them than national security.
Sixteen: We
need a national strategy that is bipartisan. Congress should start by
kicking posteriors of the incompetents in the various National Agencies who
screwed up (sorry, my words) and then get some competents to get things working.
Seventeen: Oversight of these National Agencies is one of the duties of Congress, but it wasn't done.
Eighteen: The surge will give us time to get our act together.
Nineteen: We told everyone we couldn't win the war alone, it would take civilians.
Twenty:
The National Security Councils ignored the military and followed their
own plans. The plans didn't work, so the military are screwed.(again my words).
Twentyone: You overused the military, and now the military will take ten years to recover.
Twentytwo: We'll fight, but damn it, you need to equip us better. (again, my words).
Twenty three: If we pull out of Iraq now, the Middle East will descend into chaos.
Twenty
four: The extremism that America is facing is real and very very
dangerous. Stop playing politics and get your act together.
Twenty five: Get your act together (he gives details).
Twenty
six: Something has to be done about interagency squabbling. First, get
rid of the incompetents, then get these agencies working together
instead of fighting each other.
Twentyseven: I could think of a lot of political leaders who I would like to courtmarshall for being incompetent.
Twenty
Eight: Support the troops. Stop fighting over little things like
politics are realize the fight is real, and your squabbling is hurting
us.
Twenty Nine. I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings, but if you press
guys were doing your job instead of supporting agendas, you could
pressure the nincompoops into getting their act together. (my words).
Thirty: Thank you and God Bless America.
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cross posted to BNN