Here's a little story about silliness in wartime. Specifically, silliness about operational security - "OPSEC," in military lingo.
Let's turn the clock back to last August. I arrive in Baghdad's Green Zone, and jot down a little blog post about how long and twisty the journey can be. Included in that entry was a picture of the armored "Rhino" bus which transports folks from the Camp Victory, out by Baghdad's airport, to the Green Zone, down in the city.
A few days later, I get the following e-mail:
To which I replied:
The officer in question then apologized, and we both moved on. No harm, no foul. This kind of thing happens all the time in Iraq.
Embedded reporters actually report; someone freaks out about what they read. The rules are so strict, if taken literally, just about anything
-- even pizza orders! -- can be construed as a violation. In the vast majority of cases, reasonable people come to a mutual, sensible understanding. Sometimes, they do not -- see Axe, David, circa 2006.
Anyway, I bring this all up because Christian Lowe, the guy who occupies my old chair at DefenseTech.org, is over in Iraq's Anbar province -- and catching some shit, from the OPSEC bunnies.
Christian landed an interview with the deputy commander for Marine forces in Iraq, Maj. Gen. John Allen, who told him that Marines may soon be allowed to wear less armor around Anbar, because the streets are so safe there.
In response, Christian got comments like this:
Riiiiiight. The wily enemies that U.S. forces have been battling for nearly five years are blind, apparently. Or beyond stupid. Because the only way they could tell whether a Marine was wearing a helmet or not was to read out it on the Internet. There's no way they could tell, with their own two eyes.
"Dumb people are blathering," one public affairs officer in Iraq wrote me, talking about the flak Christian is getting. Yeah, for a change.
(Photo: MCT)
