Embedded Spookism

Just what is ‘embedded’ journalism?

There’s a lot on the tv news about it in Iraq, about these supposedly new ‘embedded’ journalists, the ones that travel with the regiment, sleep, drink and socialise with the troops and see things from the troops’ very own point of view. What sort of journalism is that? You might as well embed Mike Riley, the referee, in the Man Utd dressing room. (Is he the one who always give Man U a penalty?).

It all reminds me of World War One and the atrocity myth propaganda. You had people like Arthur Machen, the English horror writer, coming up with fantasies like the Angel of Mons to assure the troops that God was on their side. You also had Charteris and the GHQ intelligence people whipping up loads of anti-German propaganda. You also had embedded journalists – in fact there were no other kinds, I imagine, only they hadn’t invented that jargon then. What about the bloke who filmed the Hawthorn Ridge explosion? So what if he was in the army.

The main thing is that their job was to create myths and spooks, both to dupe the Germans and to whip up support at home. The other side probably did the same, too. You had the Edith Cavell atrocity (true, although she may have been a spy), the German corpse factory in Belgium myth, and the Canadian soldier crucifixion story. It's all happening again in Iraq.

First, you had the WMD, 45 minute, London-destroyed fantasy (who wrote that!?). Then you had the bin laden-Saddam Hussein world bogeymen myth. Then you had the Zarqawi, Beast of Fallujah stuff. There's no knowing what's true and what isn't, just like the Private Jessica Lynch stuff. One thing that is true is that war is the mother's milk of propaganda.

Ninety years ago, there was no television, no radio and no internet. In fact, there were only newspapers, post and telegrams. (Unless you include carrier pigeon). That's why you needed more embeddng back then than now. How many British newspapers in 1916 had a correspondent in, say, Berlin, Vienna or Constantinople? Probably none; they were all either at home or embedded in the British forces, I imagine, spewing out propaganda about how Tommy Atkins could do with some more corned beef and Woodbines but overall loved it.

The only other reasons for embedding are acquiescence and support. And there is one person who was more embedded than the general managers of Courts and MFI bed departments combined.

T E Lawrence (of Arabia) was embedded, in the truest sense of the word. He was so embedded, literally, that his bed was the floor of a tent in the Arabian desert; you can't get much more embedded than that. But he was also embedded in the emotional and psychological sense, having a true empathy for the people of the desert. That is the essence of embedment. Although he was a British officer, he dressed like Osama bin laden and travelled by camel. We've all seen the pictures and the film; we all know the myth.

Okay, he was also - by modern, American definition - a terrorist, and an Arab one at that. He helped end Turkish rule in the Middle East, some say singled-handedly; you could say that he was an early Zarqawi, although in those days (at least until the end of World War One) the Arabs were the West's friends. Then oil reared its ugly head. If there weren't so much of it embedded in those lands there would be no trouble there now.

But... the internet is to embedded journalism what samizdat was to the Soviet Union, only magnified a million times and without the secrecy. There are some interesting 'bloggers' out there, many reporting from the frontline, whether you believe them or not. Some are pro-Coalition, others against; you can take whatever you want. (I would recommend the Riverbend blogger, from Baghdad).

Kevin Sites has a fantastic blog; he is the embedded journalist, travelling with US marines on the ground, recently censured for his film of the marine executing the immobile insurgent in the mosque in Fallujah. The Sites /NBC controversy is an example of what happens when embedded starts to become uncensored and independent. Indeed, Sites has unintentionally become an anti-war subversive and cause celebre merely by releasing his footage.

Although Sites sees himself as rigidly neutral, it is worth noting that his pictures in no way convey the enormity of the events in Fallujah. Possibly, they serve as useful, pro-US propaganda, with marines dutifully on patrol, betraying no savagery whatsoever, simply moving around like policemen. You never see someone shot dead and there are no piles of dead bodies. There is simply no blood and gore, the inevitable reality of a city-wide assault.

The anti-dote to Sites is the controversial Fallujah in Pictures blog; for pure realism, it is like comparing The Longest Day with Saving Private Ryan. Or, dare I say it, Leni Riefenstahl with direct cinema. Also, the Fallujah blog is a collection of pictures from many sources, whereas the Sites blog is just his pictures; one person cannot be everywhere at once and only has a limited exposure, the whole point of the embedded journalist.

That’s why you can’t entirely believe this Zarqawi beast stuff. Alright, there are videos of people beheading hostages (what do you prefer, beheading or blown to bits by a 500kg bomb?) but they're all hooded and it could be anyone. It could be you!

This Zarqawi bloke might well be a phantom, just like bin Laden. Zarqawi is the new Prussian Butcher, the beast in the painting by Edmund J Sullivan in World War One who is about to behead the actual Angel of Mons! Come to think of it, where is the Angel of Mons in Fallujah?



The Angel of Mons:
http://www.forteantimes.com/articles/170_angelofmons.shtml

Another Angel of Mons website:
http://www.worldwar1.com/heritage/angel.htm

The Baghdad Burning, Riverbend blogger:
http://riverbendblog.blogspot.com/

A Family in Baghdad blog site:
http://afamilyinbaghdad.blogspot.com/

Kevin Sites blog site (the American journalist embedded in US Army; filmed the notorious marine executing the insurgent). His article, Open Letter to the Devil Dogs of 3.1, Sunday 21 November 2004, explains the events surrounding the mosque 'execution':
http://www.kevinsites.net/

Fallujah Pictures (a sort of opposite view from the photos by Kevin Sites):
http://fallujapictures.blogspot.com/