The Fifth Column

One of the categories I regularly file my screeds is under The Fifth Column, a term which is defined by Britannica thusly:

"...(a) clandestine group or faction of subversive agents who attempt to undermine a nation's solidarity by any means at their disposal. The term is credited to Emilio Mola Vidal, a Nationalist general during the Spanish Civil War (1936–39). As four of his army columns moved on Madrid, the general referred to his militant supporters within the capital as his "fifth column,"

Chiefly illustrative of the "Fifth Column" in this nation is our mainstream media, and their one-sided reporting of what is going on in Iraq and elsewhere. Unlike stellar WWII journalists Ernie Pyle and the Walter Winchill, who in years past fully understood the term, "loose lips sink ships," the media of today wield the awesome powers endowed them by the Constitution like a slobbering drunk meandering his way from whorehouse to whorehouse. Completely missing today in their equation of First Amendment powers is an accompanying ethos to utilize those powers responsibly.

In their quest to promote an agenda, or even merely to give the appearance of objectivity, these useful idiots are either wittingly or unwittingly duped into playing into the hands of our bloodthirsty enemies (remember--those guys who want to murder as many of us as they can??); the very enemies that at this very moment have our American sons and daughters in their crosshairs.

I would hope and pray that these morons have a clue that their printed and spoken words have the very real capacity to entail deadly consequences, but I'm not so sure they give a rip.

An email from Chief Warrant Officer Jim Funk says it all:

...You inspire and report the enemy's objective every day. You are the enemy's greatest weapon. The enemy cannot beat us on the battlefield so all he does is try to wreak enough havoc and have you report it every day. With you and the enemy using each other, you continually break the will of the American public and American government.

"We go out daily and bust and kill the enemy, uncover and destroy huge weapons caches and continue to establish infrastructure. So daily we put a whoopin on the enemy, but all the enemy has to do is turn on the TV and get re-inspired. He gets to see his daily roadside bomb, truck bomb, suicide bomber or mortar attack. He doesn't see any accomplishments of the U.S. military (FOX, you're not exempt, you suck also).

"Let's give you an example. A couple of days ago we conducted an air assault. We lifted troops into an area for an operation. The operation went well and our ground troops killed (insurgents) and took several prisoners, freed a few hostages and uncovered a weapons cache containing munitions and chemicals that were going to be used in improvised bombs.

"The next morning I woke up and turned on AFN (Armed Forces Network) and watched the nightly news (NBC). Nothing, none of that reported. But the daily car bomb report was reported, and the file footage was not even from the event. There was a car bomb in the Sadr City area and your news report showed old car bomb footage from another part of town from some other time.

"So we really set the enemy back that night but all the enemy had to do was turn on the news and be reassured that the enemy's agenda (objective) was still going to be fed to the American public.

"We, the soldiers, keep breaking the back of the enemy. You, the media, keep rejuvenating the enemy.

"How hard would it be to contact the PAO (public affairs officer) of the 1st CAV, 36th CAB, 25th ID or the Marines and ask what did you guys accomplish today - good and bad? How about some insurgent blooper videos? Now that would be something to show on the evening news.

"Media, we know you hate the George Bush administration, but report both sides, not just your one-sided agenda. You have got to realize how you are continually motivating every extremist, jihadist and terrorist to continue their resolve to kill American soldiers.

Big tip o' the hat to Brutally Honest.