In Michael S. Sweeney's "Secrets of Victory", a review at: http://uncpress.unc.edu/chapters/sweeney_secrets.html , he accurately states, "Voluntary domestic censorship was one of the shared sacrifices of war for American journalists. On one hand, World War II was perhaps the most newsworthy event of the century, offering opportunities for lucrative and significant "scoops." On the other hand, no nation can fight a modern war by refusing to exercise some control of information. Journalists who wrote or broadcast stories about wartime secrets would, in effect, be handing the enemy a weapon. To prevent the disclosure of sensitive information during wartime requires a restraint that is distasteful to democracies; but if successful, such censorship can become what one memoir of World War II describes as a "weapon of silence." The dynamic question of the war for American journalists was whether they would agree to restrain themselves or report some of the biggest stories of their careers."
Haven't we learned that the very definition of terrorism dictates that acts of terror are only of value to terrorists if a resultant fear and terror attributed to those acts is transmitted to the intended vulnerable target; our home front?
(Definition: "Terrorists mean to frighten and thereby intimidate a wider audience such as an entire country and its political leadership." (Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia. All Rights Reserved.))
The unfettered US media, not only aids and abets the terrorists' essential tactic of dissemination of fear and terror, but has vigorously assumed that entire critical duty for the enemy.
Sadly, neither the academics, the press, the Congress nor the DOD appear to fathom the totally new type of defense that will be required to defeat psychological warfare (terrorism).
A High School student who watches the news just might.
Armond "Si" Simmons
Pell City, AL 35128104 Wadsworth Lane 205 338 7378
