Thanks so much for this recommendation.

I'm currently reading Oriana Fallaci's superb "The Force of Reason." She also has some choice words for clueless leftists and so-called 'peace' activists. I plan to read Vincent's book when I'm finished with Fallaci's.

A peaceful Shabbat to one and all.

I love Oriana Fallaci. She should be on everyone's reading list. There are journalists with a conscience after all...

Tamara:

It's interesting, Fallaci has been labeled as a Fascist by the left in Europe because she has roundly denounced Islamofascism and supported America's toppling of Saddam's tyrannical Stalinist state.

Have a lovely and meaningful Shabbos.

Steven Vincent was a phenomenal writer. One of only a handful of Western journalists to venture out of the secure confines of the Green Zone (hence the name of his book and his still-posted blog archives), he wrote clearly and affectionately about everyday Iraqis, letting the chips fall where they would. He embodies the journalistic courage that the rest of the print media claim when, three decades late, they stand up against segregated water fountains and McCarthyism. RIP

There's a lot to learn from people like Steven Vincent. As a journalist, the most important thing is that if you want to report or comment on something, you have to BE there and really interract with your subjects. I know that sounds pretty elementary, but when you think of how much is written about Iraq, both on the front page and the editorial page, it's disheartening to know that most of it is written by people who have never been to Iraq, are in Iraq but only in the Green Zone, or only venture out briefly from there.

Even when Walter Cronkite made his famous post-Tet trip to Vietnam and declared the war unwinnable, it turns out he was only there for something like 20 hours.

Perhaps some left wingers were offended by Vincent's picture of an Iraq that was better off without Saddam.

Perhaps some right wingers were offended by Vincent's pictures of an Iraq that was still very much a mess.

But he was there. And he was there for a long time.

Irina:

Yes, there are journalists with a conscience, though they do not get the fame and the Pulitzer Prizes. But I have a feeling that history see the work of Steven Vincent, Michael Kelly, and Michael Yon as vital and true, whereas the hacks at the NY Times, who write endless articles about American prisoner abuse, will be left on the ash heap of journalistic history.

Boxer 5:

Steven Vincent also dissects the Sunni/Shia schism in full and well-observed detail. He understood that the beating heart of the dysfunctional Arab world can only be understood if you head back to the 7th century.

He also points out that nearly half of Iraqi marriages are between first and second cousins thereby strengthening the tribal ties that undercut the ability to build a modern nation state.

Steven Vincent was a brave man to venture into the Red Zone and for this he paid with his life.

Perhaps the difference between Vincent and the others is simply a question of journalistic courage. The herd, when faced with a story that might put US troops at risk (US Army malcontents out of control at Abu Ghraib--a valid, though over-reported story), jumped in with both feet, correctly citing the public's "right to know." That "right to know" became a less compelling reason when they were faced with a story that might put them, personally, at risk (the Danish Mohammed cartoons).

Journalists like Vincent (and Ernie Pyle or Joseph Galloway in earlier generations) take a path different from the herd, because they are brave enough to support a free people's right to know regardless of the personal consequences they may face. Vincent played no favorites--his only "favorite" was the truth, and the journalistic profession is poorer for his loss, whether they know it or not.

Boxer 5:

Last count, NY Times reported Abu Ghraib story 38 times. Repulsive as the episode was, this is certainly overkill. The cartoons, well, never reported properly, for the cartoons were never printed, thus the story was never really told.

Jake:

Not only was Cronkite only in Nam for a brief 20 hours, but his reading of the Tet Offensive was completely wrong. He had no idea that the Vietcong were roundly defeated in the Tet Offensive. His declaration that we lost was a complete betrayal of any and all journalistic ethics. Cronkite was and is a windbag.

How appropriate for today. Thanks to all for contributing about this brave heart and mind who happened to be named Steven Vincent.

Re: Cronkite

Why spend the money and the time to put your anchor or star reporter actually in the middle of the story when you can just put him in there for a day and let him editorialize?

The above scenario is called "big footing" in that the anchor star puts his big foot where some hard-working reporters have been and takes over.

Almost all TV news is big-footing now... beat reporting is dead except at ESPN and CNBC... and surprise! ESPN and CNBC happen to be the best examples of TV journalism.

You don't have to be a passionate Conservative or a Liberal to see that non-expert journalism ain't worth the paper its printed on. Let's stop reading it.

Jake's Gone Wild!

I find Tet even scarier than you do, Robert. On the ground, Tet was a huge victory for the US--it destroyed the Viet Cong, forcing the North Vietnamese to abandon all pretense that the armed opposition to democratic rule in the South was a home grown affair. When Saigon fell, it fell to the conventional North Vietnamese Army, not a ragtag peasants "people's army."

But we DID actually lose Tet, despite our successes. The only Clausewitz quote most folks remember is that war is a continuation of politics by other means. As you point out, our battlefield victory was misread in the US, largely thanks to reports like Cronkite's, and was turned into a Clausewitzian strategic defeat. Beautiful strategic ju-jitsu on the part of our enemies, and it ultimately resulted in millions of the people we went to Vietnam to help being sent to re-education camps or dying in the wave of boat people who fled the country after South Vietnam fell.

I hope we have learned our lesson. It would be insanity to allow it to happen twice. Amen to Jake's shot against non-expert journalism!

Boxer5:

I have always felt that Cronkite's disgraceful performance should have earned him a trial for sedition. Obviously, this could never happen, but he was the Communist's best friend, even more useful that that useful idiot Jane Fonda, and he has never paid for his betrayal. In fact, he has only been enshrined by his even more clueless collegues.

Yes, Jake knows what he's talking about. And I believe that Americans are more and more getting their news from the internet because instinctively they realize that the mainstream media's herd mentality results in stories that are far from the shores of truth.

"He also points out that nearly half of Iraqi marriages are between first and second cousins thereby strengthening the tribal ties that undercut the ability to build a modern nation state."

That's true, but it is also true that most Iraqis have relatives in the other tribes and many are intermarried Sunni/Shia.

Steve was my best friend. Thank you for remember him, his courage and his insight.

The festival of freedom is an appropriate time to think of Steve. He was a passionate defender of freedom for all.

Jonathan:

You're very welcome. We can only remember a great man and writer. I wish that I could have met him.