Grumpy Editor

Finally, national museum in works to salute U.S. Army

While media have been rather quiet on the noteworthy and much overdue project, it took Hollywood actor Joe Mantegna, in an op-ed piece in Saturday’s Wall Street Journal, to spotlight the planned National Museum of the United States Army, notes Grumpy Editor. 

That should be welcome news for the millions who served in Army uniforms since World War II. 

Mantegna, who stars in “Criminal Minds” on CBS, is the national spokesman for the campaign to build the museum. 

In his WSJ piece, he points out, “Our nation has constructed a national museum for each of our military services except the Army, America’s oldest and largest service.” 

He cites, “Fourteen generations of Americans have served in the U.S. Army since 1775.  Thirty million men and women have proudly worn its uniform, Americans need to build a place where they may honor this long tradition of service.” 

Plans are under way to build a state-of-the-art facility on 40 acres on the grounds of Fort Belvoir, Va., about a half hour drive south of Washington, D.C.  

Main building will be about 175,000 square feet and display selections from among the 15,000 pieces in the Army Art Collection and 30,000 artifacts, documents and images.  Nearby will be a park with memorial garden and parade ground. 

The U.S. project is several decades behind Great Britain’s National Army Museum.  Initial building there opened in 1971.  Current facility in central London includes five floors of exhibits. 

With the U.S. version now in the works, Mantegna reminds, “Without a National Army Museum, our nation risks forgetting real-life stories more profound and inspiring than anything Hollywood could dream.”

Editors avoid prompt ID of U.S. soldiers killed by Afghans

Many editors seem to be going along in “censoring” deaths of U.S. military personnel in Afghanistan by relaying identification terms disseminated in that country such as “international allies,” “international troops” or “coalition service members,” notes Grumpy Editor. 

This leads to a headline, over a short story, such as this (from a U.S. newspaper yesterday) that lessens the impact: 

Afghan soldier turns weapon on international troops, kills 2 

Rather than: 

Uniformed Afghan turns weapon on, kills 2 U.S. soldiers 

However, broadcast networks such as NBC, CNN and Fox News quickly identified the shooting casualties in Afghanistan as U.S. soldiers. 

Holding back prompt identification, an Associated Press dispatch on Monday’s incident reported “An Afghan soldier turned his weapon on international allies...killing two soldiers." 

NBC News, for example, promptly pinpointed identification of the uniformed targets, citing, “The shooting deaths of two American soldiers in Kabul by an Afghan colleague are under investigation…” 

So far this month, at least 10 American soldiers have been killed by so-called insider attacks by Afghans. 

U.S. Marine Gen. John Allen, chief of NATO-led International Security Assistance Force, last week said about one fourth of such attacks are carried out by Taliban infiltrators. 

The latest deaths came after last week’s visit to Kabul by U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Martin Dempsey who talked about rogue shootings and urged Afghan officials to take tougher preventative action.

U.S. buys Russian helicopters for Afghanistan’s air force

Despite cries for more U.S. jobs, one of the strangest deals has American taxpayers footing the bill for almost two dozen Russian-built helicopters for use by the Afghanistan air force, notes Grumpy Editor. 

Other than Bloomberg News three months ago and this week’s issue of Bloomberg Businessweek, little has been reported by U.S. media about the unusual transaction.

Newspaper editorial page writers should get somewhat excited over this, especially during the summer doldrums.  

Bloomberg Businessweek writers Danielle Ivory and Kathleen Miller point out, “Since May 2011, the Pentagon has paid Rosoboronexport $411 million for 21 Mi-17 helicopters.” 

Rosoboronexport is the state-run arms trader that Congress says is arming Syria. 

Kazan Helicopter manufactures the medium twin-turbine transport at two Russian plants. 

The Bloomberg Businessweek writers also reveal the “Pentagon didn’t solicit bids from any other company for the helicopters.” They add that Sen. John Cornyn (R., Texas) --- leading 17 U.S. senators seeking to cancel the deal --- says the no-bid order “seems just plain stupid.” 

Back on May 8, Bloomberg News writers Tony Capaccio and David Lerman reported, "The Pentagon says it’s in a bind, with nowhere to turn for helicopters needed by Afghanistan’s air force except Russia."

The Mi-17 choppers, they added, "include full Western avionics, navigation, communications and situation-awareness capability.” 

Cost of the 21 helicopters three months ago was pegged at $375 million.  That’s $36 million below the price tag noted this month. 

What’s noteworthy about this close to half a billion dollar Pentagon-spurred deal that benefits Russia is that talk in Washington includes deep cuts in the defense budget --- for the U.S.

 

Obama talks to VFW about jobs for veterans, but…

Rather than presenting a solid plan with a pathway to job creations for veterans, President Barack Obama told a Veterans of Foreign Wars convention in Reno Monday that “we’re going to set up a kind of reverse boot camp,” notes Grumpy Editor. 

Although job-searching veterans already possess a specialty from military service, the president proposed still more training plus education and advice for starting a business. 

“Our American veterans have the skills America needs,” he proclaimed.  “So today, our economy is growing and creating jobs, but it’s still too hard for too many folks to find work, especially our younger veterans, our veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan.” 

Indeed, with the jobless rate in June for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans at 9.5 percent, the president’s rhetoric sounded uplifting.  Yet, not many eyebrows were raised by media. 

Obama also informed the VFW that he signed a veterans “skills to jobs” act that requires federal agencies to look at relevant military training when approving applicants for federal licenses and certificates. 

“We’ve got to put those folks back to work,” he declared. 

Not mentioned was a retraining program for veterans announced two months ago.  Called the Veteran Retraining Assistance Program, it allows qualifying veterans to receive up to a year of education assistance. 

But that won’t do much good for the many veterans in their twenties and early thirties. 

To qualify for VRAP, veterans must be between 35 and 60 years old and unemployed.

 

Puzzling AP story cites Romney’s ‘military background’

A lengthy Associated Press story that noted Mitt Romney’s “military background is facing new scrutiny as he courts veterans and makes his case to be commander in chief” is puzzling, notes Grumpy Editor, because the Republican presidential candidate, as with President Barack Obama, never served in the military. 

One newspaper, for example, picked up the military angle (when there wasn’t one) yesterday with this headline over a hefty half-page spread: 

Romney’s military

past under scrutiny

That should be news to Romney since he never wore a military uniform. 

Steve Peoples, AP’s national political reporter, mentioned Romney “avoided military service at the height of the (Vietnam War) fighting after high school by seeking and receiving four draft deferments.” 

Nothing unusual there. 

As accorded to others at the time, deferments stemmed from attending college and later as “a minister of religion or divinity student” while Romney was in France working as a Mormon missionary. 

Near the end of the AP piece, Peoples wrote, “Some veterans say Romney’s reluctance to serve irks them,” then ran a quote from  someone who served in Vietnam who said, “I volunteered for the draft.” 

But no one volunteers for the draft.  

A draft, if  held today, would continue to use a lottery to determine order of call. 

While the U.S. military has been all volunteer since the discontinuance of mandatory conscription in 1973, young men 18 through 25 still are required to sign up with the Selective Service System --- just in case the draft resurfaces.

 

Ex-ABC News chief still defends 9/11 ‘no flag pin’ policy

Former ABC News president David Westin, in making the media rounds to plug his book, Exit Interview, revived the controversy on his post 9/11 decision that his network’s journalists not wear American flag pins in lapels, observes Grumpy Editor. 

Appearing Sunday on CNN’s Reliable Sources --- a day prior to Memorial Day --- Westin still defended his 2001 no-flag-pin declaration. 

Other networks, broadcast and cable, have had no problem with journalists wearing flag pins. 

CNN host Howard Kurtz asked Westin about his thinking on the issue. 

Westin, who left ABC News in December, 2010, explained that “we'd long had a policy at ABC News that we wouldn't let people wear any lapel pins of any sort, the theory being when you're reporting the news, you should be reporting the news, not taking a position. 

“And I said quickly, 'We're going to stick with our policy and stand by that.'  And I believe to this day that was the right decision.”

With his frowning on U.S. flag pins, don't look for Westin to be welcomed at any American Legion or Veterans of Foreign Wars gatherings any time soon.

 

Memorial Day remembers fallen American troops

Today’s Memorial Day observance means more than backyard barbecues and store sales, reminds Grumpy Editor who is taking the day off.

Originally called Decoration Day, many people observe Memorial Day by visiting memorials and especially Veterans Administration national cemeteries where commemorative events honor American men and women who died in service during wartime periods.

 

Poll: Public ranks ‘high confidence’ in press near bottom

The press still has much work to do in elevating its near bottom “confidence” ranking with the American public, notes Grumpy Editor after reviewing a new Harris Poll. 

Utilizing its Harris Confidence Index, the poll --- of those saying “a great deal of confidence” --- gives the press an 11. 

That ranks slightly above Wall Street, with a 7, and Congress, at the bottom, with 6. 

Highest press ranking in the past decade: 16 in 2002. 

Television news, meanwhile, gets 17 in the poll conducted by Harris Interactive between April 9 and 17.  That rank compares with a high of 24, also in 2002. 

So which institutions rank highest in the latest poll of 2,060 adults? 

The military tops the list with 55. 

Small business follows with 50. 

These are well ahead of third-place medicine with 34.

 

L.A. Times defies military with GIs, dead bombers photos

Grumpy Editor notes after the Defense Department asked the Los Angeles Times NOT to run the images, the newspaper goes ahead and publishes two photos showing American troops, members of the 82^nd Airborne Division, posing with the remains of suicide bombers in Afghanistan in February, 2010.

Then in a follow-up story last Wednesday, the L.A. Times --- without blushing --- explains: “The Pentagon, the White House and top commanders and diplomats in Afghanistan have condemned the action by the soldiers and have launched investigations.”

Condemning action by the soldiers?

Some folks say publishing the pictures is another anti-military step by major media to trash U.S. troops --- even to incite violence against U.S. military personnel.

One can imagine how the L.A. Times, with some current staffers, would have handled advance hush-hush preparations, including activities of the same 82^nd Airborne Division --- with absolutely no leaks by media to warn the enemy --- for D-Day in World War II.

The L.A. Times says it “acquired 18 gruesome images” showing Army soldiers with dead suicide bombers and decided to run two shots.

L.A. Times reporter David Zucchino declares he “verified the authenticity of the photos through interviews with the soldier who provided the photos, with Pentagon officials and with commanders from the unit.”

That was followed by L.A. Times editor Davan Maharaj stating: “After careful consideration, we decided that publishing a small but representative selection of the photos would fulfill our obligation to readers to report vigorously and impartially on all aspects of the American mission in Afghanistan, including the allegation that the images reflect a breakdown in unit discipline that was endangering U.S. troops.”

Some subscribers may raise eyebrows with the phrase “our obligation to readers to report vigorously and impartially.” 

 

U.S. pays $50,000 each for Afghans killed March 11

Many newspapers yesterday reported the U.S. promptly paid $50,000 in compensation to relatives for each of 17 Afghans killed two weeks earlier in a shooting rampage said to be carried out by an American soldier, observes Grumpy Editor. 

The unusually large payout may have buzzed over the heads of most editors, accustomed to U.S. life insurance policies. 

But in Afghanistan that amount turned out to be a whopping number.

Average annual income there is equal to about $425. 

That means each $50,000 payment corresponds to 118 years worth of average annual income in Afghanistan, based on current figures. 

The Wall Street Journal reported one farmer lost 11 family members in the shootings. 

“Such payments are customary in Afghan culture when a wrong like this is done," The Journal quoted a U.S. official. 

The U.S. also paid $11,000 for every injured villager in the March 11 incident. 

Also paying family members was the Afghan government.  But the amount was much smaller: $2,000 for each person killed and $1,000 for each injured. 

An Associated Press story on the compensation mentioned, “The families were told the money came from President Barack Obama.”

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Money woes put U.S. military families in bind 

Meanwhile, on the same day the unusually high Afghan payouts were reported, an Associated Press story told how money woes have been hitting U.S. military members and families. 

It pointed out financial struggles stemmed from multiple deployments, frequent relocations, mounting credit card debt, strain in paying bills and difficulty spouses have in getting and keeping jobs. 

“The stress factors with the families is just unbelievable,” AP quoted Roger J. Mealey, a Vietnam veteran who runs a website to aid struggling military families.