Grumpy Editor

'Loose lips' in Washington tip off battle plan for Iraq

 

With last Thursday’s Washington tip-off-to-the-bad-guys release of an upcoming U.S. battle plan to regain control of Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city, Grumpy Editor recalls the heavily-guarded secret leading up to the massive invasion of Normandy --- D-Day --- on June 6, 1944 without one word leaking out, even via media.

“Loose lips sink ships,” was a top wartime phrase at the time.

Led by Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, the giant military undertaking --- on the road to victory in Europe in World War II --- involved transporting 150,000 soldiers plus weapons, tanks and other equipment on more than 6,900 naval vessels, including 1,200 warships 100 miles across the English Channel to French beaches.  Hundreds of aircraft were involved transporting parachute regiments and dropping bombs.

So today’s military veterans and others were surprised to learn “a senior military official” outline a broad plan at a Washington news briefing that up to 25,000 U.S.-trained Iraq and Kurdish forces were preparing to launch an assault to retake Mosul in April or May.

Five Iraqi brigades as the main attack force also was mentioned along with a reserve force of three Iraqi brigades plus three brigades of Kurdish Peshmerga fighters on the north and west.

Retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Tom McInerney, appearing on Fox News, said revealing potential plans to regain control of Mosul is “absolutely bewildering. We are aiding and abetting the enemy."   

Washington’s thinking on this:  Telegraphing details of the upcoming battle serves to weaken the resolve of Islamic fighters by indicating the military force they will face.

The Islamic fighters now have two or three months to gear up for the battle.

 

FYI, IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE EDITORS MISSED THESE…

Snow in Las Vegas?  Residents on the west side of Sin City woke up today to about three inches of snow on the ground.  Unlike Washington, no government offices were shuttered.  That compared with a storm, leaving 4.7 inches of snow, that closed government offices in Washington on Tuesday, giving federal workers four straight days off including President’s Day.  But Tuesday turned out to be clear under a bright blue sky…Meanwhile, frigid weather in the East resulted in most of Niagara Falls being frozen over --- and a temporary halt to mention of global warming/climate change…Some newspapers over the weekend tired of running photos of U.S. cities under snow.  So they jumped on a Reuters photo of a man sketching a large heart in the snow --- in far-off Amman, Jordan.  It was from a storm that hit the Middle East, bringing 10 inches of snow in Jerusalem…A half-day story?  The New York Daily News was one of a few news outlets (along with Britain’s BBC) to report ISIS burned 45 people to death in the western Iraqi town of al-Baghdadi, according to the police chief .  Silence after that…Gotta watch those Tea Party folks.  The Washington Times reported a new Department of Homeland Security intelligence assessment circulated this month focuses on the threat of right-wing sovereign citizen extremist groups in the U.S., adding that “some law enforcement groups say the threat is equal to, and occasionally greater than, the threat from Islamic extremist groups"…With more journalists looking for jobs, as newsroom staffs dwindle, the Los Angeles Times hired an illegal immigrant writer to create a section of its web site devoted to race, immigration and multiculturalism…State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki, who has raised some Washington reporters’ eyebrows, was named White House communications director…In another Gannett Co. newsroom reshuffling, The Courier-Journal, Louisville, said the newspaper's reporters must apply for new positions to “revamp” coverage and ultimately put fewer resources into production…Smart move?  As their plan to “counterbalance” a drop in viewership, cable TV executives --- in seeking more advertising dollars --- came up with compression technology (speeding up fare such as movies) that allows squeezing in additional commercials --- which should send more viewers elsewhere.

Gearing up for a media tour is bouncy Miss P, from Vancouver, British Columbia.  A sexy newly-discovered Hollywood babe?  Nope.  Miss P is a beagle that won the Best in Show award at the 139^th Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show in New York.

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Obama team alters ‘counter-terrorism operation’ to war

There was some reluctance by some in Washington late last week to use the word “war,” even after President Barack Obama in a prime-time TV address to the nation said he is authorizing the expansion of a bombing campaign in Iraq and start of air strikes in Syria to “degrade and ultimately destroy” Islamist militants, notes Grumpy Editor.

Originally, the White House and Secretary of State John Kerry termed the action a "counter-terrorism operation." 

Then, perhaps, someone looked up the “war” definition in a dictionary:  a conflict carried on by force of arms, as between nations or between parties within a nation; warfare, as by land, sea, or air.

Later, spokespersons at both the State Department and Pentagon mentioned “we are at war" with ISIL (the Islamic State term favored by the Obama administration but also known as ISIS). 

In his speech, the president raised eyebrows by declaring “ISIL is not Islamic.”  

CNN, for example, noted, the four-letter term “could still come back to haunt him,” adding, “critics on Twitter quickly fired off on the president for making the assertion, with many noting that ISIL in fact stands for the ‘Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.’ (CNN refers to the group by the acronym ISIS in its news reports. The group recently started calling itself the Islamic State).” 

While TV viewers felt the president was facing only a camera crew, Bloomberg reporter Angela Greiling Keane revealed about two dozen people were in the White House foyer. 

That included a media pool about 20 feet from the president along with one news photographer and two official White House photographers (with cameras silent), White House staffers handling video, audio and lighting plus Secret Service agents and press secretary Josh Earnest.

Keane mentioned the five on-scene reporters were told to leave electronics and personal effects behind, not make any noise and “don’t let your pens hit the marble floor in the cavernous hall where the slightest noise was sure to echo.”

 

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE…

Just in time:  After the president’s prime-time speech Wednesday, former White House press secretary Jay Carney, debuted as a CNN political commentator…Good PR move: Not sleepy like some other major financial institutions, U.S. Bank, alert to boosting future business, within hours of Thursday's Nevada legislature-approval of a Tesla Motors $5 billion gigafactory employing 6,500 workers to produce batteries for its electric cars, mounted a large exterior “TESLA Welcome to Nevada” banner on a building in Reno near Tesla’s plant location....Network radio news over the weekend again failed to pinpoint location of a growing wildfire in Southern California, reporting that it was “near Cleveland National Forest.”  That’s close, but no cigar.  Cleveland National Forest spans 720 square miles in three counties.  More precise:  near Silverado, 15 miles east of Santa Ana.  The community, now with some new homes, was founded in 1878...Heavy drinkers:  Britain’s The Guardian reported “journalists are coffee addicts, drinking more cups a day than any other group of professionals,” based on a survey of 10,000 people…Sluggish action:  Eighteen days after a 6.0-magnitude earthquake shook Napa, Calif., President Obama on Thursday declared the area a major disaster site, unlocking federal funds for recovery efforts.  The Aug. 24 quake resulted in one fatality, about 280 injuries, devastated more than 100 wineries and damaged at least 1,000 buildings…PR gimmick to grab attention?   A hedge fund investor, in a 300-page report on what’s wrong with the Olive Garden chain, suggested the Italian-flavored restaurants were being reckless in providing unlimited breadsticks…Cutbacks loom, then hiring.  In another restructuring move among its coast-to-coast newspapers, Gannett Co. was focusing on the 241-person newsroom at The Arizona Republic, Phoenix. New job titles will be posted and existing staffers --- just like new applicants --- will apply for the positions.  Early indications pointed to a staff reduction of about a dozen.

Heard Friday on Real Time with Bill Maher: former House speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), looking ahead to the November elections, warned, “Civilization as we know it today would be in jeopardy if the Republicans win the Senate.”