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Stolen from Mustang Bobby.

1. Grab the nearest book.
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the text of the sentence in your journal along with these instructions.
5. Don’t search around and look for the “coolest” book you can find. Do what’s actually next to you.

“I am impressed, Private,” said Jackrum.

Monstrous Regiment by Terry Pratchett, HarperCollins Publishers, Inc. © 2003

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Leah at Corrente has an extended post, Have You Heard The One About Eason Jordan?, that provides you with all that is currently known about the incident that was the proximate cause of his resignation.

If you have an interest in reporting, especially war reporting, you should take the time to read it. It is long for a blog post but it covers all of the basic information on the Davos incident.

I read it as a former intelligence analyst and criminal investigator and it confirms something I have long held: eyewitness testimony is worthless. I see no reason to believe that anyone was lying or distorting what they heard, but the limiting context of what Mr. Jordan was saying was lost in the firestorm that followed his comments.

From the post I learned that Congressman Barney Frank said that many journalists were “collateral damage” in the Iraq war, and Mr. Jordan corrected him, saying that up to ten journalists were not “collateral damage”, but were targeted by the military. Mr. Jordan was right, but it is a distinction that most do not understand.

“Collateral damage” means that those killed were not the “targets” of those who fired the weapons, i.e. they were hit by ricochets, were too close to explosions, etc. These are people who were at the wrong place, at the wrong time.

There is a whole different class of deaths: those who were the target of those who fired the weapons, but shouldn’t have been. These are people who mistaken for “the enemy”, but weren’t.

Jordan talked about journalists, but most would be more familiar with the picture of a little girl, covered with the blood of her parents, crying. Her father didn’t stop when US troops wanted him to, and the family car was riddled with “targeted” gunfire. The troops assumed that the car was a threat. The troops didn’t intend to kill the parents of that little girl; they intended to kill the “enemy” driving the car.

I do have some advice for journalists: in a war zone, don’t point cylinders, like large camera lenses, at nervous troops. Troops who are worried about being blown up by RPGs react very badly to people carrying large cylinders. The difference between a television camera on someone’s shoulder and an RPG launcher on the same shoulder is not that great to a jumpy soldier.

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The CBC had this item on moves to stop the US Food & Drug Administration from banning a class of pain drugs: Keep arthritis drugs on market, U.S. regulator told.

Dr. Christopher Grubb told the FDA panel that COX-2 inhibitors need to be kept on the market despite potentially dangerous side effects because troops overseas would suffer without them.

“Consider our military in this particular drug decision,” Grubb said, adding that troops use COX-2 drugs because traditional pain relievers such as aspirin have been linked to excess bleeding.

Without them, the United States wouldn’t be able to have as many troops on the battlefield, he said.

“Coxhibs are essential in the global war on terrorism.”

Well, the FDA went along and will not ban the drugs at this time, but if the military would expand the regular forces and stop shipping old fogies like me to war zones, arthritis drugs wouldn’t be necessary for battlefield effectiveness.

Where’s the call for armor for walkers? Are they drafting combat geriatric medics? Do people understand how pathetic this makes the US military look?

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Friday Cat Blogging [^TM Kevin Drum]

Don’t make any sudden moves.

[Edit: Pictures are terrible, but this is the second most senior female and the number 1 rat killer. Her name is based on the white diamond on her forehead.]

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