Author Says Vietnam Still Influences Media Coverage of War

Although the U.S. military has largely worked through the lessons of the Vietnam war, the "ghosts of Vietnam" still hang over the media and influence war reporting, USA Today senior military reporter Jim Michaels said July 12

Michaels, author of "A Chance in Hell; The Men Who Triumphed Over Iraq's Deadliest City and Turned the Tide of War," described a time lag of about six months between some important developments in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and their emergence and recognition in the media. He noted that over 100 years ago the story of Custer at the Little Big Horn got to the American people faster than some important stories from Iraq and Afghanistan today.

A veteran of more than 20 reporting trips to Iraq and Afghanistan, Michael interviewed over 100 people for his book, including Gen. David Petraeus, infantry soldiers and Iraqi tribal chiefs.

His book describes how the unlikely partnership between an unconventional U.S. armored brigade commander and a low-level Sunni sheikh created what some have called the turning point in the Iraq war, equivalent in impact to the Battle of Midway in World War II.

-- John Clark, [email protected]