I was listening to the Doug Wright show on KSL radio from Salt Lake City yesterday, and he was veritably salivating over the fact that British Prince Harry’s specific whereabouts in Afghanistan have been revealed, making him a security risk for the British military there.
Harry was not allowed by the British crown to serve in Iraq for the very reason that the specifics of his service would be divulged to the world. Then it was agreed by the British press that—for operational security—it would not be revealed that Prince Harry was actually in Afghanistan. The Brits kept their end of the bargain. It was a foreign source—perhaps Australian, but begun in the US very likely by the Drudge Report—that couldn’t keep the secret. It would have been better had it simply been a summer lightning strike in the western United States. It wouldn't have spread nearly so fast.
But no matter—right? We'd like to think that, wouldn't we? That’s the way it appears now after Prince Harry has been the leading headline of nearly every news program today. This is the stuff of grand American pulp media, nearly as important to them as the whereabouts and events surrounding Britney Spears.
What bothers me the most about this whole affair is how disingenuous many American media hounds seem to be as they chastise Drudge (or whoever it was) for revealing sensitive British military information—while appearing secretly jubilant that they have some salacious new material to trumpet ad nauseam. Hurray! We'd didn't reveal anything, but since you mentioned it...!
I don’t read the Drudge report. I didn’t find out about the security breach until I listened to KSL radio.
Most members of the Taliban don’t read the Drudge report, either. But they read the New York Times, and they watch CNN and Fox News. Now nearly everyone in the world knows where Prince Harry is. Thanks America!
Most members of the American media cannot resist a ‘sexy’ story. That’s because they’re information whores.
Are we, the consumers, whores too?
Unfortunately, yes, We are whores. At least too many of us. That is why the world thinks of us as bigots.
ReplyDeleteEverybody is probably thinking, what's the big deal--after all it got Harry back to England...?
ReplyDeleteThe problem is our integrity.
I hope this doesn't get the Brits thinking that if America can't keep it a secret they'll just let us go it alone in Afghanistan, too.