Reporters' New Battlefield Access Has Its Risks and Rewards. The decision to allow journalists to accompany military units has produced suggestions that the media have become a part of the so-called coalition forces. By David Carr. [New York Times: National]

Some critics have suggested that it has been difficult to tell journalists and military personnel apart.

"I am discouraged by reporters' willingness to swallow most of what is being told to them," said Todd Gitlin, a professor of journalism and sociology at Columbia University. "How can they keep referring to `coalition forces' as if there were actually some sort of coalition?"

...

An air of collaboration can hang over almost every activity. Greg Kelly of Fox News, a Marine veteran turned reporter, is traveling with the Second Brigade as well.

"We absolutely want our unit to be successful," he said. "Are we emotionally invested? We are. We know these people."

Asked if his hosts felt the same way, he promptly hunted down Col. David Perkins, the commanding officer of the Second Brigade, and handed him the phone.

"I think this is something we have all grown into," Colonel Perkins said. The reporters, he said, "have been very user friendly. They do what we say, stay out of the way and keep their heads down.`

...

"You are sleeping next to people you are covering," Mr. Dwyer said by satellite phone from his position with the 101st Airborne Division in central Iraq. "Your survival is based on them. And they are glad we are here because no one would believe what is happening to them if they just came back and told war stories. People are willing to talk around the clock until it is time to go out and kill people. That is a very deep thing."

10:49:53 PM    

Rumsfeld's Design for War Criticized on the Battlefield. Officers on the Iraqi battlefield complain that the Pentagon has not sent enough troops to wage the war as they want to fight it. By Bernard Weinraub with Thom Shanker. [New York Times: Politics]

Mr. Rumsfeld has argued that he adopted this approach for flowing forces to the region to prepare for war without upsetting the Bush administration's diplomatic efforts.

The idea was to raise pressure on Iraq until President Bush made a decision on whether or not to go to war, Mr. Rumsfeld has said.

10:38:07 PM    

Admiral Gehman also said today that the new data hinted that the shuttle already had severe damage when it began its re-entry, and not a minor flaw that was made worse by re-entry. Engineers had theorized that minor damage to the thin layer of protective silicon carbide on the panels could have allowed hot oxygen to begin eating away at the leading edge, but Admiral Gehman's comments suggest that this is unlikely.

Damage before re-entry is likely, he said, because the data show extreme heating taking place early, while the force of air passing over the wing was still quite weak. Admiral Gehman spoke in a conference call with reporters this afternoon.

...

"This looks to us like it probably had a pre-existing condition," he said. "The orbiter probably had this before she ever started this entry."

10:32:39 PM    

As we shove and shiver, spoon and giggle, I have to wonder if the boys can actually see our symbol of peace from where they are. Or are they just scanning the crowd for a nice boob, a curvy ass, a perky nipple (and they are all perky by this point). Are we fodder for their fantasies? Or, more likely, a story to tell tonight with friends, as they laugh about our folds of fat and droopy skin?

10:15:49 PM