There Is A Pattern

There is a pattern

[Editorial]

Trump is known for stalling, and his administration is doing the same. Back in the first part of the year, a judge ordered the ban on unescorted media access to be lifted. Here it is in August, and they still have no unescorted access. Why? Because of legal wrangling; the Pentagon won a key legal appeal in July. Now that is being adjudicated in the courts.

Then there is the case of Stars and Stripes. The newspaper has a special law from Congress dictating its independence from the military. The Secretary of Defense, Hegseth, fired editor-in-chief Erik Slavin, publisher Max Lederer, and reporter Lara Korte because they printed a story on the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln.

Then there is this, reported in The Intercept:

U.S. Central Command maintains a secret directory of journalists who have been blacklisted by the press office, according to an official with CENTCOM public affairs. The disclosure comes amid a failed war in Iran, a “cover-up” of U.S. casualties from that conflict, and repeated refusals by CENTCOM to address questions about civilian deaths in Iran, including the killing of a family recently disclosed by The Intercept.

The CENTCOM official who revealed the existence of the list threatened that this reporter could be added to it for calling the command too often.

“You’ll be put on a list of people to disregard,” Richard Allee, an executive assistant with CENTCOM public affairs, told this reporter. When asked for clarification — “You have a list of people to disregard?” — he confirmed it with an emphatic “Yes.” When asked which reporters or outlets were currently on the list, he replied, “I’m not privy to give you that information.”

Remember the sayings: “No news is good news” and “Whoever controls the press controls the mind.” Well, the current administration keeps the news close to its chest.

It was the conditions of the USS Abraham Lincoln coming to light that started the chain of events.

The story breaks; sailors jump ship.

Why?

Lack of food, sanitary system backups, low morale.

Why?

Resupply bases bombed, supplies destroyed, causing ships to have shortages.

Why was the ship deployed so long?

The war is going on longer than planned.

Did firing the planners and the logistics people have anything to do with it?

This whole thing reminds me of the song “For the Want of a Nail.”

I would say that this whole war is a clusterfuck, since even before the planning started, and I think the real reason they want to cover it up is their own incompetence.