Best excuse of the week

Posted By Thomas E. Ricks Monday, April 18, 2011 - 11:05 AM Share

From C.J. Chivers' terrific blog from Libya: "A quick note: we have a terrible satellite connection here, and that and the ongoing battle beside the building we are working in has made swift updates difficult."

If the Pulitzer board doesn't give this guy something eventually, shame on them.

(I'd give Abu Mook a HT on this but I wrote it before I saw his item on same.)

ODD ANDERSEN/AFP/Getty Images

EXPLORE:LIBYA, MEDIA

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TYRTAIOS

4:30 PM ET

April 18, 2011

Good Stuff Here!

I have become quite impressed with C.J. Chivers as of late. Perhaps not being as highly publicly profiled as his work has been recognized by in some quarters. . .and deserved, allows him a lower profile to facilitate moving along the seams and creases of the conflict regions he covers?

Anyway, good stuff here! Is Chivers in country on an entry visa I wonder? : )

A comment on his follow-up on the Spanish MAT-120 munitions: everyone knows INSTALAZA S.A. manufactured them almost up until about the day they were banned. The question of how Kaddafi got his hands on them is interesting and right up Chiver‘s alley, possibly a report for another day, having read his book, “The Gun.”

Since I also know this Spanish corporation makes a slick electronic hand grenade they sell to several Euro countries that originally bought the MAT-120 system years ago, if those are also present in Libya, it might narrow it down a bit to at least the original past legal end user, as nobody likes to destroy or throw stuff out if they can find a second hand buyer?

CAPTAIN NOVAL

4:57 PM ET

April 18, 2011

Michael Yon

Michael Yon has been doing reporting of this type for years on end. Perhaps because his views tend toward the hawkish end of the spectrum, his outstanding work is largely ignored by the mainstream media.

JPWREL

6:01 PM ET

April 18, 2011

C. J. Chievers is producing

C. J. Chievers is producing great reporting just as good as Yon’s but without Yon’s sophomoric hawkish bullshit.

RVN SF VET

9:10 PM ET

April 18, 2011

C.J. Chivers and his frequent accompanying photograher Tyler

Hicks should gave gotten a Pulitzer, but the board ignored the wars and focused on weepy stories.

C. J. Chivers does informed, noble work. He and Hicks walk the walk. Chivers, as a former Marine Company Commander knows his subject matter and is probably an asset before and after a patrol. Shame on the Pulitzer board.

ADMIRAL

1:55 AM ET

April 19, 2011

How long has he been CIA?

TOM RICKS

2:01 AM ET

April 19, 2011

Not funny, admiral

Not in the least. Turns my stomach, given that some NYT reporters already have been taken by the Libyan govt, and released, and that other journalists are still being held.

You really need to be more careful with that talk, because someone who doesn't know you are a fool might take it seriously. A friend of mine had his head sawed off in Pakistan because of talk like that. I am not joking.

With sorrow,
Tom

ADMIRAL

4:10 AM ET

April 19, 2011

Why should anyone in the

Why should anyone in the world trust anything from the New York Times. Do you remember Judith Miller? We also know that yellow belly coward Bill Keller is proud that he only prints after he gets government ok! The New York Times is a fraud and a joke. I am very far from alone in my opinions. Everyone now knows they lied us into war in Iraq. They are responsible for a lot of dead people.

ADMIRAL

2:32 AM ET

April 19, 2011

THE CIA AND THE MEDIA How

THE CIA AND THE MEDIA

How Americas Most Powerful News Media Worked Hand in Glove with the Central Intelligence Agency and Why the Church Committee Covered It Up

"By far the most valuable of these associations, according to CIA officials, have been with the New York Times, CBS and Time Inc."

BY CARL BERNSTEIN

http://www.carlbernstein.com/magazine_cia_and_media.php

Carl Bernstein is a fool as well according to you.

TYRTAIOS

3:57 AM ET

April 19, 2011

Admiral, you really are out of your element

Admiral, you really are out of your element here. C. J. Chivers is not a clandestine service operations officer because one only has to follow his biography to see he wouldn't have had time to go through the normal PT and CST protocols demanded by the Agency. The man is simply a damn fine down in the mud reporter doing a job he loves.

Incidentally, perhaps I’m going out on a limb here, but you are an American citizen with at least a modicum of the responsibility that carries aren‘t you? You certainly show poor tact, judgment, and lack feeling by making a false accusation on a fellow American that is in harms way in a war conflicted country, while his wife and kids are at home worrying about him.

ADMIRAL

4:47 AM ET

April 19, 2011

You may trust reporters from

You may trust reporters from the NYT. I don't! After what we have been through for the last 10 years who could trust anything they say? They are nothing but liars and con artists as far as I'm concerned. The NYT will cheat and lie to get us into a full scale war in Libya. I'm sure that would make you happy.

RVN SF VET

3:14 AM ET

April 19, 2011

CARL BERNSTEIN IS A FOOL ACCORDING TO ME AND SO ARE YOU

The fool uses the past tense throughout his article. The fool who read it ignores the use of the past tense. The man or woman who walks alongside our soldiers and Marines, unarmed, is reporting to us how they feel, how they live, and hoe they dies. They do this out of some sense of duty, whether it be C.J,, Laura, Tyler, or Bing. They serve no national aim when they tell us about the lice, the absence of showers, or the importance of fresh blood for transfusions. They tell us of the futility of patrolling in the Korengal or the valor of retrieving a buddy under a withering crossfire. They huddle in a ditch filled with shit so we can understand that war is damn ugly even when you've found cover.

When they report from Libya about the scattered and amateurish efforts of the rebels, they are telling us what experiebced observers can see from video reporting. They tell us the words of the rebels.

Separately, CIA personnel identify and evaluate rebel leadership and assess what weaponry they might be able to employ while SAS and other third country SOF personnel try to teach the rebels how to organize and use their weapons. They report to the leadership of their respective countries - different audience, different missions, and different people.

Pull your head out of your ass and stop further endangering their lives.

ADMIRAL

3:44 AM ET

April 19, 2011

Oh so they don't employ

Oh so they don't employ reporters anymore, because the article by Mr. Bernstein was from the past. Anderson Cooper? Duh!

HUNTER

10:41 AM ET

April 19, 2011

You guys...

...all having that battle of wits with an unarmed man. Thanks Admiral, you make all our posts 50 times smarter in comparison.

USMCJO

11:37 AM ET

April 19, 2011

CJ Chivers

Gentlemen,

While I respect Mr. Chivers for reporting from the site of events unlike other reporters who are satisfied to comment from a studio in Washington, I have to say that I seriously question most of his reporting. While I was in Afghanistan, I spent a good deal of time disproving two of Mr. Chivers articles that had hit the pages of the NYT. They were about the Marines/Taliban in Helmand, and they were wholly false. It turned out the reports had come from rumors that were circulating in theatre. Rumors aren't news. While I understand the need for interesting reporting, I would contend this was a bit irresponsible. I had to create reports to give to the general that showed the open source reporting was false. Good reporter, but not deserving of a Pulitzer.

TYRTAIOS

12:17 PM ET

April 19, 2011

re: Chivers

The collection and analysis of OSINT information is ultimately judged by its contribution to the overall collection effort. Having been provided only an anecdotal comment by you, and unable to judge it myself, perhaps Chivers actually did you a favor in reporting what he heard because it allowed you to save time and resource tasking by narrowing your focus on what you needed to learn? : )

RVN SF VET

12:26 PM ET

April 19, 2011

CJ Chivers

That is a very serious charge that is seriously vague. Could you give us a better idea of the type of story you are talking about? If the general (Nick Carter?) wants a report checked, it implies that the report was negative in some way and I'm having difficulty remembering such a story. On the other hand, I'm having trouble just remembering.

BILL G

7:43 PM ET

April 19, 2011

Gabrielle Giffords advocating for troops to get same therapy

I wanted to comment back here but comments appear closed. Gabrielle Giffords' office is asking DoD to provide the troops (and all TRICARE recipients) with the same level of care she's receiving. See here for more.