Rusted Sky

But then, that's about all the time it seems is allowed these days to cover any story - so you go for the most sensational sound bite you can come up with. And frankly, it doesn't do much good for the public discourse when the news sources don't do a complete job of reporting the news - both bad and good.

Let's face it - reporting in a war zone's damn dangerous and expensive. It's VERY hard to do a good job, or even an adequate one - but it's one of the most important things to do in a conflict of this magnitude which will likely stretch on another couple of decades.

Serving the People of Iraq and Iran: Declaring War on the Sound Bite Insurgency

Our sound-bite society believes anything it sees or hears in short-length bursts. Some Americans are so sure that ‘sound-bite equals reality’ that when confronted with the much-more detailed truth they are not sure how to react. Maybe they get it from the French. Nothing illustrates more clearly the strategic success of the Sound Bite Insurgency than what does not get reported about Operation Iraqi Freedom.

A couple of days ago, on the third anniversary of President Bush’s appearance on the USS Abraham Lincoln declaring the end of major combat operations in Iraq, sound bites galore were spewed to the four winds, accusing the president of all manner of lies, deceptions, and failures on that occasion and in the interval since then. The trouble is that often sound bites are inimical to the truth, especially when they come from the Sound Bite Insurgency (SBI).

I wouldn't necessarily call them an 'insurgency' - they're acting in accord with the prime reason for them to be in business. They need money to keep the lights on and the transmitters going, not to mention paying overinflated salaries to their 'news anchors'. (Hmm. I never thought about the connotation of the word 'anchor' as it pertains to the 'news'.)

You get money by selling advertising time to sponsors. In order to charge big bucks for that time, you've got to have good ratings. In order to get good ratings, you need a consistent viewership. In order to get consistent viewers, you have to either give them what they want (see the Michael Jackson trial) or what they'll tune in to watch on a consistent basis (which is usually bad news). Good news doesn't sell well. Bad news does. Blood sells. It's all about the Benjamins.

So they make the bucks, while putting out a shoddy product. Well, what a surprise there.

Oh, by the way - he's got opinions on Halliburton, too.

Serving the People of Iraq and Iran: Halliburton, Halliburton!

Summary: A lot of people in the media and in the Democratic Party have insinuated that one of the main reasons that we are in Iraq is because Dick Cheney profits from Halliburton, and Halliburton wants to make a lot of money. I want to give you my perspective on what Halliburton is contributing to Operation Iraqi Freedom.

There are very few companies that could take on the logistical responsibilities that Halliburton takes on. Providing all of the services that Halliburton does for approximately 150,000 soldiers all over the country is remarkable. Never once have I been without a hot cooked meal. I have always been able to take a shower when I wanted to—almost always with warm water. Every barracks that I have stayed in has been cooled by air conditioning. I can lift weights whenever I am not on duty or on some kind of mission.

Halliburton employees are doing a lot of things that it would cost a lot more to do if soldiers were involved. Its subsidiary, Kellogg Brown and Root (KBR) coordinates all of the logistics on the bases that I have been on, from showers, toilets and garbage, to movies, ping pong tournaments, and weightlifting, to food, ice, water, and Gatorade. KBR employs further subsidiary companies from Africa and Eastern Europe to take care of sanitation—such as ensuring that toilets and showers are clean, and that garbage is transported to the dump and burned. Barbers cut my hair. Cashiers provide most of what I need at the Post Exchange. People at the embroidery shop sew insignia on my caps and repair tears in my uniforms. I have met very courteous Halliburton employees from India, Sri Lanka, Turkey, Bangladesh, Sudan, Hungary, and many more—not to mention Iraq.

Not to mention.

All snarky comments aside, very few people have any idea just what a logistical effort it is and how much material it takes to even FEED 150,000+ people four meals a day, much less do anything else that Halliburton does.

Back in the late 80s, early 90s the trend was to outsource the divisions of the military that were concerned with troop support - because civilians could do it cheaper and better. One of the main reasons we needed so many people in WW2 was that we had to carry a complete infrastructure along to supply the front lines - look up the "Red Ball Express". It was necessary to have mobile field kitchens, mobile bakeries, mobile laundries and shower units - all manned by soldiers, all needing to be fed, all needing transport. It was a hellacious logistical challenge, but one that was necessary because there wasn't any other way to do it.

Now there is - and it costs less that having the military do it.

If you're not impressed, it's because you don't realize the magnitude of the challenge, and how it was overcome - and it's pretty amazing to me that we've got companies in existance that can do what it took hundreds of thousands of men in the 40's. Sure - you can rail against them all you want, but the hard truth is that if the military had to do it all, it'd cost a LOT more, and the quality wouldn't be good at all. So bitch about Halliburton if you will - but they're doing a hell of a good job.

J.