Woodruff From Military's Perspective

There are some interesting quotes in this UPI follow-up story to the Bob Woodruff/Doug Vogt injuries. Like this one, from an officer stationed in Baqubah:

"Why do you think this is such a huge story? It's a bit stunning to us over here how absolutely dominant the story is on every network and front page. I mean, you'd think we lost the entire 1st Marine Division or something. There's a lot of grumbling from guys at all ranks about it. That's a really impolite and impolitic thing to say ... but it's what you would hear over here.

"It's just a bit frustrating to see something so dramatized that happens every day to some 20-year-old American -- or worse to 10, 30-year-old Iraqi soldiers or cops alongside us. Some of the stories don't even mention the Iraqi casualties in this attack, as if they're meaningless."

A senior military officer told UPI:

"The point that is currently being made (is that) that press folks are more important than mere military folks."

Maybe the media will learn something from this. Maybe Woodruff's experience with wounded soldiers and military doctors and nurses will teach him something about the core goodness of America.

But really, I'd just as soon the national media not over-report on our injured soldiers, out of fear that they will exploit these heroes for their anti-war purposes. When the injured soldiers get home, let the hometown media play them up big as heroes, as they should, and leave ABC, CBS, NBC and CNN out of it.

Photo: JWBartlett.com