First the NY Times releases information that reveals the NSA spying program, hurting our ability track Al Qaeda calls into the United States. Now, the LA Times has given away information on the efforts of our soldiers to defend themselves against improvised explosive devices (IED).

Given that IED’s are by far the largest cause of death and injury for our soldiers, this report is beneath contempt. How many soldiers will lose limbs, get maimed or killed thanks to the LA Times?

Bush Says Times Article Revealed Data on Combating Bombs
From a Times Staff Writer
March, 14 2006

WASHINGTON â?? During his speech about Iraq on Monday, President Bush criticized a newspaper article that he said revealed sensitive information about the Pentagon’s effort to combat improvised explosive devices, the makeshift roadside bombs responsible for thousands of injuries and deaths. White House officials later said that Bush was referring to a Feb. 12 report in the Los Angeles Times.

“Within five days of the publication, using details from that article, the enemy had posted instructions for defeating this new technology on the Internet,” Bush said. “We cannot let the enemy know how we’re working to defeat them.”

While we are on the topic of media priorities and values, here is Ralph Peters, a retired U.S. Army officer and the author of 20 books, just back from Iraq,

Myths of Iraq

During a recent visit to Baghdad, I saw an enormous failure. On the part of our media. The reality in the streets, day after day, bore little resemblance to the sensational claims of civil war and disaster in the headlines.

No one with first-hand experience of Iraq would claim the country’s in rosy condition, but the situation on the ground is considerably more promising than the American public has been led to believe. Lurid exaggerations and instant myths obscure real, if difficult, progress.

I left Baghdad more optimistic than I was before this visit. While cynicism, political bias and the pressure of a 24/7 news cycle accelerate a race to the bottom in reporting, there are good reasons to be soberly hopeful about Iraq’s future.