New Kind of Advocacy Journalism

Salon offers an interesting story about pro-war veterans who've published little beyond newspaper op-ed pieces taking advantage of the US military's "embed" program to set themselves up as journalists reporting from Iraq. The magazine notes that the organizers of this group, Vets for Freedom, have close ties to the John McCain presidential campaign. The writers are being sponsored by the Weekly Standard and National Review.

Not mentioned in this article, but obviously hovering above it, is how the Marine Corps and individual military units in Iraq are refusing to cooperate with photographers and other journalists whose coverage they dislike. No one should be surprised, therefore, if the news from Iraq starts to tilt.