The Marines, Counterinsurgency, and Strategic Culture

228 Chapter 9
Coalition and ordered a halt. 40 While the halt may have been politically
expedient, the message it sent to the insurgents was strategically damning.
They perceived that they had sent the venerated US Marine Corps packing.
Marines themselves were not sure what to make of the halt but consigned
themselves to their orders: “Our job was not to be emotional. Our
job was to put lipstick on that pig as best we could.” 41 The Marines’ History
Division made a summary lessons- learned assessment: “The Coalition was
quickly outmaneuvered by insurgent propaganda.” 42 Put more colorfully,
General Conway quipped, “Al Jazeera kicked our ass.” 43
The Marines would not, however, make the same mistake again. From
early on in the war, they had consciously engaged in and improved on lessons
learned regarding relations with their own domestic public via the
media. Instructions in the Marine Corps Gazette as early as 2002 are very
specific on this score:
A reporter covering, but ignorant of, the Marine Corps can be an
annoyance requiring valuable time that must be expended explaining
very basic concepts. It’s far better, however, to view this journalist
as a piece of moldable putty upon whom the Marine Corps
will make a lifelong impression. That a reporter is ignorant of what
you do, or the rules under which you operate, makes him or her no
less interested. And in any event, that reporter is going to convey
something to the public. No matter what it takes, it is incumbent on
every Marine to provide the access, candor, and insights necessary
to produce an honest portrayal. 44
The Marines’ open approach to members of the media from the early
days of the Iraq War reveals two important aspects of Marine culture.
One is a consistent obsession with protecting the Corps’s “special place
in the American heart” in order to preserve its status as an institution. 45
The other is a level of confidence that observation of Marine activity—of
recording the “naked event”—will yield public admiration. 46 Marines entering
Iraq were encouraged to regard members of the media as an “entirely
winnable constituency” and were told to switch away from words such as
“handle,” “escort,” or “manage” in reference to media partners in favor of
warmer terms that welcomed members of the press as “buddies” who were
“adopted” into the division team. 47
Heading this effort in the run- up to Iraq, General Mattis inspired confidence
in his troops, reminding them that “left unsung, the noblest deeds
will die” and exhorting them to provide the media with complete access,
including interviews that would “show their courage to the world.” 48 To
authors and reporters, he issued a standing invitation: “Go anywhere, talk
to anyone, and draw [your] own conclusions.” 49 One reporter, skeptical that
he would be allowed near the action, got a dose of Marine swagger from the