Yet the unprecedented media coverage of this war tends to undercut our military efforts. War is terrible–so terrible that its images have always been carefully managed. The public (any public, much less the pampered modern American public) is easily discouraged by the ordinary tragedy and inevitable reversals of war. That the Pentagon believed embedded reporting would work to its advantage in this war is, to me, remarkable. Yet, given that modern reporting already tends to probe and sensationalize every problem, the empathy made possible by embedded reporting may indeed be a gain for our military.