If the London newspaper The Observer is correct, the U.S. 82nd Airborne Division and 101st Air Assault Division will join British commandos in a strike deep inside Taliban territory in Afghanistan within days. Since the present crisis began, the British press has been far ahead of its American counterparts in reporting military developments. The Guardian reported special forces teams inside Afghanistan six days before USA Today broke the story in the United States, explaining that Pakistani newspapers had already revealed it.

British reporters clearly have an advantage in reporting from what was a part of the British Empire until just after World War II. But as USA Today's implicit apology shows, there's more to it than that. Amid the patriotic stampede, American journalists appear reluctant to seek information not handed to them by "Pentagon sources" or "high officials" in the Bush White House.

thanks to BookNotes

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