With few exceptions, the level of ignorance our reporters have regarding military matters is something that the profession wouldn't tolerate for fashion reporters, or food reporters, or sports reporters, or--well, for anything other than this subject.
I mean, understanding them might imply you like or respect them, for God's sake!
UPDATE: The British are no better, it seems, as the defence correspondent of The Telegraph writes of Western maneuvers in the Gulf region:
Battleships, aircraft carriers, minesweepers and submarines from 25 nations are converging on the strategically important Strait of Hormuz in an unprecedented show of force as Israel and Iran move towards the brink of war.
Wow! This is important news. There are battleships facing Iran? Jane's needs to get right on this to update their annuals.
Later, the defense correspondent specifies that no less than twelve "battleships" are involved.
First he writes of "battleships" as one of a number of specific type of warships involved.
Then he writes as if he thinks "battleship" is a synonym for "warship."
"Warship" is simply a generic term for an armed ship designed to fight.
"Battleship" is a specific type of warship that in fact no longer is used by any navy in the world. We last maintained a small number of World War II era battleships in our fleet for shore bombardment duties with cruise missiles and their original large caliber guns (16" diameter shells).
I somehow expected better of the British, who have a long naval tradition extending past our nationhood. And who in fact invented the battleship before World War I.
I bet The Telegraph's fashion correspondent couldn't get away with not knowing--well, not knowing something integral to clothing. I can't come up with an example. But then, I'm not trying to be a fashion correspondent.
Eleven years at war, and we're still at this level of understanding by a defense correspondent.
I don't mean to pick on the man. Just bad timing for me to notice. He's hardly alone. Who in whatever defense correspondents association he belongs to would know enough to correct him?
