By MARC ZNANIECKI 

"If CNN were around during WWII, Americans would now be speaking Japanese with German accents." This is a quote from a good friend of mine concerning some of our past and present media coverage of the US military forces.

During the Gulf War, live images of bombs raining down on Baghdad were brought into the homes of millions of Americans. During the US occupation of Somalia, Americans again tuned in to vivid images of a war torn state.

Afghanistan is turning out to be much the same in media coverage.

Six months ago, I’d have said that America was a country, which cared not about its fellow man. It is a place of inner hostility and selfish greed, without any compassion for people in need or in suffering, a place bursting with lazy, unmotivated workers. And if war were to break out, the attitude of the world heavily revolving around "ME" would be the nation’s undoing.

Never in my life have I seen such a heightened awareness of American pride from the American public. I am proud to say that my past view is totally incorrect. I am glad to know that patriotism still lives and still thrives in our land of freedom. I do find the lack of patriotism with our media coverage to be a bit disturbing.

Does the media not care about the security of our forces? I watched on TV as newscasters reported on the departure of a US warship leaving a base en route to the Mediterranean and also that it was without its normal military ordinance. Doesn’t this just sound like a menu for disaster? It’s like giving the wolves a map to the flocks of sheep.

I particularly haven’t favored the constant "findings" of security lapses in places such as nuclear power plants, oil fields, and various other potentially catastrophic disasters waiting to be a reality for terrorists. There are some things I just do not want to know. Telling the entire globe won’t make them all that much safer. It’s almost like telling a kid attempting to make a firecracker to forget that and give him the specifics for detonating a nuclear bomb.

All in all, I do not believe that the media is to blame. Freedom of speech is a right under the Constitution. It is a very valuable part of our culture and reflects the freedom we all share. It is something that should not be suppressed.

I think it is more disturbing, frustrating and angering, when "anonymous sources" are relaying information outside the normal channels. I see it as a form of treason. Anyone leaking sensitive material that might incur heavy repercussions against the men and women sworn to protect us, is no patriot of this land.