Over the years I have written that the strategy and tactics of Al Qaida and the Taliban were geared toward affecting media coverage of the wars.

The best chance of the US and Coalition withdrawing from Iraq or Afghanistan was not through military force employed by the Taliban or Al Qaida, but through an erosion of political will on the part of the American public and members of Congress.  The will of the public is affected by what it sees in the media, therefore, the media has always been the target of action.

This is 4th Generation Warfare.

A line in a report about the kidnapping and detention of New York Times reporter David Rhode caught my eye and is excerpted by Powerline .

The key line in the excerpt:

"The kidnappers initially said as much."

The Taliban, normally not ones to shy away from publicity wanted the kidnapping to fly below the radar.

If the ransom to be negotiated was money, the Times, even in its current straights, could cough up enough to purchase release.

But going back to the Taliban and Al Qaida's primary strategy of attacking American public opinion, what if the ransom was not cash but news coverage?

This is not to say that the Times yielded and shaped their coverage to the demands of the captors--I sincerely doubt they did.  The Times may be many things, but from my contacts with its reporters, it is not the type to negotiate coverage with terrorists.  Even they are smart enough to realize if you do it just once--you are gonna have to do it forever.  Which is why you do not negotiate with terrorists.

But, I can definately see the Taliban wanting to put that option on the table.  And if that option was on the table, broad public knowledge of a reporter for the Times being held hostage would make it more difficult to get the editorial ransom from the Times.  A shift in tone of coverage coinciding with kidnapping would deminish the effectiveness of the Taliban's editorial demands.

In modern 4th Generation Warfare, the media is the target of many actions.  If I was the Taliban, I would kidnap reporters and demand editorial ransom.  Many things can be purchased with cash from opium or other criminal enterprises ran by terrorist organizations, but editorial coverage is too tempting not to ask for.

In the modern media battlespace we have already seen media outlets capitulate to threats of violence--the cartoons & Fitna come to mind.  CNN traded access for self censoring editorial in Iraq under Saddam's regime.  And of course there is Walter Duranty.

As the threat enviorment and 4GW grows, editors and publishers will have to steel themselves to the new environment.  The public will have to be aware of how modern terrorists and insurgents target them through the media.

LTC Jim Crider has published a report on his experience as a battalion commander in 2007-08 in Baghdad.

I was with Crider's 1/4 Cav. in early May 2007.

When I was with them they were just begining to understand counter insurgency and from what I saw in the fall of 2009, Crider and the follow-on unit got it right.

Download the full report here .  I'll be reading it on the plane tomorrow.

For a little visual flavor of what Crider is talking about, watch this.

For a more detailed look, my documentary Baghdad Surge shows the tactics, techniques and procedures in vivid color and sound following a Company Commander who operated a few blocks from Crider's 1/4 Cav.

Crider was thrown in a tough environment, adapted and succeeded.  He took me for a tour down 60th street as my own personal PSD when it was just dogs and snipers.  Crider was never afraid to get down on the street and do the work.

I am beginning to feel a bit like Captain Willard in the opening scenes of the movie Apocalypse Now.

No, I'm not getting stoned, doing shots and practicing kung fu in my underwear, but I am ready for the next mission.  This one is to Afghanistan.

I just got my transit date for mid-July and am making all the logistical arrangements.

This trip is significantly more expensive than Iraq.  It is almost double the cost of an Iraq expedition.

I finance these trips with DVD sales .

The important work is not so much the final filmed product but the on the ground reporting.

To fully finance this trip I need to sell another 143 DVDs this month and 250 in June.

The coming months will be a critical time in Afghanistan as General Petraeus and Lt. Gen. McChrystal begin implementing what could be the final push to wrest the Taliban from their strongholds.

It will be important to have as many eyes, ears and camera lenses on the ground as possible.

Another 393 DVDs sold will put me there.

You can also purchase them through Amazon.com .

This is not my first trip to the rodeo.  I've covered the wars since 2005.  I know the risks and accept them because the work is important.

The news is too important to be left solely to the MSM.

If you can afford to please purchase a DVD, or you can also make a contribution via paypal.

I will go wherever the story is and have no compunction against putting myself in harms way.  I just would like a little help with the airfare.

JD