As a result, Marines get a kick out of teasing embeds so desperate for news that they gather at the few televisions in this compound.
“Hey, embed, I thought you were supposed to be telling the news, not watching it,” a Marine lobbed at one point.
In addition, there is resentment at the significant news leaks that some of the TV talking heads are making during newscasts.
One former Marine officer — now a TV/radio star — who should know better than anyone the importance of not compromising the safety of troops yesterday broadcast to the world a US pilot’s last name, which is strictly forbidden, and his squadron number, which is also top secret.
Most embeds here are without powerful friends in the right places to protect them, and word is that some 60 of them have already been thrown out of the program for co-opting the troops by revealing too much information.
There is also news that up north, embeds are dropping out of the program like flies, unable to hack the tough life the Marines are currently living in the desert.
