Does anyone love war more than Richard Engel?

[Tom Rinaldo]

40. Your observation clicked for me with another one about how our government is designed to work.

Richard Engel has a very specialized expertise as a war correspondent. In order to cover a war effectively he has to embed himself inside of it. While doing so, in order to gain real insight into the individual perspective of the combatants and victims of a war, he loses perspective of the larger context which often supersedes the perspective of the immediate direct participants. He gains and shares what is to us often unique perspectives on war, but often he does so at the cost of the bigger picture.

That, in essence, is why civilian control of the military is such a bedrock part of the foundation of American democracy. The final decisions of war and peace can't be left in the hands of military leaders, who by necessity live with a high degree of tunnel vision. They do not, and can not, get the final word on policy. In a way it should be the same with someone like Richard Engel. His reporting can help provide otherwise hard to obtain insights, but it inherently is unbalanced. It should never stand on its own without others putting it properly in context.