Are we the only ones uncomfortable by the Pentagon's "embedding" of reporters to cover the war? It's censorship.

Yes, we realize that it's dangerous out there and news organizations might not get their reporters as close to the action without help from the Administration. But we're getting only what the Government allows the reporters to tell, so how is this journalism? We're getting a slanted view.

We find ourselves constantly going over the BBC, SkyNews and other international websites to read their coverage.

All night long, on every news station tonight, U.S. reporters covering the Camp Pennsylvania grenade attack were hemming and hawing--"I can't talk about that"..."I've seen more than I can say, I have to be really careful here". This Reuters article advising that one of the 13 injured soldiers is dead, nails it for us.

Time magazine correspondent Jim Lacey told CNN by telephone from Camp Pennsylvania, the Kuwait base for the 1st Brigade, 101st Airborne Division, that the soldier had died of his injuries. "We're allowed to talk about it," he said.(emphasis supplied)

Sunday's New York Times reports that reporters are eagerly responding to the Penatgon's "welcome mat." The "embedding" policy has been in the works for many months, and is mainly the brainchild of Rumsfeld who wanted to drum up public support for the war, and decided, what better way than to get the media enthralled.

It's worked. The first night of bombing, the reporters were awestruck. They were positively gleeful about finally experiencing "shock and awe" and that it more than met their expectations.

We'd rather have free news and honest news than more of it. And we have some questions. Who's paying the freight for the "embedded" journalists? Is the Pentagon throwing it in free to the news organizations as a means of sweetening the pot and getting them to go along with their restrictions on reporting? If the Government isn't footing the bill, how much cheaper is it for the media giants to warehouse their reporters with the military than to pay their way independently? We would think that by traveling and bunking with the military, the news organizations are saving big bucks.

It looks to us like we're getting a marketing campaign, not true news. Censorship is antithetical to a free democracy.