ISLAMABAD, Sept 1: The chief spokesman for the armed forces, Major-General Shaukat Sultan, on Thursday said no policy on embedded journalists had been formulated as part of any media strategy with only three days to go for the simulated war exercise Highmark-05.
“There is no policy at the moment for the embedded journalists in the exercise,” said Maj Gen Sultan when asked if the Highmark-05 media strategy had catered for the same in view of the latest war doctrines.
Earlier in the day, Air Vice Marshal Shahzad Aslam Chaudhry announced plans for Highmark-05, involving units of all the three services, in the simulated air war exercise.
In reply to a question that what targets had been assigned to the Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) in the war exercise, Maj Gen Sultan said his director for Pakistan Air Force, Air Commodore Sarfaraz, would be the contact person for the event.
Asked if the simulated war between the Blueland and Foxland forces would begin on the directives of the president, the prime minister, the parliament or the defence minister, Maj Gen Sultan said: “Pakistan would not be the first to start the (simulated) war.”
In reply to a question about any media strategy for the air war exercise, Maj Gen Sultan said the question should be directed to the air force.
When contacted, the official spokesperson for the PAF, Air Commodore Sarfaraz, seconded the views of the ISPR DG and said no policy had been formulated till now for the embedded journalists.
Asked who would be the contact persons for the Foxland and Blue Land forces, Air Commodore Sarfaraz said, “I would be the spokesman for both the forces.”
In reply to a question as to whom the journalists should contact to get the other side of the version of the Fox Land forces, Air Commodore Sarfaraz said, “We are not exercising that thing.”
Asked if the journalists should be included in Highmark-05, a former director of ISPR, Brigadier (retd) Saulat Raza, said, “Journalists should be included in every operation, whether actual or exercise.”
Currently the department head of mass communications in the National University of Modern Languages (NUML), Brig (retd) Raza said a number of journalists had been included in Zarb-i-Momin. “They were part of the exercise as army officers,” he said.
Brig Raza (retd) said the US, realising importance of media wars, started investing in training some 50,000 (fifty thousand) young journalists in the universities during the 1990s.
Brig (retd) Raza said the media had attained the capability of first strike. With the globalisation avalanche, we can be dominated by our old friend India if we do not include journalists in any war strategy, he said.