Why is this a surprise?

What, nobody at CJR ever watched Full Metal Jacket? Or served in the military as a correspondent?

Link: CJR September/October 2005 - First Person.

What if you're an Army journalist and expected to put the war in Iraq in a good light — no matter what you see? Between March 12, 2004, and February 2, 2005, I found myself in that uneasy situation.