Yahoo! News
Reporting on the war in Afghanistan has never been easy. But it may have just gotten harder. In the wake of Rolling Stone’s devastating piece on now-retired Afghan Commander Stanley McChrystal, Defense Secretary Robert Gates is placing new restrictions on military brass who speak with the media.
Gates, in a three-page memo issued Friday, ordered that high-ranking Pentagon and military leaders contact the Defense Department’s public affairs office “prior to interviews or any other means of media and public engagement with possible national or international implications,” according to the New York Times.
Officials say the order was in the works before Rolling Stone freelancer Michael Hastings famously profiled the “Runaway General” in Afghanistan. Regardless, the Pentagon’s new limited access policy More…