On the media panel were, left to right, Mohammed Alami, Managing Editor, Al Jazeera, Washington; Bernd Debusmann, Special Correspondent, Reuters; Eason Jordan, CEO, Praedict /IraqSafetyNet and former senior news executive, CNN; Munir Mawari, Senior Correspondent, Asharq Al-Awsat; Pascale Siegel, President, Insight Through Analysis; Mark Strassmann, Correspondent, CBS News; and Michael Yon; Freelance Writer / Photographer and creator of Michael Yon: Online Magazine. Also on the panel, but not pictured here, was Turkish journalist Yasemin Congar, Washington Bureau Chief of Milliyet and CNN TURK.

The Military and the Media Symposium was designed to promote constructive discussion on the evolving nature of the sometimes volatile, but often surprisingly functional relationship between the military and the media. The focus was on the distinctive twist this relationship has seen in the aftermath of Operation IRAQI FREEDOM and OPERATION ENDURING FREEDOM and during the present Global War on Terror. A particular emphasis was on how to reconcile the apparently opposing values of freedom of the press and operational security.

The U.S. Marine Corps Command and Staff College provides professional military education to field grade officers of the Marine Corps, other services and agencies, and foreign countries to prepare them for command and staff duties and for assignment with joint, multi-national, and high-level service organizations. This year’s class includes 182 U.S. military officers, 12 U.S. civilian government officials, and officers of 26 other countries, including Great Britain, Australia, France, Iraq, Afghanistan, Indonesia, India, Japan, and Saudi Arabia.