Letter to Defense Online readers: results and recommendations

16/04/15

Dear comrades of adventure, it is time to take stock and - as already happened in the past - to clarify even to newcomers what this warhead is. In Italy was there perhaps a need for yet another defense journal? No. Perhaps of a new publication of geopolitical analyzes? Yeah, right!

What was needed in our beloved country was of you.

Italy - I repeat it now as a mantra since the foundation of DO - is perhaps the country in the world where one can least discuss the military, defense industry or foreign affairs. The causes of the first two are innumerable, basically "political" in the end. The reason why we cannot discuss foreign matters is that we have no serious media interest in world news. Italy also has no "foreign policy". Unless having a policy is not itself a "policy". Once we get off the ceremonial stages, internationally, we are in fact made fun of by all the actors that matter.

When we started early last year we were few but enthusiastic. To date, the passion has not changed (I confirm this from the commitment of old readers), the numbers have changed.

Defense Online now travels on a monthly average of 1 million pages read. I don't think anyone else can boast such success. I mean in the field of Defense, not Beppe Grillo ...

The result is remarkable and destined to grow but I do not want to incense the head here. I want to give credit to the dozens of authors and the thousands of readers who have helped make Difesa Online become a reference.

And here we come to the new arrivals. DO is not the Gospel or the Koran or the Torah (we are so many ...), it is a place where information is shared, through the publication of news or comments to the same. Our sources are not stomach ache or "editorial lines", they are official, institutional or government bodies, the international press, qualified people, as well as our eyes or our ears.

Personally I am a strong supporter of the F-35 program. They are because, the day that will serve, the difference will not be between having more or less planes in line but between having or not the F-35. But the speech is long and this is not the moment.

What needs to be clear is that if there are any issues highlighted by the Pentagon itself or US government offices, our reporting them is not a "malicious" attitude. Journalistic reporting is a must. In every major aeronautical project of the past there have been delays, accidents and defects. During the Cold War, however, it was simply not mentioned. The years have however led to the aircraft that are valued so positively today. The Eurofighter itself has been regarded by too many as a success in terms of performance and savings. Will it be worth talking about it?

For over a year those who have shared the project did so by writing with competence and in good faith or commenting according to some simple rules: to argue every answer, do not offend e make others understand readers his own point of view, considering that he could be contradicted.

Of the 54.000 who follow on social networks such as Facebook over time, some have not grasped the spirit of DO and a few dozen have been kindly invited to address their dry and rude summary judgments elsewhere.

I sincerely thank those who have understood the path we are following and I invite them to continue.

Are we a new reference? Yes. The important thing is to continue not to be so for any arrogant fanatic. Our dream, as Italians, is that one day we can tell the truth in a certain field of information without fear that some fellow citizens will be scandalized because they are "indoctrinated" over time by a vacuum.

Trust me, you have not seen anything yet, the road is long but compelling.

Andrea Cucco