The eye of the sandstorm: The erosion of first amendment principles in wartime

The conflict between the military's desire to keep secrets and the media's mission to report the news inevitably leads to clashes during wartime. These opposing forces have been held in an uneasy balance by the U.S. Constitution during most of modern history. But, recent policy has allowed the unprecedented exclusion of the press from the battlefield, with increased government control over the flow of information to the public as the result. Press restrictions during the Persian Gulf War led to a threatened constitutional crisis, ending in an uneasy truce which leaves fundamental issues still unresolved.