Beatrice1000
Resource Specialist
Joined: 10 Aug 2004
Posts: 1179
Location: Minneapolis, MN
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 Posted: Sun Jan 16, 2005 5:15 am Post subject: Lt.Col. in Iraq: "media aiding/abetting enemy" |
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** “Aiding and Abetting the Enemy: the Media in Iraq” -- an essay by Lt. Col. Tim Ryan **:
(excerpts)
“... the operation in Fallujah delivered an absolutely devastating blow to the insurgency. ... Put one in the win column for the good guys, right? Wrong. As soon as there was nothing negative to report about Fallujah, the media shifted its focus to other parts of the country. ..... From where I sit in my command post at Camp Fallujah, Iraq, things are not all bad right now. In fact, they are going quite well..... Right now, as elements from all four services complete the absolute annihilation of the insurgent forces remaining in Fallujah, the area around the former stronghold is more peaceful than it has been for more than a year. ....
That sounds a lot like success to me. Given all of this, why don't the papers lead with "Coalition Crushes Remaining Pockets of Insurgents" or "Enemy Forces Resort to Suicide Bombings of Civilians"? This would paint a far more accurate picture of the enemy's predicament over here. Instead, headlines focus almost exclusively on our hardships. ....
The operation in Fallujah is only one of the recent examples of incomplete coverage of the events in Iraq. The battle in Najaf last August provides another. ... What noticeably was missing were accounts of the atrocities committed by the Mehdi Militia.... What the media didn't show or write about were the two hundred-plus headless bodies found in the main mosque there, or the body that was put into a bread oven and baked. ....
Ironically, the press freedom that we have brought to this part of the world is providing support for the enemy we fight. ...
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** comment by powerline - 1/15/05 **
"...On the whole, I think Col. Ryan is too kind to the American press. I think that the press's undermining of our war effort is, in many instances, deliberate. It appears to me that many, if not most, American reporters, editors and news executives want to make it impossible for America ever to fight a war. To further this goal, I think they use their reporting to undermine our effort in Iraq. The idea is that if we are defeated in Iraq, it will be difficult, if not impossible, for us to fight another war anywhere for a generation. Is this assessment too harsh? I don't think so."
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