Filed under: War
The Media Research Center released the results of a study which analyses the Iraq war reporting of ABC, CBS, and NBC. Specifically the study identifies the amount of time the networks spent reporting on the alleged military misconduct in Hadith verses the reporting of heroic soldiers who earned military honors. The breakdown is as follows:
Between May 17th and June 7th, ABC, CBS, and NBC aired 99 stories on the alleged military misconduct which totaled three and a half hours of coverage within three weeks. In contrast those networks only gave 52 minutes of coverage to soldiers who earned military honors… in 5 years. Also, 14 of the 20 American soldiers who received the highest recognition for bravery were not mentioned at all.
So what kind of effect does this have on the soldiers in Iraq?
About a year ago, a group of soldiers returning from Iraq released a rap album, entitled "Live From Iraq" they had written while at war. The chorus for the song "Integrity" (something many in the mainstream media do not have) reads as follows:
F— is these people talking bout
Soldiers catchin charges now
Sure we make mistakes
But every soldier heres a target now
Questioning how we get down
Stand em up we lay em down
All that you can see to do
Ask a million questions now
Why’d we shootem why’d he die
Only tried to take our lives
F— is we supposed to do
Come to far to let him ride
Now your trying to say we wrong
Everytime somebody dies
I aint trying to let him live
He’ll only try a second time
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Sad isn’t it? But nobody here is going to change and support A-Qaeda. They’re getting their boost for the thousands of Middle East news outlets that are running even more vivid accounts. That’s what really hurts us.
But you know, I believe in freedom, and I believe in the good people in America. These acts are horrible and must be addressed. What would it say about us if we did not react? May the day never come that our press is so controlled, or our hearts so cold that we don’t react with relentless outrage. May the newspaper in our nation’s capital never be afraid to print the story they investigated on May 27. And may we always be the land of the free, and the home of the brave.
“The Marines moved to the house next door, Fahmi said.
Inside were 43-year-old Khafif, 41-year-old Aeda Yasin Ahmed, an 8-year-old son, five young daughters and a 1-year-old girl staying with the family, according to death certificates and neighbors.
The Marines shot them at close range and hurled grenades into the kitchen and bathroom, survivors and neighbors said later. Khafif’s pleas could be heard across the neighborhood. Four of the girls died screaming.
Only 13-year-old Safa Younis lived — saved, she said, by her mother’s blood spilling onto her, making her look dead when she fell, limp, in a faint.
Townspeople led a Washington Post reporter this week to the girl they identified as Safa. Wearing a ponytail and tracksuit, the girl said her mother died trying to gather the girls. The girl burst into tears after a few words. The older couple caring for her apologized and asked the reporter to leave.”
Comment by sheepgoat June 30, 2006 @ 7:30 pmThe article above link is http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/26/AR2006052602069_pf.html
And today we learn that soldiers being counseled in the unit where the two were captured and beheaded, that two others in their unit had raped and killed civilians. Great, just great.
Comment by sheepgoat June 30, 2006 @ 7:40 pmI agree that these awful acts (if true) should be addressed. If it is proven that these soldiers have committed these acts (like rape) they should spend the rest of thier lives behind bars for they have disgraced themselves, the US Military, and the USA.
Comment by thinkersintellect July 11, 2006 @ 12:18 pm