[antimedia] antimedia: The Associated Press has elevated lying....

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Posted by antimedia:
The Associated Press has elevated lying....
http://www.antimedia.us/posts/1171687683.shtml


   ....to [1]an art form.

     Sen. John McCain, a Republican presidential hopeful in 2008,
     mentioned earlier this week he feared a Vietnam-style "Tet
     Offensive" in Iraq would send U.S. casualties soaring, resulting in
     further demoralization of the American public.
     There's no question the terrorist enemy would love nothing better.
     Just as in Vietnam, the enemy in Iraq has no hopes of victory on
     the battlefield. Its only chance to defeat U.S. forces is through a
     propaganda blitz in the U.S. media.
     That's all Tet ever was in Vietnam, despite how revisionist
     historians continue to try to paint it today.
     Take, for example, the Associated Press account of McCain's
     comments.
     McCain says: "By the way, a lot of us are also very concerned about
     the possibility of a, quote, 'Tet Offensive.' You know, some
     large-scale tact that could then switch American public opinion the
     way that the Tet Offensive did."
     Nothing wrong with that statement. It's accurate. McCain recognizes
     what Tet was and how a similar operation could be effective again
     today.
     But here is how the AP, the largest news-gathering organization in
     the world with some 30,000 employees, mangles the definition of
     Tet:
     "Tet, a massive invasion in 1968 of South Vietnam by Communist
     North Vietnamese, inflicted enormous losses on U.S. and South
     Vietnamese troops and is regarded as a point where public sentiment
     turned sharply against the war."
     Notice the emphasis on "enormous losses" by the good guys.
     What were those enormous losses? After nearly 40 years, can't we be
     a little more specific? And what was the cost to the enemy? There
     is no mention.
     By Iraq standards, the U.S. losses were indeed "enormous." Some
     1,536 U.S. troopers were killed in the weeks-long campaign. South
     Vietnamese troops lost an additional 2,788 troops. But compare
     those numbers with enemy losses!
     According to the best statistics now available, some 45,000 North
     Vietnamese and Viet Cong were killed in what was planned as a
     last-ditch, roll-of-the-dice effort to persuade Americans they
     could never win the war. Another 6,991 enemy soldiers were captured
     in the offensive.
     In other words, no matter how you slice it, Tet was an unmitigated
     battlefield disaster for the enemy in Vietnam. But it proved to be
     an unmitigated media disaster for the U.S. at home.

   Vietnam. The press lied. Millions died.

References

   1. http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=54254