[Dean's World] Dave Price: What's Black and White and Treasonous All Over?

[notify at powerblogs.com]

Posted by Dave Price:
What's Black and White and Treasonous All Over?
http://www.deanesmay.com/posts/1151087611.shtml


   Jack Kelly [1]writes something that makes me very, very angry:

     A disturbing anecdote from Col. McMaster illustrates why. His 3rd
     ACR broke the insurgents' hold of the city of Tal Afar last
     September in an operation which generated these effusive words of
     praise from the town's mayor:
     "To the lion hearts who liberated our city from the grasp of
     terrorists who were beheading men, women and children in the
     streets...(you are) not only courageous men and women, but avenging
     angels sent by The God Himself to fight the evil of terrorism."
     Time magazine had a reporter and a photographer embedded with the
     3rd ACR. When the battle was over, they filed a lengthy story and
     nearly 100 photographs.
     "When the issue came out, the guts had been edited out of the
     reporter's story and none of the photographs he submitted were
     used," said the admiral, quoting Col. McMaster. "When the reporter
     questioned why his story was eviscerated, his editors...responded
     that the story and pictures were 'too heroic.'"

   As a rule, I try to be dispassionate, but... Too heroic? Too heroic?
   Excuse me while I pound my fists on the table in rage. Remember, this
   is the same media that feels it's absolutely necessary to mention the
   number of soldiers killed in Iraq in virtually every story on the war.
   As our vets [2]have pointed out, the best-known soldiers in this war
   are Jessica Lynch and Lynndie England, a victim and a thug
   respectively. It's becoming obvious why this is so: no [3]Audie Murphy
   stories will be written by this press, who regard reporting anything
   overtly supportive of our troops as offensively jingoistic -- and
   reporting anything that tends to show them as brutes or murderers as
   performing a sacred public service, even when such come from highly
   dubious sources.
   Even as Iraq's elected government [4]contemplates an amnesty that
   could end the violence in Iraq, plans are made for our troops to hand
   over security to Iraqis and come home by next year, and the ripples
   from the Iraqi example of liberal democracy [5]continue to spread, our
   media persist in their quest to diminish and defame the efforts of our
   soldiers and snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
   Unpatriotic is not a strong enough word for what is happening here.

References

   1. http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2006/06/vietnam_iraq_dan_rather_the_ms.html
   2. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/29/opinion/29west.html?ei=5090&en=d7d1c20414ebb7cb&ex=1306555200&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss&pagewanted=print
   3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audie_Murphy
   4. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,7374-2239088,00.html
   5. http://www.nypost.com/postopinion/opedcolumnists/democracy_rising_opedcolumnists_amir_taheri.htm