In Which We Realize That More News Organizations Ought To Read The Washington Post
By Pejman Yousefzadeh Posted in War — Comments (7) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
New coverage continues to give pride of place to the "if it bleeds, it leads" bad news stories of the day. Which is a pity, because it means that it is less likely that people will pay attention to this very important news story:
NEWS COVERAGE and debate about Iraq during the past couple of weeks have centered on the alleged abuses of private security firms like Blackwater USA. Getting such firms into a legal regime is vital, as we've said. But meanwhile, some seemingly important facts about the main subject of discussion last month -- whether there has been a decrease in violence in Iraq -- have gotten relatively little attention. A congressional study and several news stories in September questioned reports by the U.S. military that casualties were down. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.), challenging the testimony of Gen. David H. Petraeus, asserted that "civilian deaths have risen" during this year's surge of American forces.
A month later, there isn't much room for such debate, at least about the latest figures. In September, Iraqi civilian deaths were down 52 percent from August and 77 percent from September 2006, according to the Web site icasualties.org. The Iraqi Health Ministry and the Associated Press reported similar results. U.S. soldiers killed in action numbered 43 -- down 43 percent from August and 64 percent from May, which had the highest monthly figure so far this year. The American combat death total was the lowest since July 2006 and was one of the five lowest monthly counts since the insurgency in Iraq took off in April 2004.
Those who continue to doubt the effect of the surge and the counterinsurgency strategy that is being implemented alongside the surge should take note of this news. Not that I am optimistic that they will or that they show any willingness to examine anew their preconceived notions regarding the state of affairs in Iraq--this is the "reality-based community" we are talking about, after all--but hope springs eternal.
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In Which We Realize That More News Organizations Ought To Read The Washington Post 7 Comments (0 topical, 7 editorial, 0 hidden) Post a comment »
move along now! Pay no attention to the little man behind the curtain!
There certainly isn't any story here worth letting the American people in on!
News is when bad things happen because of mean Republicans.
So Blackwater having to kill terrorists is news.
Iraq getting safer not news but a fluke.
Its similar with Dems but in reverse.
William in his freezer Jefferson geting indicted for corruption a fluke. possibly VRWC at work.
Bill Clinton getting credit for the budget written by Newt Gingrich thats News
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Mike Gamecock DeVine @ The Charlotte Observer
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Mike Gamecock DeVine @ The Charlotte Observer
www.race42008.com
www.hinzsightreport.com
www.theminorityreportblog.com
"One man with courage makes a majority" - Andrew Jackson
However a well-placed source in London says that Colin Powell is arguing against the cabal of Neocons who want the King to remove his seal from the document.
However if you look at the top of the article you will see that this article is on page B06. This is referred to as burying the story. Do not under any circumstances give the Post any credit for this story. Every time they run a positive story vis a vis Iraq they bury it while every negative story is given front page treatment.
A few weeks ago, their bias was most obvious when they ran three negative stories on Page 1 and buried a positive story on Page 14.
Here is how I saw it.
http://proprietornation.blogspot.com/2007/10/washington-post-covering-or...
Mr. Potato Head, Mr. Potato Head, back doors are not secrets
It seems to me that if the Iraqi's all began hugging each other and banished Iran and Al Qaida from the region, we would still hear them deny that any good is coming from the surge.
No one ever seems to notice that the death rate for our troops has fallen off to levels simular to the lowest of the entire war! How many times did we hear "The death toll has risen to the highest since the beginning of the war..." a few months back? Now, no one seems to be concerned about mentioning the falling numbers.
Jim Tomasik