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| Iraq |
| Letter from Military Officer in Iraq Regarding So-Called "Massacres" |
| 2006-06-06 |
| Here's an email we received from a U.S. military officer who asks us to withhold his name: I am currently stationed here in Iraq and have been here for the past 11 months; I am an adviser to the Iraqis and meet them on a daily basis. I have been in many locations in the country and am involved on a daily basis together with the Iraqis fighting the insurgency. The media manipulation by the insurgents is brilliant and extremely effective. The press has become a puppet for the insurgents; the insurgents know exactly what they are doing with these "massacres" (quoted here because the investigation has not been completed, nor have any charges been filed) and the political nightmare they will cause the current administration. Bodies are produced for film, and there is zero fact-checking by the media--the media eat up this "news" like there is no tomorrow. A couple of hundred bucks paid by the insurgents to a few guys/ladies in the town where this "massacre" occurred to make up some bad news and pine for the BBC's or CBS's or whoever's cameras is a nice month's salary for many and money well spent by the insurgency. All the Arabs (Sunni and Shia), Kurds and Chaldeans I have come to know well here will tell you that Arabs are emotional people who tend to exaggerate. A lot. Experience has shown that "50 insurgents hiding out in XX location" is five, at most 10. "Three hundred dead" at the morgue is at most 40. "A huge cache with WMD" is 45-50 weapons. It is a cultural norm and is accepted over here as a norm. It is reported in the West as fact. With no fact-checking. When we convoy, all in the town/village know when and where there is a bomb/IED/VBIED that is targeting coalition forces. This is not so true in Baghdad, but in the outlying towns all know. What is the culpability for those people in the village/town? Would the Marines be guilty in the U.S. under the same circumstances? I do not know whether or not the Marines are guilty. A Marine's job is to "close with and destroy the enemy by fire and maneuver," and I can guarantee its effectiveness. But the insurgents have the ear of the press. Hopefully the politics will be put aside for the investigation and the facts will be told, whatever they may be. |
| Posted by:Captain America |
| #7 THe GWOT > hyperpower democapitalist America must be placed under JUSTIFIED Anti-American American National Socialism and ditto Socialist OWG, whether VOLUNTARILY = FORCIBLY, UNILATERALLY = BY NECESSITY, etc. ONCE AMERICA GOES UNDER, THE WEST AND LATER THE NON-SOCIALIST-COMMUNIST WORLD WILL FOLLOW. THe Failed Left, Anti-American, and OWG agendists, etal. cannot be blamed for conspiracy becuz its "justified" - OOOOOOOPPPPPPPPPSSSSSS, THE BLAMELESS LEFT REMAINS BLAMELESS, ONCE BEFORE AND FOREVER. HOw does Britney keep getting herself into these things!? |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2006-06-06 22:10 |
| #6 Everyone remember the Massacre at Jenin? Nuff said. |
| Posted by: Cyber Sarge 2006-06-06 21:55 |
| #5 Well Dave, if they'd have acknowledged the danger in the past they'd have had to admit that it existed before the evil conservatives had a chance to create it. Now that said pesky condition no longer exists I expect we'll see full-on reporting of the dangers here soon enough ... complete with the requisite "This is all Bush's fault! They didn't hate us before!" |
| Posted by: AzCat 2006-06-06 20:50 |
| #4 More and more I see a civil war coming. DV: just for clarification: do you mean in Iraq or here? |
| Posted by: xbalanke 2006-06-06 20:46 |
#3 Like the author says in this article:"Because of the defiant, irrational and immoral refusal of Western political, cultural and media elites to acknowledge the threat that internal and external jihadist forces manifest to the very notion of human freedom, they make it impossible for their societies to take measures to protect themselves."I think we have a simple choice: either we lose the war against totalitarian Islam, or we somehow get these "elites" the hell out of the way so we can fight it. One or the other. |
| Posted by: Dave D. 2006-06-06 19:55 |
| #2 More and more I see a civil war coming. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2006-06-06 19:39 |
| #1 This fellow is naive. The media is not being manipulated. They are Durantys. The MSM is actively and intentionally working for the defeat of the U. S. military and the Bush administration, in that order. They con't care who wins as long as the U, S. loses. They are part of the enemy. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2006-06-06 19:39 |