June 21, 2006
Interesting Stuff # 69
The most frustrating thing about the antique media's coverage is the lack of perspective. It's true that most reporters are biased against our military; but the reality is much dumber: the reporters are simply too ignorant about the military and warfare to be coherent.
Many reporters have no basic knowledge of the armed services: not only have they never served in the military, they don’t even have a friend who has. Consequently, they don't understand how military operations work, what to expect, how missions are carried out, how long it takes, the overall strategy, or how one battle relates to another. That is why we hear random reporting of a battle here, an engagement there, without anyone ever engaging the reader. We "news consumers" have no idea if we are making any progress, because the media has never told us what "progress" would even look like.
Decades ago, we had a draft. While an army of conscripts has a lot of problems (just ask the Soviets), near universal conscription had one benefit: every male in America had either served himself or at least had close friends, relatives, and coworkers who served; and every woman had brothers, sons, or husbands who were in the military... so everybody knew who the servicemen were; they were not "others" or "outsiders;" the men on the wall peopled our own communities, from doctor to grocer to banker
Suskind and others may have been able to get away with a book like this before the new media. I predict there's going to be enough information which didn't originate with the Bush administration to make Suskind's book look more like swiss cheese, than red meat for the CIA and the Left, both so obviously intent on hurting the Bush administration.
Haditha, the Marines, and the Duty of Every American
If these men should be guilty, it will be determined and they would be unfortunate aberrations of a noble group, but if they prove innocent, we should be able to say we stood with these men when they needed us, not against them because some coward told a lie to the media.
Followers of the Haditha news will recognize the name Abdul-Rahman Al-Mashhadani as the "Chairman" of the newly formed Hammurabi Organization for Human Rights and Democracy Monitoring….
No "Social Conservatives" in the Career Military?
Nidra is in Tel Aviv covering the Gaza Beach blood libel. Here is her seminal report, unedited.
On close examination, it looks like the Gaza Beach tragedy was a Hamas-produced exploitation video passed off as news. Western media with a claim to integrity should explore their readiness to pick up and relay these lurid stories. The cynically exploited image of Huda running across the sand, discovering the dead bodies, throwing herself around hysterically, crying, and mouthing inappropriate accusations should be reviewed, cleansed of the twisted emotional impact it was designed to provoke, and studied as an example of blood libel.
— Bruce Kesler 
| Jun. 21, 2006 | 12:27 AM
| Jun. 21, 2006 | 12:27 AM