Iraq No Longer A News Story

[Lounge Daddy]

There is an AP story about Iraq no longer being a news story. I really believe that Iraq is no longer being covered because the allies, especially the U.S., is winning. If Iraq gains coverage again it will be because something bad happened to the U.S.

The sad and unsettling thing is if Iraq isn't being covered because we are winning, that also implies that Iraq isn't being covered now that the Islamists are losing. Where else are the militant Islamists losing? The Somali Islamists in Kenia and Etheopia? Afghanistan? Perhaps there is a sickening truth to the saying "no news is good news," especially when it comes to our very own media.

The AP story starts off right away that maybe people are simply tired of hearing about Iraq. I think that people are tired of hearing the failures get exclusive coverage, and even being told that we are losing when both our military commanders and even commanders in Al Qaeda and other Islamic terrorist groups say otherwise. I often wonder who's side people in the msm truly on.

Here is a small part of [url="http://www.miamiherald.com/776/story/458872.html"]the AP story[/url]:
[quote]Iraq war disappears as TV story

Remember the war in Iraq?

The question isn't entirely facetious. The war has nearly vanished from TV screens over the past few months, replaced by stories about the fascinating presidential campaign and faltering economy.

Yet Americans continue to fight and die there, five years after the war started in March 2003.

"It's no big secret that this is a war that everyone has grown tired of," said CNN correspondent Arwa Damon, whose documentary "On Deadly Ground: The Women of Iraq" is airing several times this month. "Iraqis are aware of it. They think it's a story that people are tired of hearing about. That's what makes our job more crucial."[/quote]

[Deb]

I guess it all depends on what is considered news. This just in: Bomb kills 43 in Iraqi City of Karbala.

[url="http://www.comcast.net/news/articles/general/2007/12/18/Iraq/"]http://www.comcast.net/news/articles/gener...007/12/18/Iraq/[/url]

[KnightofChrist]

This is something I noticed some time ago the media feeds on death, it loves when people die. It only reports on the deaths not the successes, the majority of the time. It loves to put in [b]BOLD CAPITAL LETTERS[/b] the numbers of the troops who have given their lives for us, and it's always "the most deadliest" day, week, month, since whenever date.

Edited March 17, 2008 by KnightofChrist

[Maggyie]

[quote name='KnightofChrist' post='1478906' date='Mar 17 2008, 07:28 PM']This is something I noticed some time ago the media feeds on death, it loves when people die. It only reports on the deaths not the successes, the majority of the time. It loves to put in [b]BOLD CAPITAL LETTERS[/b] the numbers of the troops who have given their lives for us, and it's always "the most deadliest" day, week, month, since whenever date.[/quote]

The relevant saying is, "If it bleeds, it leads." It is true for the media in war and on other beats, as well. If all you did was watch the news, you would think nothing happened in inner city America except drive-bys and drug wars.

[Starets]

The fact that the press needs [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QyfPTAfuEc"]dirty laundry[/url] has been known for some time

[CatherineM]

Female suicide bombers always make the news.

[Justin86]

Since this topic is about the obvious...

In other news: the sky is blue, NASA studies outer space, and the next Olympics will be held in Beijing assuming China can get the word's athletes to actually breathe their disgusting air.

[kenrockthefirst]

This is why:

[img]http://www.uclick.com/feature/08/03/16/ta080316.gif[/img]

The "surge" has worked to some extent in terms of reducing violence. But the point of the "surge" was to create "breathing space" for Iraqi leaders to make political progress. That hasn't happened.

In addition, with no end in sight to this war, and no indication that the current administration is going to change anything, people are understandably exhausted by a) the "whack-a-mole" situation that currently prevails and b) the fact that it doesn't look like anything's going to change anytime soon. I'm sure you're aware that we've now been in Iraq longer than the US commitment during WWII.

[KnightofChrist]

[url="http://www.spectator.co.uk/coffeehouse/547766/political-progress-in-iraq.thtml"]Political progress in Iraq[/url]
James Forsyth 6:29pm

The latest State of Iraq update from the Brookings Institution in The New York Times confirms the security success of the surge—there have been fewer civilian deaths in Iraq this past February than in any since the war started. Now, the argument moves to whether Iraqi politicians are capable of taking advantage of the space created by the surge.

It is clear that national reconciliation in Iraq remains a considerable way off. But it would be wrong to dismiss the definite signs of progress we have seen on this front recently. As the report notes,

[i] “The most intriguing area of late is the sphere of politics. To track progress, we have established “Brookings benchmarks” — a set of goals on the political front similar to the broader benchmarks set for Baghdad by Congress last year. Our 11 benchmarks include establishing provincial election laws, reaching an oil-revenue sharing accord, enacting pension and amnesty laws, passing annual federal budgets, hiring Sunni volunteers into the security forces, holding a fair referendum on the disputed northern oil city of Kirkuk, and purging extremists from government ministries and security forces.

At the moment, we give the Iraqis a score of 5 out of 11 (our system allows a score of 0, 0.5, or 1 for each category, and is dynamic, meaning we can subtract points for backsliding). It is far too soon to predict that Iraq is headed for stability or sectarian reconciliation. But it is also clear that those who assert that its politics are totally broken have not kept up with the news.”[/i]

[Deb]

[quote name='KnightofChrist' post='1478906' date='Mar 17 2008, 06:28 PM']This is something I noticed some time ago the media feeds on death, it loves when people die. It only reports on the deaths not the successes, the majority of the time. It loves to put in [b]BOLD CAPITAL LETTERS[/b] the numbers of the troops who have given their lives for us, and it's always "the most deadliest" day, week, month, since whenever date.[/quote]


Well, when there is a war going on where innocents are dying en masse, it should be news and it should be every time it happens. Once we start to look on a human being blown apart as just another dead person instead of what was minutes before a child of God, filled with light, then we have to ask ourselves exactly what kind of Christians we are.

You are right though, they really shouldn't report on our troops who are giving their lives for us. C'mon, they have managed to hide the coffins well enough, you would think they could find a way to keep that info away and not put it in caps. I mean, like this is really relevant to anything. It might upset some people. Right.

[KnightofChrist]

You've completely missed the point. It is not that deaths should not be reported, it is how that news is reported. There is no honor given for the troops. Instead their deaths are used in scorecard like form, along with very negative dishonorable sound bites. The Media quickly and very loudly points out and repeats, and repeats, and repeats, and repeats, and yes repeats the failures of the troops but is next to silent to point the troops successes, and goodness.

When a Israeli troop is killed in battle their media does not flash a scorecard, instead a picture with the person's name, and a brief description of that person, then that person is thanked and honored. In the American media they rarely in fact I have never seen the National American media report on the death of a servicemen and then thank him/her for their service and ultimate sacrifice.

And since we should honor these children of God, it is good their coffins are "hidden", since that is a very personal time for the families.

Edited March 19, 2008 by KnightofChrist