Corrupting our sight 2
Michelle Malkin has a long report which is an extended indictment of the stringer system in Iraq. She begins by reporting that an AP photographer who was part of the photographic team awarded the Pulitzer Prize for taking, among others, the photo of an election worker being murdered on Baghdad's Haifa Street was arrested in Ramadi.
Michelle Malkin says:
One member of the Pulitzer-winning AP team was AP stringer Bilal Hussein. ... According to my tipster, Hussein was captured earlier today by American forces in a building in Ramadi, Iraq, with a cache of weapons. I am still awaiting a response from the DOD's Combined Press Information Center and a Public Affairs Officer in Ramadi.
Mr. Hussein has apparently been associated with three questionable photographs discussed in a recent National Journal article by Neil Munro; a possible staged funeral and two pictures featuring a segment of track from a US armored vehicle used as a prop in possibly posed battle scenes. One of the most interesting pictures taken by Bilal Hussein is of the body of Italian hostage Salvatore Santoro. Al Jazeera explains how Santoro was killed and how his picture came to be taken.
Friday 17 December 2004, 10:18 Makka Time, 7:18 GMT -- An Italian captive identified as Salvatore Santoro has been killed by his captors in Iraq, Aljazeera reported. Aljazeera on Thursday broadcast pictures of Santoro's passport and showed him sitting bound and blindfolded in a ditch with a gun to his head. In separate footage, four masked and armed men were shown reading a statement. ... The Italian foreign ministry said an Iraqi photographer had been shown a passport and body that could be Santoro's. ... A group of people took the photographer to Ramadi, in western Iraq, "where they showed him the body of a man and a passport.
Photographs of Santoro's body credited to AP/Bilal Hussein can be found here. The Al-Jazeera video showing Santoro can be found here. Juxtaposing Bilal Hussein's stills with the video yields the montage below. As can be seen from the shadow cast by the corpse?, Bilal's stills and the video were taken within a short time of each other. Perhaps Santoro was already dead when the video was taken or Hussein was very close at hand to take the still after Santoro was killed. It's impossible for me to tell.
Bill Roggio has a major post on an insurgent attack on Ramadi that possibly never was.
Last weekend, several news sources, including the Associated Press and CNN, reported a major insurgent attack on the provincial government headquarters in the heart of Ramadi. ... The purported incident in Ramadi never made the press releases at either Multinational Forces-Iraq or CENTCOM. The Associated Press has a reporter (Todd Pitman) embedded with the Marines of the 3rd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment. Mr. Pitman's blog is called AP Blog From Ramadi, Iraq, and the site has not been updated since April 7th. An inquiry to Captain Alfred Smith, the Public Affairs Officer from the 2/28th Brigade Combat Team, which runs Ramadi, produced the following reply; "There was some action , a little more active than the norm but just another day for us." This Week in Iraq, a Coalition bulletin, has a brief description of a fight in Ramadi but nothing like the media accounts.
A reader in Holland notes some curiosities between a video from last weekend's purported Ramadi attack taken on April 8th and a photograph taken in Ramadi on March 14th. Study the video, then the photo, and you will see both of these images were taken at the exact same street corner in Ramadi, and shot from an identical angle. Note the awning, the poles, the two 'booths', even the stance of the 'insurgents' and the direction which they are firing. This is without a doubt the same street corner in Ramadi. The video and photo are obviously taken at two different points in time (note the umbrella in the video, as well as the different dress of the insurgents). (You'll have to watch the video to get the full effect as I was unable to capture a screen shot for a photo comparison.)
Commentary
The Haifa Street photograph was the subject of several posts at the old Belmont Club site (www.BelmontClub.blogspot.com). Readers can go here, here, here to read them. The basic problem with the picture was the improbability that an AP stringer should be present at exactly the right time and place to take the picture shown above. The Odds Against post said:
It may have been pure luck, but it was surely the longest of odds that would have brought an Associated Press cameraman to the site of a surprise attack on two Iraqi electoral workers.
The more details emerged the stranger the photograph grew. The post Haifa Street noted the amazing ability of the AP stringer to take the picture in the middle of reported firing by 30 insurgents -- a description provided by the AP itself.
According to Abdul Hussein Al-Obedi of the Associated Press:
During morning rush hour, about 30 armed insurgents, hurling hand grenades and firing guns, swarmed onto Haifa Street, the scene of repeated clashes between U.S. forces and insurgents. They stopped a car carrying five employees of the Iraqi Electoral Commission and killed three of them. The other two escaped. The commission condemned the attack as a "terrorist ambush." ...
The photographer(s) had supposedly blundered on the scene without expecting to meet gunplay. The same Haifa Street post quoted Salon:
Salon says:
A source at the Associated Press knowledgeable about the events covered in Baghdad on Sunday told Salon that accusations that the photographer was aware of the militants' plans are "ridiculous." The photographer, whose identity the AP is withholding due to safety concerns, was likely "tipped off to a demonstration that was supposed to take place on Haifa Street," said the AP source, who was not at liberty to comment by name. But the photographer "definitely would not have had foreknowledge" of a violent event like an execution, the source said.
But, met with "30 armed insurgents, hurling hand grenades and firing guns" the photographer was equal to the task.
Here was where the killers really lucked out. The AP photographer, though caught at unawares, who definitely had no "foreknowledge" of what was going down and at the worst expected a street demonstration, did not take cover, even as soldiers and Marines are trained to do when shooting starts. He was made of sterner stuff and held his ground, taking pictures of people he did not know killing individuals he did not recognize for reasons he would not have known about. This -- in the midst of "30 armed insurgents, hurling hand grenades and firing guns" -- as the Associated Press report says.
There was extensive commentary by readers about the where and how far the photographer had to be in relation to the 30 men firing guns and hurling grenades to take his photograph. Eventually the execution picture of the Iraqi election worker became part of AP's Pulitzer Prize portfolio and the world moved on. Now Michelle Malkin's report brings the whole issue of the spontaneity of the photograph back onto the table.
Let's go over Michelle Malkin's report carefully to see what information has been added. First, is it true that Bilal Hussein was part of the team which took the Pulitzer Prize winning photo? He was part of the citation for a set of photos, but is not clearly identified specifically with the Haifa Street picture. What the AP Photojournalists Win the Pulitzer Prize says is:
The AP won for a series of graphic and heartbreaking pictures of bloody combat in Iraq. Some of the photos had already won prizes. Many were taken at great personal risk to the photographers, including pictures of gunmen executing Iraqi election workers in the midst of morning traffic, and the charred remains of U.S. contractors who had been killed, dismembered, burned and hung from a bridge in Fallujah. ...
The photographers cited were Bilal Hussein, Karim Kadim, Brennan Linsley, Jim MacMillan, Samir Mizban, Khalid Mohammed, John B. Moore, Muhammad Muheisen, Anja Niedringhaus, Murad Sezer and Mohammed Uraibi. An unnamed stringer was credited in the photo package for the picture of a daytime execution of vote workers, with the anonymity due to security concerns.
Here are abbreviated bios: Khalid Mohammed, Baghdad, worked with AP for the past two years, spent significant time in Fallujah and at great personal risk, took the photos of the U.S. contractors killed, then dismembered, burned and their charred remains hung from a bridge. Mohammed said he was threatened immediately after taking the picture and had to escape quickly by car. "I told the driver to keep the engine running, just in case," he said.
Bilal Hussein remained behind in his hometown neighborhood so he could document the events of the battle for Fallujah, obtaining for AP a stunning and exclusive photo showing Iraqi insurgents firing their weapons. When he was forced to flee to Baghdad, his house – and his cameras – were destroyed in the fighting.
Mohammed Uraibi, Baghdad was hired and trained by AP's visiting non-Iraqi photographers.
Samir Mizban and Karim Kadim, Baghdad, navigated the hostile areas in the Iraqi capital, including the Sadr City neighborhood.
Bilal Hussein may have been one of the persons who took the Haifa Street pictures but this can't be conclusively determined from the information provided by AP. Until Hussein's arrest is confirmed or denied nothing definite can be added. Yet the practice of assigning stringers dependent on the indulgence of killers for both their lives and access must run the risk of corrupting the reportage. It is almost tantamount to providing each terrorist cells with their very own Alan-a-Dale; and if the digital troubadour will not sing to their liking then surely the killers will not allow him to sing at all. Is not this system an open invitation to stage attacks for propaganda; is there not some danger it will create the incentive to trade blood for news?
136 Comments:
Scott, this is who you're thinking of, re the blindfold:
I'm currently listening to "No True Glory". One impression that I am getting from this book is that we are being lied to by our own media.
According to Bing West, the american networks, having no internal source of footage simply relied on feeds from Al Jazeera.
My question is Why? Why would CBS, or CNN simply accept Al Jazeera footage at face value? Are they basically stating that bad video is better than no video at all? It certainly seems that way to me.
by giving Al Jazeera an amplifier the MSM allowed them influence beyond their wildest dreams.
Further, it seems that the Americans have not yet figured out how to contend with the willing liars that populate the ME. No effort is being made, that I can see to offset the endless stream of BS that is coming from the insurgents.
If this is truly an information war and we're fighting against those fine folks who brought us the Jenin Massacre, then the co altion needs to focus a bit more on getting their story out.
allawi shut down Al Jazeera once, perhaps some more tough response is in order.
Examinations of the behavior of the MSM, such as this one by our gracious host, must pierce to armor of denial that the traditional journalists seem to be wearing. Something must make them understand that they are getting this story completely wrong.
Skipsailing nails a REAL PROBLEM: Americans (and other westerners) are not yet setting our minds to the right mindset when it comes to HABITUAL LIARS, DISSEMBLERS AND OBFUSCATORS of Muslim or Arabic background.
It is a way of life for them. Their Holy Book tells them its fine to lie to those outside OUR group... and then God doesn't really punish you for lying, because THEY were outside OUR group, and don't really deserve the truth...
American Media! Wise up, clowns! Taqqiyah and k'ffir have many serious implications, for 'news' and 'propaganda!'
Is not this system an open invitation to stage attacks for propaganda; is there not some danger it will create the incentive to trade blood for news?
jenin, blood libel, MUHAMMAD AL-DURA
its all the same chicken shit arab fake news pattern
speaker-to-animals,
I am still waiting. Cat got your tongue?
"When the question of what is a moderate Muslim comes up, I take the shortcut: from a moderate Muslim I expect to hear the unequivocal repudiation of anyone or any organization responsible for sending a bomb-laden or otherwise armed assailant into Israel to kill civilians. I want to hear a single word (and not one word more) used to describe such an act: terrorism."
Come on, don't make me wait any longer; just simply say that the assailants and enablers responsible for killing Israeli civilians are going to hell. Come on, you can do it; just say, "Terrorism."
Mr. /Ms. Speaker-to-animals, if you can answer affirmatively, then, the contributors to this site, may, at long last, have found that ever illusive "moderate" Muslim.
Oh, also, is the "stringer" in this lede a "moderate" Muslim?
Jenin. The coverage proved to me, beyond any shadow of doubt, that the major media companies in this country were doing everything possible to support Yassir Arafat. This is the "what", but as far as the "why", that's a mystery for someone else to plumb. I find it incomprehensible.
Not that it matters very much but put me down in the "guy in the picture is dead" category. If you follow the link to the larger photos you will see Mr Santoro's body photographed from the same angle in two different photos. In one the body is alone. In the other we see two masked men standing beside the body pointing weapons at it. In both photos Santoro is in exactly the same uncomfortable looking position. He isn't holding his head up, as some have claimed here, it is slumped forward on his chest. He is sitting up because they have placed him with something (a big rock, maybe) behind his back to hold him up. If he was alive he would have moved while the terrorists were setting up for the next photo.
What is more sinister is that these jihadi agents that the MSM hires and supports also learn who the real journalists are and where to find them. Information that has resulted in the execution of many journalists. Murdered because of the MSM deliberate delinquency and complicity with jihadi agents.
Doug Santos,
Well said. Also, the depressing poll #s do not indicate what percent of those polled are advocates for the "FASTER PLEASE" prosecution of the GWOT, and Iraq in particular.
As is their habit, the MSM doesn't want to (won't) reveal these important distinctions, because it contradicts their slant.
Afterall, you and I don't believe them. How many others are really displeased with the level of activity, as much as Trish and Desert Rat?
doug santo, 8:29 AM
Good posting.
I try to remember that the same MSM that cooks the news in many instances also seasons the polls, if you know what I mean.
It cannot be said often enough, the polls, such as they are, are NOT showing disapproval of the Iraq war, per se. What they seem to indicate is public disappointment with the perceived stalemate in Iraq, which I tend to view as "trench warfare." When the administration adds to this perception its "long war" scenario, public discouragement is understandable.
It is just one man's opinion, but I foresee an enormous watershed of public support for the administration if and when the war goes mobile again.
Michelle Malkin is the greatest reporter of our age.
(and has more balls than 98% of modern American Males)
Those who have not read W's Haifa Series should take the time.
...sad that the comments aren't available, lots of enlightening discussion.
Any computer nerds out there that could help recover the spam-ruined comments?
Mat 8:33 AM,
That would make the Media Morally Responsible.
Please Delete.
Thx
AP thy name is Al-Pazeera.
CNN: Caliphate News Network
CBS: Caliphate Broadcasting System
Doug,
Haifa at Belmont
The comments section is no longer available, not in the cashed pages either.
"How many others are really displeased with the level of activity, as much as Trish and Desert Rat?"
---
Rhetoric about the Tehran Nutcase Now, instead of Action against Syria 2 years ago, is sad.
...as though they are not connected.
All you joos care about is cash.
...I'll just live with my toothache.
Thx again.
Doug,
There's an evil spirit that must be exorcised from that possessed tooth. How do you feel about a Kwanzaa service?
As long as there's some Black "Strippers."
---
Strippers, Stringers, Spaz's and Retards.
What's the World coming to?
Or, check out the oldest profession. :)
Doug said... 9:33 AM
"All you joos care about is cash."
That is just so wrong. If you would take the time to consult any reputable Islamic scholar, instead of throwing around wild accusations, you would know that at this time of year, for example, we are very interested in small Muslim children. Matzo.
It is said that there are some ancient documents that claim that "moderate" Muslims did not accept the authenticity of the Protocols. Of course, it has been such a long time since a "moderate" Muslim was last seen that we just don't know what the apparently extinct "moderate" Muslim believed.
Perhaps, an authority on "moderate" Islam, say, speaker-to-animals, could shed some light on the subject.
"Macchiarelli said the hard-to-see locations of the drilled teeth in jaws seem to rule out drilling for decorative purposes."
---
How do we know this was not the work of a tooth-cleaning Hermit Crab?
What would Machiavelli know, anyhoo?
Ouch!
Allen,
Only the Speaker would know.
...and the Animals, of course.
ABC--Always Bet Caliphate
NBC--Nice Big Caliphate
NYT--Now You're Toast
WP---We Perggresives!
buddy larsen,
NYT - Now You're Toast
Of course, women, children, minorities, and the poor will suffer most during the coming annihilation of the species.
It IS the end of the Earth. Damn the trans-fatty acids!
buddy larsen,
No, its the hot hair; oh, sorry, it's the hot air.
http://www.friendsofscience.org/
"Open Kyoto to debate
Sixty scientists call on Harper to revisit the science of global warming"
Ash, you DO "get" it, don't you, that Mika is trying to jog your imagination into the very real place wherein the most critically AWOL people of our times--the Moderate Muslims--actually do in fact, to one degree or another, live?
Acknowledge the point, man!
Fred Christensen, 84, U.S. Ace in Europe in World War II, Dies
...Zemke's Wolfpack
April 13, 2006 - By RICHARD GOLDSTEIN (NYT) - U.S. - Obituary
For his wartime exploits, he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Silver Star and the Air Medal. He was one of the top pilots in the 56th Fighter Group, which included Lt. Col. Francis Gabreski, the war's leading American ace in Europe, with 28 kills. The No. 1 American ace of World War II, Maj. Richard Bong, shot down 40 Japanese planes.
MSM--My Saddam Mercedes
says the Great Allah wan f'Krizzmuz esma d'ou Faroun d'Eeth.
Fly Another Way to Tiberon Bay
Same to ya, Trish--Happy Religious Observance Weekend.
What the 56th Fighter Group flew (they probably went to P-51s later in the war, but Zemke, Gabreski, and the old breed made their kills in this art-deco beauty).
The Jug was "Less Glamorous"
Ah, yes, I remember a long list of links of Heather's I copied and pasted to various places.
...sucked into the Black Hole.
Allen,
"we are very interested in small Muslim children."
Why the switch from Christian? Fewer calories?
I remember the whole thing, Heather--you did do quite a campaign, bringing out contact addresses for AP execs & directors.
I'm sure you did some good. Not so much to actually 'move' those characters--after all, they're invested deeply in the democratic party, according to the records--but to help let them know their slant was being found out.
It was interesting to note the links with various Clinton/Kerry/Gore campaigns, almost looks as though their steering AP coverage toward anti-OIF is less hatred of war/violence and more just plain old domestic politics.
Which begs the question, what is an elite so devoid of perspective, doing in the "perspective" business?
I recall those two murdered campaign workers both had young children at home. Hope they are doing as well as possible. Their daddies, in addition to dying for an AP Pulitzer, also contributed another fact that AP probably didn't want to convey--that there are Iraqi patriots willing to die for their country, and that the terrorists want them dead.
Eggplant,
It only makes sense if the MSM (as a group) believes that the US is so invulnerable, that with their party in power, it would mean the same level of success in prosecution of the war, and protection of basic values.
If one doesn't believe in, or if one is fatalistically indifferent to, or if one is colluding with the threat, anything seems plausible.
Wretchard,
What do you think of this concept?
exhelodrvr,
They're just much harder to find these days.
geoffgo, the folks in the exec suite now were cub reporters during the "VietNam Syndrome" era--the Carter years, the demoralization years, the double-digit inflation/interest-rate years, the USSR years (we skipped the Moscow Olympics--can you imagine?).
Bad times, right?
Wrong! These were also the Democrat years, as the party was winning the USA elections, and had control of DC and all the institutions of American life. THIS is what they remember--nothing else mattered, the disaster of American foreign policy, or the world economy, or the losses worldwide of freedom to tyranny and fear, the birth of the modern jihad, all are just fluff, meaningless against the Great Golden Memory of the Power of the Democratic Party in America.
This is the most likely explanation, to me, for the alliance between Jihad and MSM. Hard to know the lay of the land when your head is permanently lodged in your lower gastrointestinal tract.
buddy larsen, 11:27 AM
That bad-boy just says, "Bite this, Hermann!"
I don't recall where, but somewhere I saw some beautiful color film of their action over Germany in 1945. Spectacular stuff.
buddy wrote:
"Ash, you DO "get" it, don't you, that Mika is trying to jog your imagination into the very real place wherein the most critically AWOL people of our times--the Moderate Muslims--actually do in fact, to one degree or another, live?
Acknowledge the point, man!"
wellll, I must be dense 'cause the point you see so clearly evades me. It's simply not "he's joking" or is it? I'm sure we can pull references from the Bible, in particular the old testament, and do a send up of American Evangelicals. Heck we can even work with the new testament and play with "turn the other cheek".
Anyway, please help me out and make the point in a clear and succinct manner.
I have a big problem and a little problem with the AP photo/Roggio post.
The big problem is that while both topics are worthy of discussion, they fall under the all too familiar mantle of finding any reason to not discuss the wretched state of affairs in Iraq. Roggio is a master at this.
The little problem regards the photo and the supposition that the fotog was tipped. I worked in daily journalism for many years with some of the best fotogs in the business, including a guy who shared in AP's Pulitzer on the Iraq photos. Hate to break it to the tried-and-convicted gang, but good fotogs have an uncanny knack of making their luck; that is, being at the right place at the right time. That needs to be factored into any discussion
buddy,
Bong=P-38
If he is using a digital camera to take the pics, then the original images and footage will bear a watermark. There will also be other distinguishing characteristics.
Furthermore, all cameras bear unique fingerprints based upon the optics and other components which can be teased out and fingerprinted then correlated.
I don't have the time to do this, but maybe someone else does.
Mr Mullen I wish I could agree with you.
First, it is my clear impression that the media is part of the reason for "the wretched state of affairs in Iraq."
As I pointed out in an earlier comment, Bing West's critique of the media is stunning. By amplifying, without confirmation, the stuff coming out of the Fallujah via al jazeera, our media played into the hands of the insurgents and thus became a significant part of the problem.
there is no avoiding this mr Mullen, the media has an agenda vis a vis Iraq and thus they must assume some of responsibility for the current state of affairs there.
Next, sir, your point is that the good ones make their own luck, but my contention is that the Arabs make their own news.
What if the pinheads in the news rooms applied the same sneering cynicism to feeds from arab stringers as they apply to anything said by any member of the US military?
would the media have fallen for the Jenin Massacre BS, sir? Would they have simply echoed the false statements of the insurgents concerning the casualties incurred during the first assault on Fallujah?
so our media outlets rebroadcast picture of dead children, never thinking to ask who might have killed them. now, after witnessing years of evil from Al Qaeda it's clear who killed those babies shown on AlJazeera, but our media simply stamped this with their imprimatur and passed it along.
The track record of America's journalists is simply appalling. I have seen too much shoddy work to give the press a "pass" on this issue.
it is long past time for a day of reckoning with an industry that has become a source of virulent anti American propaganda and I don't mean Al Jazeera, Mr Mullen.
Anyway, please help me out and make the point in a clear and succinct manner.
I find this request of yours, Ash, rather amusing considering the subject matter of Wretchard's entry post above.
There are only 2 reasons that you do not fear Islamists.
1. You are fearless
2. You are one of them
So which is it? And I'm still waiting on that address.
Ash, nothing religious to it, just that there really are people out there who'll kill ya if you disagree with 'em.
Shaun, you're right. The discussion was "what are the odds?" Something about the same few individuals having lightning strike right in front of their cameras, over and over, regularly. Take a look at those archived Belmonts--won't take you but a few minutes.
buddy larsen,
This is just a rumor, mind you, but the President will seek a special appropriation to help bolster his claim that Islam is the “religion of peace.” Incredibly, the president will ask Congress for an additional $800 billion in GWOT money. The funds will be equally divided between reinforced DHS teams in both Arkansas and Tasmania.
As I’m sure you know, for years scientists have relentlessly beaten the swamps of Arkansas and the mountains of Tasmania, hoping to find evidence of a living Ivory-billed woodpecker and Tasmanian tiger, respectively. How, you may ask, does this relate in any way to the GWOT? Glad you asked.
Secretary of State, Dr. Condoleezza Rice, has convinced the President that if a “moderate” Muslim is to be found anywhere on earth, then, that place must be either Arkansas or Tasmania. She believes that the last remnants of the micro-sub-species “Islamitis minor-bellicose-bozo” retreated into the sanctuaries that have served the ivory-bills and tigers so well.
Said Dr. Rice, former Provost at Stanford University and piano virtuoso, “We have always said, since September 11th, that we believe that Muslims are just like everybody else. That being the case, it is only reasonable to assume that, in the present environment of vigilantism and Islamophobia, they have sought the support of other equally endangered minorities; ergo, if there remain any “moderate” Muslims, they will be found in either (and intelligence tells us probably both) Arkansas or Tasmania.”
Furthermore, said Ms. Rice, “While administration critics may question the size of our appropriation request, the President believes that the dangerous and daunting task of finding a “moderate” Muslim will require such a sum, if not more. He feels the money will be well spent in securing the homeland. It is the President’s concern that, unless a “moderate” Muslim can soon be found, the American public will come to question the very rationale of his foreign policy. Indeed, he fears that the public may come to ask, ‘Hey, dude, if there aren’t, like, any peace loving towel heads, why didn’t we, like, just nuke’em, man?’”
buddy wrote:
"Ash, nothing religious to it, just that there really are people out there who'll kill ya if you disagree with 'em. "
so true...hey what is war anyway but a big disagreement.
Habu1,
Have a safe trip. It was good to have your company.
eggplant, 12:45 PM
"The hapless Japanese didn't know Bong was behind him until it was too late."
That is SO unfair. Was that within the Geneva Convention?
habu, you gonna be a dental floss tycoon?
hehehe, Zappa reference. Anyway, don't they have the internet where you's goin'? I'm with ya on the hoops et al consuming too much of life.
habu_1,
Be well!
From WaPo,
"Batiste said he believes that the administration's handling of the Iraq war has violated fundamental military principles, such as unity of command and unity of effort. In other interviews, Batiste has said he thinks the violation of another military principle -- ensuring there are enough forces -- helped create the Abu Ghraib abuse scandal by putting too much responsibility on incompetent officers and undertrained troops."
Yeh, like he or anyone could-would have foreseen this type of behavior, and spent a division of seasoned troops guarding the gaurds. I'm glad his not still active.
I am not surprised.
A few years ago, the AP uncritically ran an article claiming, "Unlike Christianity, Islam is a way of life." The pattern is consistent. Islamist propaganda gets through our media unfiltered, while other views get systematically filtered by our media.
I stand by my statement that the Vietnam paradigm continues to blind the American electorate. Individual Americans may understand the situation, but that doesn't undermine the power of our popular culture to distort the consciousness of those without the time to think about what is going on. It is as if the images we see in the media are straight out of the Mesoamerican myths of the "smoking mirror", for the "smoking mirror" we see is designed to defeat us and leave us feeling disgusted with ourselves.
One wonders if the principal reason for Islamist terrorism is to (1) gain privileged access to the media for their message and (2) mark out (like so many dogs) the news media as their territory. If so, they appear to be succeeding.
Part of the blame lies with a segment of our elite that feels an emotional investment in American defeat, and part of the blame lies with pronouncements such as those from the Vice President's office that victory is "just around the corner". As a rule, it's better to warn of a long and bitter struggle ahead and look surprised when we do win rather than expecting to win easily and then feeling betrayed that we didn't beat the pointspread.
Okay, let's say the AP is infiltrated. To quote Boss Tweed, "What are you going to do about it?"
This is where an outfit like Pajamas Media might be able to do something -- imagine if photos and stories by bloggers with established journalistic integrity could be put into a wire service format so newspapers and newspaper chains could print blogs, news stories, and photos from outfits other than AP, Reuters, or UPI.
I think this could make local newspapers more interesting and relevant.
Heather,
I conclude the threat of a co-ordinated TAX strike is the only weapon we have left.
Them ain't "Moderate Muslims" in Arkansas:
Those hills are filled with the species Wetbackus Latinus:
aka Militant Mexicans.
And, from the same piece:
"The problem is that we've wasted three years" in Iraq, said Zinni, who was the chief of the U.S. Central Command, which oversees Iraq and the rest of the Middle East, in the late 1990s. He added that he "absolutely" thinks Rumsfeld should resign.
Instead of doing what? Not a hint.
Why is Montana an excuse to desert the cause?
Does the Big Sky reflect Satellite Waves, or somethin?
And,
"A lot of them are hugely frustrated," in part because Rumsfeld gave the impression that "military advice was neither required nor desired" in the planning for the Iraq war, said retired Lt. Gen. Wallace Gregson, who until last year commanded Marine forces in the Pacific Theater. He said he is sensing much anger among Americans over the administration's handling of the war and thinks the continuing criticism from military professionals will fuel that anger as the November elections approach. He declined to discuss his own views."
Er, Generals, how would you have done it?
The Generals: "We can't say until around September, because it's all still classified."
" He added that he "absolutely" thinks Rumsfeld should resign.
Instead of doing what?
Not a hint."
---
Instead of continuing to torture and humiliate the Hapless DC Press Corps, of course!
Where's the Geneva Convention on that?
Fat chance, habu. It's too late for you. You'll be out there in your waders, knee-deep in that sparkling cold water, slinging that fly, watching it arc across the cobalt blue and drop behind that big wet rock jutting out of the swirl, and you'll think "Beautiful, what words will I use to think about it?"
This is where an outfit like Pajamas Media might be able to do something -- imagine if photos and stories by bloggers with established journalistic integrity could be put into a wire service format so newspapers and newspaper chains could print blogs, news stories, and photos from outfits other than AP, Reuters, or UPI.
Alexis,
That was what I wanted Wretchard to take a look at on my 11:59 AM post.
Ernest Habuway
Skipsailing 12:41 PM,
Very well said, thanks.
The MSM thinks a mere
Assertion Makes it So.
As in,
"We're Not Biased, what bias?"
(and if we were, we would not be morally accountable)
Buddy,
Nice. B>)
All of this comes down to the basic point that the Liberal Mass Media hates George Bush and would willingly lie, cheat and kill in order to cast disparaging doubts on his leadership, regardless of whether it is good or bad, or he is successful or fails. George Bush is not the point. The Leftists are Socialists and hated George Bush for being a conservative the instant he won the election in 2000. Everything since then has been one long "we hate you, George" from beginning to end.
The only good news out of this whole shabang is that half the country has at the maturity enough to acknowledge that our civilization requires that we treat the sitting President with respect and let him do his job, though with the understanding that if he does something actually illegal or treasonous he should be lawfully removed from office.
The Leftists are Socialists and for better or worse will not ever ever ever acknowledge that what they are saying and "reporting" about and from Iraq is mere propaganda.
Oh well.
Journalists For Sale
The very people that should not have our tax money with which to buy cover, are the very people who need cover and are shameless enough to buy it. Alas, all is vanity.
What is the “pious” Muslim reading today in the Arab News - The Middle East's Leading English Language Daily?
The Jews looted the Baghdad Museum?
http://yourish.com/
“The ransacking of the National Museum in Baghdad was done by Jewish groups that were well trained and organized. They did their dirty work under the supervision of American forces.”
With the usual caveats about polls, this is what is being reported in Germany, today:
45 % of Germans call the U.S. a "greater threat to world peace" than Iran. 28 % think that Iran is a greater threat. For 16 %, the U.S. and Iran pose identical threats.
http://medienkritik.typepad.com/blog/2006/04/germans_us_more.html
What was that about "winning hearts and minds", again?
"It is useless to attempt to reason a man out of a thing he was never reasoned into." - Swift
"We Are But A Camera!" cries the Press, Bellowing & Howelling.
Mat, did that Machiavellenstein Character get those teeth from the Baghdad Booty?
Dr. Evil, DDS.
Last night's South Park episode is the #1 search item at Technorati right now.
As I said last night, this could be the ideological catalyst we've been waiting for--if we choose to use it. Everything's there: a stirring tribute to free speech, an example of what's at stake, a brilliant juxtaposition of what's allowed and what isn't, and the disgraceful outcome of censorship. It's perfect.
If you missed it, Michelle Malkin has clips. Also, it re-airs tonight at 10pm ET on Comedy Central.
The issue is gaining momentum, and I think we need to give it a shove.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Alright, one more time. Here.
Aristidese 2:32 PM,
My son has a source for the entire episode. I'll see if I can pry it from him within the week.
Should change his name to "Ta da"
Maybe we'd stop all the mispelin.
Kevin C. writes...
"My feelings on the whole issue can be summed up in two words: Comedhimmi Central."
Doug,
P2P sites like BitTorrent have it available for free (takes forever), and Itunes has it for $1.99. If your son knows of something else, please relay it when you get a chance.
I know it is only a cartoon, but it felt like a big deal. It commanded all conversations today at the law school (though Prof. Reynolds, oddly, seemed non-committal).
The distillation of the issue was brilliant. In a perfect world, this episode would get the attention it deserves. Here's hoping our crappy media picks up on the controversy.
Also at Captain's Quarters:
Arizona Votes for Enforcement
"Free market capitalism cannot exist in a lawless environment and when we encourage amnesty for illegal aliens we are encouraging lawlessness and anarchy. While the International Corporatists assume huge profits by encouraging cheap lawless labor and restricting free market wages, the American taxpayer pays dearly the price for the Corporatist's profits.
Look at it these way, had illegals aliens never been given amnesty in the first place, businesses would have been forced to adjust according to market demands instead of artifically driving wages down.
When wages begin to decline for legal Americans they they have no choice but to rely upon the government to care for them further institutionalizing the serfdom of socialism.
Amnesty is slavery."
Posted by: syn
"Prof. Reynolds, oddly, seemed non-committal"
---
Maybe the horror of imagining his wife watching him star in a video of some sort.
instapundit is on it.
bobalharb 3:04 PM,
Back when I used to sin and indulge too much, I invented walking BETWEEN the Rocks, in slip proof mode.
(odd how smart we think we are while chemically compromised.)
" I suspect they'll discover that Robert Heinlein was right when he said that it may be better to be a live jackal than a dead lion --
...but that it's better still, and usually easier, to be a live lion."
Doug,
The earliest mention of Babylon is in a dated tablet of the reign of Sargon of Akkad (24th century BC short chr.). The First Babylonian Dynasty was established by Sumu-abum, but the city-state controlled little surrounding territory until it became the capital of Hammurabi's empire (ca. 18th century BC).
The city of Baghdad is often said to have been founded on the west bank of the Tigris on 30 July 762 by the Abbasid dynasty, led by caliph al-Mansur; however, the city of Baghdad is mentioned in pre-Islamic texts, including the Talmud. Thus Baghdad was probably built on the site of this earlier Persian city.
The caves located on the western slopes of Mt. Carmel, some 20 km. south of Haifa, where Nahal Me'arot (Valley of the Caves) emerges into the Coastal Plain. They were first excavated in the 1920s and 1930s.
The Tabun Cave was occupied intermittently during the Lower and Middle Paleolithic ages (half a million to some 40,000 years ago). In the course of this extremely long period of time, deposits of sand, silt and clay of up to 25 m. accumulated in the cave. Excavation proved that it has one of the longest sequences of human occupation in the Levant.
The material remains from the upper strata in the Tabun Cave are of the Mousterian culture (about 200,000 - 45,000 years ago). Small flint tools, made of thin flakes, predominate here, many produced by the Levallois technique: a method of carefully trimming the flint core before the desired shape of the flake is struck off. Tools typical of this culture are elongated points, flakes of various shapes used as scrapers, end scrapers and many denticulate tools used for cutting and sawing.
The Tabun Cave contains a Neanderthal-type burial of a female, dated to about 120,000 years ago. It is one of the most ancient human skeletal remains found in Israel.
Unfortunately Doug, I did not have the foresight to check the mandibular and maxillary bones for any possessed teeth. :-/
I always wondered where the term
"Mickey Mousterian"
came from.
Astonishing how much ancient material has been discovered so recently in ancient Israel. For example, Masada, prominently placed atop a mountain and known of by the writings, wasn't discovered until the 1960s.
Wade Zirkle
is the Executive Director of Vets for Freedom, and it was his op-ed in this morning's Washington Post, "Troops in Support of the War," that brought the group to my attention.
Zirkle will be my guest in hour three of today's program, which I will repeat in the first hour on Friday's program. I hope you will listen and agree that his group deserves support.
You can donate online to Vets for Freedom via the PayPal button at their site.
-Hewitt http://www2.krla870.com/listen/
Dan,
see:
geoffgo at 1:10 PM
Doug, 3:56 PM
Note the date of the article.
I have a solution to the problem of Islam's closed book. Let's all become Muslims! LIBERAL Muslims!
Mat,
I didn't realize til now that Abu Ghraib was worse than My Lai, but who am I to question Saint Powell?
---
Dan, Tex has a Bat Ye'or question for you back at
A sophisticated point of view.
'kay, that's two of us. We moderate muslims demand an immediate end to terrorism!
From the Asia Times article:
.
.
Even more remarkable, perhaps, was the a front-page article on Sunday by the Post's veteran military correspondent, Tom Ricks, titled, "Dissension Grows in Senior Ranks on War Strategy". The article quoted army Major General Charles Swannack, commander of the 82nd Airborne Division in Iraq, as insisting that US forces were winning the war in Iraq at the tactical level but, "strategically, we are [losing it]."
"Strategically we are losing it." What does that mean?
I'd bet he means something like, Radical Islam ain't going away, in the global village. But neither is Scientology, or VooDoo, or heck, crime.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Buddy,
The Iraq invasion began on March 20, 2003. The article is dated May 12, 2004.
How long did it take to beat Communism?
I don't know, Mika. but, as the ex taught me, there's absolutely nothing anywhere that can't be second-guessed, hindsighted, and criticized.
watching students from UC/Santa Cruz demonstrating against mil recruiters. They have their faces covered, ala terrorists. The black was chosen over the blue & white checkered. AQ must be more stylish than the PLO these days, at least on the west coast.
Buddy,
I just can't understand someone who is a US General saying that we are losing this war, when one by one we are dismantling the authoritarian structures that support jihad and radicalism.
Tribune Company profit falls
http://www.tribune.com/
Is there a correlation, here?
Let' hope so.
Mətušélaḥ, 5:14 PM
Re: "I just can't understand someone who is a US General"
Have I ever mentioned that flag officers aren't what they used to be?
Does today's blathering by recently retired generals say something about why the US might be having some rough patches in Iraq and elsewhere?
Hercules, where are you?
Allen,
Thanks for the stock tip. From 50 down to 28 with increased volume. I'll be shorting this shortly. :)
How 'bout Samson instead--?
Don't short it, it's too low--bad risk/reward. at least wait awhile and let the bad earnings shake out.
I'd like to see rupert buy that sob out. but i understand that it's poison-pilled some sort of way--prob the family holdings.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Jihad Watch is reporting the results of a CBS poll about the impressions of various religions held by the American public. See “Poll: Sinking Perceptions Of Islam”
http://www.jihadwatch.org/
Also, see, http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/04/12/national/main1494697.shtml?source=RSS&attr=U.S._1494697
I suppose it is a positive thing that 45% of the American public holds an unfavorable impression of Islam. It is mind numbingly shocking, however, that “Thirty-six percent of respondents said they haven’t heard enough or don’t know enough to say either way.” DoD needs to buy some commercial time on American Idol.
Even more astonishing to me is the 52% of Americans having an unfavorable impression of Scientology! What have I missed? How many thousands of innocent people have been slaughtered in the latest onslaught of Islamic militancy since 9-11? How much death and destruction has been wrought by Tom Cruise during this time? Sure, John Travolta has been busy creating a cinematic tough-guy routine, but does that really count?
Anyone out there have a clue?
I spoke too soon--should've first axed if you wuz looking at the technicals. Less-experienced folks often want a momentum play that they noticed because of the momentum--which is likely mostly over by the time the retailers notice it. The short-squeeze artists move in long.
Allen, 6:02 PM
South Park. Thirty-six percent of respondents didn't watch it. :)
Mətušélaḥ, 6:32 PM
Wonder to whom their votes go?
Think they might be the demographic that believes that Mr. Kerry lost his hat fighting the CIA in Cambodia?
I just hope Mr. Rove engineers a massive demonstration on election day.
Who's minding the store?
“The unwilling and Iran”, Austin Bay, http://www.austinbay.net/blog/
From the look of the quoted article, Col. Bay hasn’t much confidence in Dr. Rice’s Russian, Chinese, or European partners, vis a vis Iran - so much for Dr. Rice’s “international community.”
She may have to start talking for the American community,exclusively, any day now.
I was surprised with a couple of seemingly offhanded remarks in just the last couple of days that occurred during newscasts. One was on the nightly BBC report - a segment of the election standoff in Italy. The anchor made the comment that Berlusconi " alleged fraud - again". Clearly commentary to make Berlusconi look unreasonable.
The other was a report on the Duke lacrosse/rape thing that appears to be a bust for the media. When it was reported that there was some question about the dancer actually getting raped and that DNA evidence "suggested otherwise" as if DNA evidence is something other than indisputable.... anyway there was this funeral parlor sadness that came to the voices of Katie & Matt. They just knew those rich white boys had to be guilty. They were clearly disappointed with the news.
My point is this: The left leaning MSM in the West could never, would never, still never admit that is who and what they are. They can put labels on anyone but themselves because "they speak for every educated and nuanced" human. They've become so deluded with their nihilistic righteousness that they think anyone who doesn't think like they do must be an extremist.
Now, they don't even try to hide their bias because they are so convinced their worldview is accurate. The fraternity they've made with the Islamoids, their infatuation with Marxist, thug dictators in any hellhole on earth, and their complete hate & distrust for conservatives & Christians in general put them squarely on evil's front step.
Wouldn't those be "nanotech" brain spatulas, Dementia?
/slash/ dementia, 7:22 PM
Hey!
All of Dr. Rice's degrees were taken in political science. Doubtless, that gives her expertise in the science of global warming, but you might want to reconsider her assistance during neurosurgery. A mind is a terrible thing to waste.
Senator "Davy Crockett" Frist is a cardiologist, I believe. Your odds of successful synaptic re-education might be better with him in attendance rather Dr. Rice, but you really should think about, OZ.
slash, (May I be so bold?)
Is it true that Chancellor Merkel is a staunch disciplinarian? While far older than Ms. Malkin, there is something to be said for experience and "They are so grateful!!!" - Franklin
"...an OZ of prevention is worth a LB of cure!"
Mətušélaḥ
Sure fire stock tip: buy low; sell high. No, I mean the stock high.
This has been a public service announcement.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Dementia has been watching Katie Couric again.
Good site, heartof--bookmarked, will send it around. Thanks--
speaker-to-animals,
Got to toddle off to bed. Before I go, I need to finish some business begun yesterday and addressed occasionally throughout this day.
Mr. /Ms Speaker-to-animals, despite your best effort at camaraderie, your name tells the tale. Although to your mind you are a compassionate, pious Muslim, also shall we say knowledgeable and savvy in the ways of the West – a member of the Rotary Club and student of Dr. Edward Said, in the last analysis, we infidels are just animals. Nothing personal, to be sure, merely a quirk of fate – Allah’s will. No doubt, in your mind, that you have deigned to charitably lower yourself to communicate with us reinforces your sense of moral superiority.
Earlier, I put to you a simple proposition: from you, a “moderate” Muslim I asked to hear the unequivocal repudiation of anyone or any organization responsible for sending a bomb-laden or otherwise armed assailant into Israel to kill civilians. I asked to hear from you a single word (and not one word more) in description of such an act: “terrorism.” You, like every one of your co-religionists to whom I have put the test, did not disappoint. No, using the standard CAIR techniques, you obfuscated and, finally, disappeared from the thread. Believe me, I do understand.
Had you risked stating the obvious and only moral answer possible to a decent human being, your pious co-religionists might find you out. As you are all too aware, describing the act of killing and/or enabling the killing of Israeli civilians as “terrorism” would seal your doom. Yes, the pious ones would slit your throat from ear-to-ear. Like young Parisian Jew, Ilan Halimi, they might take weeks to finish the job, entertaining both themselves and telephonically your hysterical family, methodically amputating every digit one phalanx at a time, not to mention castration and sodomy. Who knows, Mr. Bilal Hussein, just serendipitously being in the neighborhood, might snap the pictures for the AP. On a really good news day, he also might have sound equipment to pick-up the screams of your family members similarly being administered Islamic justice for the crime of associating with a heretic.
Yes, Mr./Ms Speaker-to-animals, I do understand. As time passes, more of my fellow countrymen are also starting to understand.
/slash/dementia, 8:39 PM
The answers you seek cannot be KNOWN by the public for 50 -75 years, if then. That is not to say that your questions are not intriguing; they are.
In the interim, what do you propose as sound policy for the United States in relation to Iran specifically, the region generally, and Islam universally?
Buddy,
If I get a heart icon, might you pay me your kind attention too?
(3:42 PM)
Oh, Bother!
...sniff
Sorry, Doug, I was trine to make a buck along in there. Yes, same site, and a good one. Please don't churl.
Allen, asker-of-questions-to-moderate-Muslims, there's another intriguingly peaceful post at the tail end of the previous thread, from a Mr. moonebones, who offers universal peace. Of intwerest that he refers to dhimmis being restricted to a few "Pornistans" to "live out their old age". I think he may have a small point re "Pornistan", and I think it's good that RoP has found a voice to criticize us on some basis other than "becuz da Book sez". The west does need to rein in the hedonism, probably. What else could we do, to co-opt the jihad before we have to bring Hell down upon it?
Allen 5:22 PM,
Old Estes
and his
Hearings
changed "our" Senators forevermore.
I guess maybe the 24 hour Newscycle on unlimited channels has had the same effect on some of our retired officers.
Once they watched the CNN Desert Storm news conferences, they had to have some of that celebrity for themselves.
Buddy,
As I see it, I live in Puritanistan.
Seems some others disagree.
The Unwashed.
Buddy 5:04 PM,
That's all the liteweight stuff.
It's the Blindsided that's lethal.
But your identity, to hundreds of millions of the non-English-speaking illiterate and semi-literate pious world-wide, is as it is transmitted through the entertainment channels, and the advertising that pays the freight. Puritan may ye be, but pornographic be ye branded.
Here, this is short and brutal.
sandman call--Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition--manana, dude--
Rick Ballard looks at NYTimes' stock. OK, now fer sher, sleeeeeep....
trish, 10:43 PM
Longstreet’s command performance at Chickamauga was nothing short of brilliant. His reticence/hostility at Gettysburg was criminally negligent. His stature prevented the punishment for those offences that a more junior officer rightly would have deserved. His numerous, sometimes self-contradictory, self-serving renditions of events after the war place him in the same league as the numerous critical generals now coming out of the woodwork in opposition to Mr. Rumsfeld. When integrity counted, Longstreet was wanting as are his modern imitators.
As to my opinion of flag officers and “Colonels”, I have either failed to make myself clear or you have failed to carefully read my numerous previous posts. It was my opinion in 2000, proven accurate by the behavior of these retired flag officers and, indeed, some colonels, that they were the damaged goods of the previous administration; an administration more concerned with public pronouncements of political correctness than actual sound military policy. Senior officers were chosen on that basis. Had you been as aware as I of the sorry state of military readiness during the Clinton years, you might have shared my view that Mr. Bush needed to make a clean sweep of the upper echelons of command, beginning at the O-6 level, when he came into office.
It is a personal opinion that the administration’s strategic premise of “democratization” was and is flawed. Despite this flaw, the military performance in Iraq will be heralded by future generations as extraordinary. Blemishes notwithstanding, the United States occupies the most important piece of real estate in the world, today. As more becomes known of the tactical decisions exercised in Iraq, the FUBAR of Fallujah will not appear an anomaly. That said, what I find reprehensible about the conduct of retired O-6s and flag officers is not WHAT they now profess, but the timing.
Some of these gentlemen commanded divisions. Some had command authority at the Corps level. To some degree, all had the ear of the President. The officers and enlisted personnel serving under them relied upon their considered opinions and sound judgment to make possible the successful completion of the mission and to bring them safely home. These senior officers, rather than voicing their concerns at a time and in a manner commensurate with their current professed outrage, when doing so would have had considerable weight in the mind of the public, i.e. while on active duty, chose, instead, as is their wont, “careerism”, selfishly depriving their subordinates and the American public of the powerful defense that simple resignation would have provided. I am thinking of the courage of conviction of late Colonel David Hackworth, here.
As a matter of business administration, only, Mr. Rumsfeld should resign. The obvious dysfunctionality of the DoD, evidenced by the extraordinarily harmful exit interviews of so many former general officers supervised, personally, by him is sufficient cause. That he could have had almost daily contact with these subordinates and failed to detect neither their antipathy nor lack of commitment to the mission is indicative of a flawed management style. Whether the opinions of Mr. Rumsfeld’s recently retired subordinates are right or wrong, true or false is immaterial. The fact that so many of his personal charges could come away from service harboring such bitterness demonstrates, to my satisfaction, that the system is broken. If Mr. Rumsfeld were a professional athletic coach, I suspect even his hardcore supporters at this site would agree with my assessment. Mr. Rumsfeld is in charge at DoD; therefore, he is responsible for the very public scandal created by his former staff. He should resign for the good of the service.
Would Mr. Rumsfeld’s resignation hurt the administration and help its critics? You bet. But then so did the dismissal of Generals McClellan and MacArthur. The country, nevertheless, survived the trauma.
Allen,
I think you're being a b bit too harsh on Don Rumsfeld. If Rumsfeld is too soft on the dunces it is because the President is too soft with them.
Conclusion, Dementia, vat iss der conclusion ? Vat doss it all mean ???
Mayonnaise addiction? Go here.
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