Kudos to Flopping Aces
CENTCOM is demanding the retraction of an AP story that six men were burned after being dragged by militias from a mosque, after AP source "Police" Capt. Jamil Hussein turned out not be a policeman, says Hot Air. The story was originally broken by Flopping Aces who showed the AP had used this fake policeman as a source over and over again over an extended period of time.
Some news outlets are now going to officially refer to Iraq as a Civil War. Two questions. Does that mean the Sunni insurgency "loses" seeing as they succeeded in rousing the majority of Iraq's population against them in addition to getting beat up by the US military? Or do they, by "magical realism", get to claim victory over America, even after America is called upon to save their a..? Second, to what extent does the news media claim credit for stoking the official Civil War with their fake stories? Sorry. Wrong questions.
posted by wretchardthecat at 11/27/2006 04:07:00 PM
16 Comments:
In all the old stories of POWs in captivity one thing was usually a constant, the POWs attempts to get news from the outside world and the penalties if their captors caught them getting "unofficial" news.
However, in today's world if the terrorists would deign to keep prisoners (instead of lopping their heads off and abusing their bodies) I am quite sure the terrorists would allow their POWs to read & see Al-Pazeera news.
Geez, how hard would it be for me to start my own news service? I've got some room in my basement.
Having some type of credibility surely wouldn't be a prerequisite.
If I were really starving for attention I could even make something up about myself - that would qualify as news.
And in ten or fifteen years I could fawn all over myself with some "prestigious" press award.
By the way, is it the press that gets to decide whether the bodies are "insurgents" or civilians?
Read the roundup @ Gateway, and then reflect on how much this sort of bogus, made-up "news" may have swayed the recent USA election--many of which races were razor-thin.
Horrible, tragic, terrible, beyond words. and yet the perps (AP, mainly) have learned, by being caught doing this sort of thing so many, many times, that the effect on them is nil, the consequences zero, the punishment non-existant.
buddy:
Can you imagine the howling from the left that would result if they were dealt with properly.
The Repubs in early Rome knew enough to suspend the senate and reliquish power to the king (emperor) in times of war.
Trouble is now, more than half the country still doesn't realize that we are fighting this war.
Incredible, but true, enscout. They just don't believe it, even though the $15 or $20 "terror premium" on a barrel of oil has already affected the lives of everyone, regardless of whether or not they have ever encountered anyone who has been directly touched by the violence.
(*sigh*) it's really tragic. in the fullest sense of the word.
> Some news outlets are now going to officially refer to Iraq as a Civil War
Why are Bush and the Republicans in Congress letting the media control the debate? Does Bush believe it is a civil war? The Administration could respond with a sound bite like:
MSM: Is this a civil war?
WHITE HOUSE: No, it's a gang war.
WHITE HOUSE: (Longer version): No, it is just extremists in a few militia groups doing all the killings. Most of Iraq wants peace.
*sacarsm*
But Capt. Jamil Hussein said: No, it's a civil war. I was there. I saw it happen. It was terrible!
*/sarcasm*
People still have the perception that the commander-in-chief hasn't been on the ground enough to know the intricacies and intimate intel on what's really going on. That may not necessarily be true, but nevertheless, the fact that such a perception exists exposes the news to manipulation.
buddy larsen,
You come down hard on the MSM, and rightly so, for behavior bordering on the treasonous. But, while you are judging, consider how the military could have been oblivious to this repeatedly blatant, embarrassing manipulation.
Flopping Aces did an extraordinary job of ferreting out the vermin, but why did that job fall to a civilian blogger? Good grief, if we can't handle a couple jockies, how in G-d's name are we going to handle the Soviets?
Recently, someone did a great piece, pointing out the MSM’s focus on “if it bleeds, it leads.” Fair enough. But, the bad guys bleed just as much as the good guys. If the MSM wants bleeding, give them bleeding on an industrial scale. Only, make sure it’s the bad guys doing the bleeding. I have not yet become so cynical as to believe the American public would fail to applaud.
I think you're right--the frustration is to the point now that any blow-off at all, no matter how "reckless", would be a popular relief.
Sixty days of bombing Iran's war-stuff? No problem!
of course it would knock over a whole lotta stuff, but, oh, lordy, the relief.
Wonder what would happen, next Quana, if the IDF spokesman said "Well, that's just too f**king bad, y'know?"
buddy larsen,
re: Too f**king bad
From your lips to G-d's ears!!!
(Go ahead, Woman Catholic, tell me G-d has no ears.)
What hurts the most, Buddy, is the constant myopia of our team. Jeez, everyone but the military powers-that-be grasps the MSM's treachery. Wake the f**k up, dim wits! (Sorry, but that needed saying.)
Oh, and Mr. Olmert, if you are lurking - please, go away.
I simply don't understand why everyone is so stunned and amazed that AP is feeding us bogus made-up stories fed to them by terrorist stringers. We've known, positively, for at least two years that they've been feeding us bogus made-up photographs, as well as staging murders to photo opportunities which can then be shipped back to the US and picked up by CNN and CBS and the NY Times.
We've also known for some time that none of the paid reporters venture out of their hotels, and the military will only allow 6-9 embeds to report ... so there, literally, are no Western eyes to see what's happening there.
Why wouldn't it make sense that the same people responsible for pictures of election workers being executed in the streets would also be able to make up a nice quotable little piece about Sunni's being burned alive, feed it to their tame reporter in his/her safe hotel, and presto chango! Al-Queda makes the 6:00 news AGAIN.
BTW, increasingly I blame the military in this pas de deus of ignorance in not allowing more embeds into the country.
But it certainly would be nice if someone some where would *do* something about Reuters AND AP ... like suing them for treason.
Flopping Aces did an extraordinary job of ferreting out the vermin, but why did that job fall to a civilian blogger? Because he cared, had the time, and the energy. Most importantly because he does not buy the hooey that portion of the MSM is trying to sell.
There is no requirement the press be fair & balanced. As far as I can tell, there is no requirement for the American press to be pro-American.
Fed up with an anti-American press buying into enemy propaganda because its what they want to believe, then start your own blog.
marcus aurelius,
re: Because he cared, had the time, and the energy.
That is why we expend vast sums of money for military PysOps.
marcus aurelius wrote thusly:
Flopping Aces did an extraordinary job of ferreting out the vermin, but why did that job fall to a civilian blogger? Because he cared, had the time, and the energy. Most importantly because he does not buy the hooey that portion of the MSM is trying to sell.
But missed allen's point, which is not "why did the civilian blogger ferret out the bogus lead" (as opposed to, say whittling), but rather why was it left to the civilian blogger when we have paid professionals in the military who's very job it is to be on top of these issues? Clear?
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