In yesterday's "Rush in a Hurry" email, which provides me with a quick recap of The Rush Limbaugh Show's highlights when I don't have a chance to listen in, there was an item that quoted ABC's Charlie Gibson as saying, "The news is (pause) that there is no news. The police told us that, to their knowledge, there were no major acts of violence. Attacks are down in Baghdad and today no bombings or roadside explosions were reported. " As Rush notes, to the drive-by media, good news is not news at all.
Perhaps instead of claiming that there was no news from Iraq, Mr. Gibson could have reported some of the following press releases from the Multi-National Force-Iraq web site for October 18 and 19:
**Spartans find EFP Cache--Soldiers from Company A, 2nd Battalion, 69th Armored Regiment, attached to the 4th Brigade Combat Team of the 25th Infantry Division, discovered a large explosively formed projective cache in North Babil. They also discovered homemade explosives and blocks of C4. For the record, EFPs have been particularly lethal to our soldiers in Iraq.
**Iraqi Army, Coalition Forces Discover Weapons Cache--The 5th Iraqi Army Division and Coalition Forces captured a large weapons cache with assorted weapons and ammunition and two small caches with home-made explosives in southeast Baqouba.
**72-year old Iraqi Takes Down Suicide Bomber--A 72-year old Iraqi man stopped a suspected suicide bomber from detonating himself at a checkpoint in Arab Jabour. As the suspect ran toward the checkpoint with a suicide vest exposed, the man, a tribal commissioner and member of the Concerned Citizens Program, opened fire causing the vest to detonate and killing the bomber. "I did it for the honor of my family and the honor of my country," the man is quoted as saying.
**Hostages Released, Illegal Prisons Found--Soldiers from Company D, 1-12 Combined Arms Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, acting on a tip, discovered two makeshift prisons and freed five local citizens being held for ransom in Baqouba. A leader from a local Concerned Local Citizens Group provided the tip.
**Concerned Local Citizen's Tip Leads to Mortar Cache--A tip from a Concerned Local Citizen enabled soldiers to find a large mortar round cache northwest of Mushada. The cache included 474 mortar rounds that could be used to make roadside bombs.
**Concerned Citizens Lead Troops to Cache--Acting on information provided by local citizens, soldiers from the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division found a weapons cache in Muqdadiyah. "Having local citizens point out...terrorists and their support bases shows the desire the people in Diyala have to live in peace," Colonel David Sutherland is quoted as saying.
So it seems there was some news from Iraq after all. The problem for ABC was that the news that was available could lead Americans to believe that we are making progress and that Iraqis are helping us with securing the peace, one weapons cache or suicide bomber at a time. Good things are indeed happening in Iraq, and the news is there for those who want to find it. But at ABC it seems, the old mantra of "If it bleeds, it leads" still rules the day.
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Comments: 22
And you really should stay away from stereotyping people (right wing murderers, your kind). It clearly demonstrates your blatant bias and lack of intelligent thought.
Thanks for stopping by.
Tony, you do know, don't you, that the overwhelming majority of Iraqi deaths are caused by Iraqis and not Americans, right? Iraqi on Iraqi violence, which has been brewing for decades and was only contained by an iron-fisted dictatorship, is the greatest source of instability in Iraq.
My what short memories "your side" has. Kind of like the whole attorney firing when all but one of the 90+ US attorneys on duty when Clinton took over were fired. Talk about an inconvenient truth.
As for hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqis, even the UN estimates, which are hardly favorable to the Bush administration, aren't that high. And I would argue that hundreds of thousands of Iraqis would have continued to die at the hands of Saddam and his henchman, much as hundreds of thousands had already died by the time we deposed him.
You're idiocy amazes me. Targeting such as the incident you describe is based on intelligence, which is not an exact science, as George Tenet will tell you. It is an unfortunate reality that innocent people die in wars, much as they do in ordinary criminal acts here in the United States.
And our country was "prosperous" at the expense of the largest tax increase in American history. Anybody can build up a surplus if they just keep raising taxes. Why should anyone, no matter how much they make, have to pay nearly 50% in income taxes? By the way, our economy is doing just fine; less than 5% unemployment, the stock market at an all-time high and rising, inflation under control, etc., etc., etc.
Try factual information and not just spouting off at the mouth. It makes for much better discussion.
As for the blood being on my hands, I did far more good than bad during my two tours in Iraq, and volunteered for every humanitarian mission available so that I could help people whenever I had the chance. I never did harm unless it was in self-defense, which of course you won't understand because you can't see through the blind hatred.
One thing I've learned about folks like you is that it is pointless to try to engage you in intelligent discussion of issues on which we may disagree. You inevitably resort to factless dribble filled with hate and bias because you are incapable of reason. ''
Have a good day, sir.
I never said Saddam had links to AQ, although he had ties to other terrorists (Abu Nidal organization) and paid monies to the families of of Palestinian suicide bombers who attacked Israel. Never said anything about yellowcake or the whole Niger expedition.
As for Saddam's atrocities against his own people, just check out the mass graves that continue to reveal the corpses of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis. I've actually seen many of these during my two tours in Iraq.
How many have you seen?
I'm guessing by horseshit you're referring to the mass graves. All I can say is that I've seen them firsthand. If I was the human garbage you refer to I might have taken pictures to provide you with your proof, but I value human dignity and respect too much to do something like that.
And speaking of human garbage, it's human garbage like me that would give my life to guarantee your right to spew the hatred that continually comes out of your mouth. I doubt you would do the same. The difference between people like you and people like me is that I believe in the inherent goodness of this nation and have pledged my life to ensuring that our way of life, which includes free speech, continues.
When you think about how great you have it in this country, be sure to thank a soldier! Sleep well, my friend. We've got your back.