Check out the hyperbole in this report done by Lara Logan for CBS this morning: (h/t Newsbusters)
Well, in the last two days alone, five U.S. soldiers have been killed in fighting against Shiite militants in and around Baghdad, particularly, as you mentioned, in Sadr City, the Baghdad stronghold of Sadr’s Medhi Army militia. The streets of Sadr City in eastern Baghdad have become a bloody battleground. U.S. and Iraqi forces battling militias backed by Iran. Like the Medhi Army of Muqtada al Sadr, the anti-American cleric. Civilians are paying a heavy price. This eyewitness describing the fighting on his street says ‘one person was killed, and a child was also killed there. Everything got burned up. Everything was destroyed.’ The human cost was difficult to measure as the wounded continued to fill hospital beds and the number of dead kept rising.
Full clip below:
If video isn’t playing try this link.
So two civilians were killed and while sad, how in the world does this justify the type of over-the-top statements she made?
I tell ya why…..Petraeus is testifying this week so the ground needs to be preped for the Democrats.
UPDATE
see-dubya at Michelle Malkin’s to this post but isn’t buying my theory on this hyperbole:
Interesting. But I’m not buying…the Democrats would never make out a war hero like General Petraeus to be some kind of liar.
She also has points to some hyperbole of another kind by the New York Times in this article in which they moan the loss of Iraq war coverage:
He’s got a point about the coverage falling off in Iraq, though. News there got better, and the stories dried up. Which brings me to a more substantive criticism of Rich’s column:
That’s why it’s no surprise that so few stopped to absorb the disastrous six-day battle of Basra that ended last week — a mini-Tet that belied the “success” of the surge. Even fewer noticed that the presumptive Republican nominee seemed at least as oblivious to what was going down as President Bush, no tiny feat.
The Tet offensive was actually an American military victory, spun by the American media into an American defeat.
Frank Rich, though perhaps he might never be called “the Most Trusted Man in America”, is trying to insert himself into the Basra narrative as Walter Cronkite. But in fact, despite Rich’s and the MSM’s attempts to spin it as such, the truth about Basra is that it was no defeat for the Iraqi army
Basra was a failure….give me a break. I’m telling, all they are doing is prepping the battlefield for the coming testimony so they can spin and spin to their hearts desire without being called on it.
See author page
Lara was so excited about being able to report some bad news that this former swimsuit model forgot her extensive journalistic training. It has been said in the past about this delightful correspondent that she “exploits her God-given advantages with a skill that Mata Hari might envy.”
Will Hillary suspend disbelief?
I think that was suppose to be sarcasm on Michelle’s site by see-dubya.
Yup….
Please post a link from any American General in Iraq who thinks that Basra was a victory for the Iraqi Army.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23922935/
We do know that between 1000 and 1500 Iraqi troops that did desert and that about 50 armored humvees were taken by the militia.
Well, not an American General in Iraq, but maybe it will suffice…
http://astuteblogger.blogspot.com/2008/04/arabian-times-iran-iraq-round-up.h
Relying on MSNBC (and other MSM outlets) for reliable information …
The media for all of its supposed duty to “find facts” and report on them seems to be utterly blind to the fact that has been the proverbial “elephant in the room” since the Vietnam War. That fact being; the opponents of the United States have used our own MSM as a propaganda weapon against us, we broadcast their messages, and the “if it bleeds, it leads” philosophy of the MSM contributes to a negative image of the results of our efforts, and exacerbates the war weariness that the public at large may feel. In the bit of fiction reading I do for pleasure I came across a very accurate description of our general public: “America is especially sensitive to war weariness, and nothing brings on backlash like the perception of defeat. I say ‘perception’ because America is a very all-or-nothing society. We like the big win, the touchdown, the knockout in the first round. We like to know, and for everyone else to know, that our victory wasn’t only uncontested, it was positively devastating.” – Max Brooks.
The Tet Offensive is a prime example of this. The Viet-Cong, as a combat effective body was destroyed in this operation, and every possible military measure taken of the situation pointed to American victory (even North Vietnamese General Giap admitted this). But, because the MSM was there to film the fires in Saigon, the dead American soldiers, and the bullet holes in the U.S. Embassy, the “perception” was one of a great set-back.
By contrast our “popular wars” have been of the uncontested victory type, Grenada, Panama, and Gulf War I (which wasn’t pursued to its conclusion precisely because the elder Bush realized that the American public would lose its will power when confronted with what that would entail).
So, here we are today, engaged in Iraq, in a conflict where every objective indicator points to our victory. But, again the MSM is there, with close-ups of dead bodies, soldiers screaming in pain, and burned our vehicles. Why can’t the MSM see that it is being used by our enemies?
>>Why can’t the MSM see that it is being used by our enemies?>>
They _can_ see it. Their agenda is to bring down the presidency by any means possible and see that it is returned to the Democrats. By any means. If the Dems win the election, there will be an instant turn around in reporting. All will be wine and roses. War, economy … everything.
Thank heavens for the blogs. One of the reasons the Vietnam War had so little support is that there was _only_ the MSM at that time. The “silent majority” had no means of communication. The internet – and blogs – have changed all that. If the Dems win the Whitehouse this year, I see that as one of their first efforts – control of the content of talk radio and the internet. Control information, and you control the population.
Liberal facists, one and all.
The idiots of the Left really dont know what is going on in Iraq. They only know their own talking points…
All of the recent fighting has been a disaster for the Sadrists. Besides the fact that the Iraqi Army controls Basra, the political isolation of the Sadrists is profound…
In their own words…
“We, the Sadrists, are in a predicament,” Hassan al Rubaie, a Sadrist member of parliament said the day the Political Council for National Security announced the plan. “Our political isolation was very clear and real during the meeting.” he said, referring to the meeting of the Political Council for National Security, where the legislation was announced (legislation to bar the Sadrists if they dont disarm). “Even the blocs that had in the past supported us are now against us and we cannot stop them from taking action against us in parliament.”
http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2008/04/ayatollah_sistani_on.php
Open your eyes America, you are defeating your enemies at every turn.