Media warned not to make a big deal about 2000 dead soldiers in Iraq

[Karmadillo]

Seems to have pretty much worked. Of course, war coverage has been so sanitized, it's hard to imagine the media making a big deal even in the absence of instructions.

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2005/oct2005/iraq-026.shtml

<edit>

Making no mention of the death toll, Bush only warned that even more will have to die. “This war will require more sacrifice, more time and more resolve,” he said. “The best way to honor the sacrifice of our fallen heroes is to complete the mission.”

This is truly the last refuge of the militarist scoundrel: the war must continue and thousands more must die to validate the sacrifices that have already been made.

The Pentagon’s spokesman Lt. Col. Steven A. Boylan sent an email to reporters in Baghdad warning them not to make too much of the death toll. He called reaching the 2,000th US military fatality in Iraq “an artificial mark on the wall set by individuals or groups with specific agendas and ulterior motives. In some cases, this could be the creating news where none really exists.”

Within this odious statement there is an unintended kernel of truth. The human toll exacted by the war has not really been news. The White House and the Pentagon have worked diligently to prevent it from becoming so—barring cameras from Dover Air Force Base, where the coffins come home from the war, and sending the president to no funerals or memorial services for the slain soldiers.

The images of the dead—both American and Iraqi—are largely self-censored by the American media.

more...

[TheCowsCameHome]

1. Media warned? Oh really? By whom? The Bumbler-in-chief?

Screw him and the horse he rode in on.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

17. Read the excerpt posted and you will see which s p o k e s m a n

[TheCowsCameHome]

20. I'm aware who it was. He's another apologist for GWB

[sandnsea]

2. It's on CNN

The remarks from Boylan, pictures of Cindy's protest, all of it. MSNBC talked about the 2000 deaths too. Maybe you watch Fox?? :shrug:

[Karmadillo]

5. "Maybe you watch Fox??" God, that's clever.

It's even true. I do sometimes watch Fox. So much for me.

I guess CNN is the measure of all things. How much time did they spend on it? How many times did they repeat it? How many times will they repeat it over the next week or so? Will the story get more time than the missing woman in Aruba?

[William769]

11. Doesn't matter, they did report it didn't they?

And if they were warned as so it's been said, then Kudos for them for not heeding the warning.

[Karmadillo]

14. One could argue

the issue isn't so much reporting it one time as giving it the massive, continual coverage it deserves. The New York Times often reports news that's contrary to the United States' desired image as the Fount of All Things Good, but they're buried far from the front page (Chomsky, for example, likes to pull out buried items on our depredations in Central America). Just because something is reported once doesn't mean they didn't heed the warning cited in the article posted or the continual pressure from the Pentagon and the White House to downplay the negative.

[sandnsea]

19. CNN loops news

Every 15, every 30. Whatever it was in their loop. I saw it at least 5 times this morning, then the DH got up and switched on Imus. Imus talked about it too, then he went to an interview with Mo Dowd. I've heard reporting on the 2000 deaths on MSNBC since then too. They're announcing the 2001 right now.

[afdip]

3. 2000 dead is "an artificial mark on a wall" not to be mistaken

for those 58,000 artificial marks on another wall in washington. tell the 2000 families that this is not real news, but a contrivance of those with an agenda. motherfuckers.

[AlCzervik]

4. well it's 2001 now so they can start making a big deal over it.

[chelsea0011]

6. NYT, today A16-A19

Pictures of the thousand who have died since they published the first 1000. Anyone who looks at those faces and says we should pay no attention to the numbers is one sick bastard. RIP

[AlCzervik]

8. 280 21 year olds died, that was the most for any age there.

[tnlefty]

18. I think that I heard no less than 4 of these sick bastards on c-span

this morning. Absolutely disgusting!!!

[sui generis]

7. they are NOT heroes

They are honorable soldiers doing their duty. Doing one's duty does not make one a hero. Calling people "heroes" does not justify their deaths. I won't go into an ancient greek history lesson here.

By repeating this "2000 Heroes" crap we are being played as surely as a concert pianist plays a nursery song.

It's okay for 2000 children of this nation to die for nonexistant WMD and to install an Islamic Republic where women and non-muslims still have no rights? They are NOT heroes. They are dead. For lies and propaganda. I'm sorry if that offends anyone, but it's the plain truth.

Until we stop repeating the rhetoric, we are going to continue to be jerked around by the idiot media.

[afdip]

13. thank you

[depakid]

16. Thank you for that

Pretty much exactly as I see it too.

[Bob3]

9. It's the lead story in all the Tabloids here in NYC

only the Times has buried it (its on the front page but just one column - the same size they give the announcement of a new parking commissioner by the Mayor.

While the tabloids are giving it their best "they died with their boots on for the U.S." spin they aren't pretending it isn't a big number (like the times is).

I suspect the number will stick not the blather, round numbers, big round numbers impress us - something to do with the way our brains are wired I think. I expect support for this abysmal failure to further dwindle.

[ultraist]

10. Remember the vigils tonight!

Protester Cindy Sheehan bows in silence in front of the White House, where she began a Lafayette Park vigil. Her son Casey, a soldier, was killed in Iraq. (By Michael Williamson -- The Washington Post

2,000th Death Marked by Silence and a Vow
Bush Says War in Iraq Will Require More Resolve, While Protesters Plan Vigils

By Michael A. Fletcher
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, October 26, 2005; Page A13

Washington marked the 2,000th American fatality of the Iraq war with a moment of silence in the Senate, the reading of the names of the fallen from the House floor, new protests and a solemn vow from President Bush not to "rest or tire until the war on terror is won."

http://political.moveon.org/event/events/index.html?action_id=29

Vigil for 2000 Killed in Iraq

This week, the number of American soldiers lost while serving in Iraq reached over 2000. While thousands of families have made the ultimate sacrifice, thousands more send their children and loved ones off to a war that seems to have no end in sight.

Today, Wednesday, October 26, 2005 at 6:30 p.m. we will gather at vigils to remember and honor our fallen soldiers and ask, "How many more?"

Thousands of us will solemnly gather together and acknowledge the sacrifices made by over 2000 American men and women in Iraq and their families and speak out against the war.

Host your own Vigil for 2000 Killed in Iraq or sign up for an event near you.

[MadHound]

12. Well apparently the media isn't heeding those warnings

It was all over the local news last night, complete with an interview with Cindy Sheehan, and it has been all over NPR this morning, who had an interview with another anti-war mom who lost her son over there(sorry, can't remember her name). It is also in the local morning paper, front page, and was in the afternoon paper yesterday.

I think that the media is finally getting some cojones and starting to to do their job, report the news no matter what.

[acmejack]

15. They have finally started to realize the true mood of the Country

They have to report this or risk moving (further) into irrelevance.