Is there a news blackout on stories coming out of Iraq?

[Jara sang]

I mean, other than the regular censorship and under-reported stories we are used to from the MSM? I have heard nothing of Iraq all summer and the stories I do hear in the MSM are little bits and pieces. I assume they are trying to take the heat off of all the allegations of US soldiers mistreating Iraqi civilians. There were a lot of allegations just before this current blackout. I guess the boys at the Ministry of Truth decided we didn't need to hear anything about Iraq this summer, might spoil people's barbecues and weekends at the beach.

[Monkeyman]

1. Censors are all over troops emails and calls home

[Imagevision]

7. Rove hasn't managed to put a stop to Lou Dobbs reporting escalating

daily bombings (47 Killed By Car Bombs, Rockets In Baghdad and wounding at least 148...)

[Oldtimeralso]

11. No daily bombings

Those injured and killed were just in the wrong place at an overcrowded fireworks display to honor Shrub & Shooter

[AndyA]

2. The answer is obvious: There is simply nothing to report.

Everything is going very well, thank you.

Buildings and roads are being rebuilt. The power is back on 24/7. Potable water and food are in plentiful supply. There's a sale at Macy's, everything's 20% off this week.

The flowers in the square are beautiful.

All is well, there is nothing to report. Just another day in paradise.

:sarcasm:

[wicket]

5. We've turned the corner!

n/t

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

3. I think there's a news blackout period.

I've got this crazy idea, how about a 24 hour news network. You know- if you want to figure out if there's something important going on in the world, you can turn on your TV and turn it to that channel and watch the news about it. I figure we can put this somewhere between the Nancy Grace Channel and the Car Chase Network.

[paparush]

4. Things are going so super-swell, really 100% neato nifty.

Nothing to see here...move along

[mtowngman]

6. There's been plenty about Middle East fighting

just nothing about the war that THIS country's involved in. I guess Israel-Lebanon is another weapon of mass distraction.

[The_Casual_Observer]

8. No, there are reports every day. There is a long list of bombings,

kidnappings, murders & so on. The myth that the "good" things don't get reported was discredited long ago, there simply isn't anything good to report.

[Imagevision]

9. It's disappointing for the MSM to report when they have nothing else!

but, the November election isn't getting further away!

[leveymg]

10. Just try to find out how many US troops are in south Iraq. No info,

anywhere, that I could find in about 10 minutes of looking. There's practically no information available about the disposition and location of U.S. forces inside Iraq today. That sort of information at WIKPEDIA and GLOBALSECURITY.org stops at 2004.

It's like, after the elections, we left. But, we didn't.

If there were a big buildup at the border with Iran, or in advance of an offensive against al-Sadr in Basra, would we even know it?

[NNN0LHI]

12. It appears our media identified a US air strike as a gas leak yesterday

While our media was reporting a bunch of Iraqi people getting blown up yesterday I notice in the videotape one of the Iraqis holding up what looked like a piece of metal from one of our "smart" bombs. But the media kept on reporting it was just Iraqis killing Iraqis. The Iraqi people don't seem to be swallowing that story as well as our military wants them to. They think it was a US air strike.

Don

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=2310660

Stunned Iraqis angered at blasts that killed 57

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A day after a series of blasts killed at least 57 people, the dazed residents of Zaafaraniya are still wondering what hit them. snip

But the scale of the destruction spoke of a far bigger attack, perhaps involving large artillery shells or air strikes. U.S. military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Barry Johnson said there was no American air activity in the area at the time. snip

"Suddenly we heard a massive sound. A building over there was completely flattened. I don't know how we survived," said Sarwad, a resident. "There must be hundreds of people still buried." snip

"My sister, three or four brothers and sisters, are buried in there with children," yelled Abdel Wahid. "It was all American shelling."

U.S. military spokesman Major General William Caldwell said on Monday American troops went to the site and determined a gas explosion had triggered other blasts.