I was getting myself all worked up again over the MSM coverage of the Haditha incident. When I got home from work and turned the news on the little news people were explaining how the ‘troubling situation’ has shaken the government all the way up to the White House.
They then played a little segment of an interview with the President from earlier today in which he says it is troubling. [source]
Well, I happened to have seen that interview earlier today and the little segment they played was his response to a question. ‘Are you troubled by the killing of civilians in Haditha?’ (notice the formation of the question).
President Bush seemed to be getting a little irritated because the purpose of the media being there was supposed to be in support of his meeting with the president of Rwanda, Paul Kagame. Instead the press kept asking him about Haditha. He kept replying that if (IF) the allegations were true, it would be dealt with appropriately and through the proper channels.
He replied to one question that he was ‘troubled’ by the early reports’. In the context of what I saw earlier, I had taken it to mean he was troubled by the WAY IT WAS BEING REPORTED as there was an ongoing investigation and it was premature to make such allegations.
That is being reported in the news this evening as ‘The President is troubled by the early reports of the Haditha killings’.
Also, please notice ‘Haditha KILLINGS’. The word KILLINGS is used repeatedly and consistently in reference to these allegations.
On the news this evening I have not heard a word, not one single solitary word indicating that there might be a shadow of a doubt as to the entire episode. Nothing about recordings from radio transmissions or drones overhead. It is being reported AS FACT.
They are also replaying a little portion of an interview with the Marine that was injured in the bombing before the ‘alledged incident’. The poor kid is being used.
All we hear from that interview is him saying that if they saw one dead and him assumed dead they were probably blinded with raged…. etc.
I have yet to hear what question he was asked that he was responding to or any other part of that interview. Suppose the question was something like, ‘If the other Marines in your unit were to do something like that, what do you suppose would have caused them to get out of control like that?’ For all we know, he might have repeatedly told them there was no way he could imagine these men he had fought beside would have done the things they are being accused of. Remember, he had been badly injured in the bomb and had been taken from the area before the ‘incident’.
It is sad to me that the MSM is so hungry for headlines and to rush to a story that they throw aside all reason and the well-being of the country. They apparently are willing to try and condemn Marines who are trained for warfare based on one part of one side of a story. They have taken it and run with it with no regard for the truth.
It’s all about a juicy story and if it can make George Bush look bad, all the better. (George Bush is who they really hate, remember they support the troops but ….).
So ….. I started this writing I WAS getting myself worked up (past tense). Thing is, I WAS, I was getting there. Then I read this.
HAHAHAHA. So it’s not just the United States that has a media bent on staging news! ROFL
The Media Monster, the story, the video.
It seems there might be some media bias in Germany as well. [h/t Blogmeister]
Elephants in Academia has an excellent analysis of the media distortions!
Amy Proctor and California Conservative have identified a couple of intriguing pieces to the puzzle. But surely, SURELY, the insurgents wouldn’t lie to the reporters. Surely, not. She also points out that Aljazeera is reporting along the same lines as the American media: “Haditha Massacre Is Iraq’s Mai Lai â€Â
My Vast Right Wing Conspiracy is contemplating the matter and I can’t wait to hear what she has to say once the matter is vetted. And a few of her thoughts on media insanity.
Others covering Haditha and/or deceptive media: Red Hot Cuppa Politics, Blue Crab Boulevard, Blogmeister, Ace in the Hole,
Pennsylvania 12th District - an alternative with a little more courage.
[...] H/ T Beth. [...]
I just found your blog yesterday and love it.
If I were as sophisticated a blogger as Expose the Left I could record the interview, although I DO have it on DVD, which will not translate to my computer. I am NOT accussing the little 9 year old Iraqi girl of wrongdoing; she has been victimized by war in the worst ways possible. However, even the CNN correspondent Ryan Chilcote noted how odd it was that the girl made the mistake in her story telling and that the human rights worker neglected to follow up on an obvious detail… that she EXPECTED the bomb to go off. She knew when it would explode and seemed to anticipate someone, arguably US Marines, entering her home. Hm..
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0605/30/pzn.01.html
My husband served in Iraq from March 2003-Feb. 2004 and this is totally symptomatic of an insurgent tactic. I have no way to know if it is true or not, but they are known for lying, using civilians as human shields and killing women and children, then blaming it on Americans and forcing at the point of grave intimidation the survivors to corroborate their story.
This is TOTALLY not in keeping with the US military. They just do NOT do this. If so, this is extremely depressing. As a military wife I have been depressed over the possiblity that it could be true. It would shake my faith. But there are some very odd details unanswered…
Her?
Sigh.
You are very very very angry that reporters and Congressmen are passing on the information they get from leaking investigators and Iraqi witnesses. Will you be one tenth as angry at the Marines if the accounts of their murdering children turn out to be substantially true?
Somewhow I doubt it.
Good post as always, Beth.
Keep up the good work…
AubreyJ………
I’m not angry about leaks, I’m angry about Senators and their selfish priorities.
As an Army wife, I’ve been sick for days over this story. If it is true, it is not only a black eye on the military, but a horrific atrocity. If it is not, it will fade into the Roledex of everyone’s minds about how evil the military is.
This is simply not my experience. We’ve been in 13 years and have never witnessed anything capable of this. It sounds like insurgent tactics typical of this sort of battle.
I am suggesting that there is more to the story than meets the eye, and that we need to respect the REST of the soldiers who aren’t screw ups.
[...] » Media Coverage of Haditha from Blue Star Chronicles I was getting myself all worked up again over the MSM coverage of the Haditha incident. When I got home from work and turned the news on the little news people were explaining how the ‘troubling situation’ has shaken the government all the way up to … [Read More] [...]
Now that Bush has said substantially the same thing as Murtha and various “unnamed military officers,” you are obviously having problems.
There was also a report from a USMC lance corporal who was in Haditha, who expressed his distress at having to clean up the scene and having the brains of a murdered young Iraqi girl fall out of her blasted head onto his uniform. I guess that was not enough for you,
The report will be out soon. The report will be authored by an Army major general. Military prosecutors will bring charges against those responsible. Will they be part of the left-wing conspiracy, too?
Haditha and what the world is saying…
This is my first post on Haditha. I thought I might actually wait for the facts to come out before expressing an opinion, but it doesn’t seem that anyone else feels the need for facts. That is very unfortunate. If…