[<< "My head hurts."] [Archive Index] [>>"Go say 'hey' to..."]
04/24/2004 Archived Entry: "Five more."
Five more.
There were five more Americans killed in a rocket attack in Iraq today - but if you just skimmed the first coule of grafs, you might not even see it.
An explosion killed at least 12 Iraqis Saturday in a crowded market in Baghdad's Sadr City -- one of a series of incidents that left 26 people dead, including five U.S. soldiers.The blast, which wounded at least 25 people, prompted a mass demonstration in the streets of the largely Shiite neighborhood, a stronghold of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.
Video of the scene showed a mangled vehicle, surrounded by mobs of angry men shouting at the photographer. Other Iraqis collected body parts from pools of blood on the street. A dead horse also lay on the curb beside a street-side vendor.
Elsewhere, five U.S. soldiers were killed and six wounded Saturday morning in a rocket attack north of Baghdad, a senior coalition official told CNN.
That's what you call 'burying the lede.' CNN should be ashamed of themselves. Why do they treat the deaths of Americans like an afterthought?
Now that you mention it: Justin brings up a good point:
Are these 5 soldiers from the first paragraph the same 5 from the last paragraph? And if not, wouldn't that be 10 dead Americans?
Good eye. I'll cop to being geographically ignorant about the geographical layout of Baghdad. Is Sadr City norty of Baghdad? Or are they talking about two different locations here. If someone can clarify, I'd appreciate it.
If it's actually 10 dead soldiers and not five, CNN is even more scummy than I give them credit for.
Replies: 11 people speak up
damn it, i just wrote a big long comment, but i forgot to put my name on it, and it dissapeared on me when i hit the "back" button
Posted by justin @ 04/24/2004 11:24 AM NY
are these 5 soldiers from the first paragraph the same 5 from the last paragraph? and if not, wouldnt that be 10 dead americans?
"An explosion killed at least 12 Iraqis Saturday in a crowded market in Baghdad's Sadr City -- one of a series of incidents that left 26 people dead, including five U.S. soldiers."
"Elsewhere, five U.S. soldiers were killed and six wounded Saturday morning in a rocket attack north of Baghdad, a senior coalition official told CNN. "
has anyone else noticed that the numbers of total dead reported on the news keeps going down?
durring the "war" phase of the war, they reported the total dead, from wounds, accidents, suicides, illness (remember those strange pneumonia deaths?) they reported all the deaths.
then, in the "postwar" phase of the war, they started only reporting the people who died since the war "ended".
now in the "new war" (or maybe "re-war", or "operation iraqi shut the fuck up" im not sure what they are calling it) phase of the war, they are only reporting the total dead since the war "ended" who died from actual combat...
to the casual observer (or in most american's cases, the casual non-observer) it seems like the total number of dead is going down. while that is completely unbelievable to someone who pays attention to silly things like facts, im sure it is comforting the average american (as it is intended to be)
Posted by justin @ 04/24/2004 11:36 AM NY
by the way. remember GULF WAR SYNDROME? well, the soldiers who got that last time were only exposed to depleated uranium for a short time (i dont remember the total lenght of Gulf War 1, i was in the 8th grade at the time)
our soldiers have been in iraq, rolling around in the nuclear waste that we littered the country with, for well over a year now. when they come back, their health problems will make agent orange look like jock itch (and dont think im making light of agent orange, my ex girlfriend is legally blind in one eye, she can see about 2 feet in front of her with a 7 layer contact, and can only see fuzzy purple shapes with the other eye. this is because her father was exposed to agent orange, and it cause genetic damage to his children.
on the other hand, the children of those exposed to DU are born without arms, or without skin, or with giant hydrocephallic heads, or with their organs on the outsides of their bodies. if we think this war is terrible now, wait 5 years. mental and physical cripples from this war will be lying in the gutter with all of the vietnam vets we discarded, crying because their wife left them after the 10th miscariage (or worse, after she gives birth to a unranim monster) and because they cant get veterans benefits for their crippling pain, because gulf war syndrome doesnt "exist", and because the have such terrible flash backs that they cant function at a normal job, or even in regular society. even if this war were to end today (which has absolutely no chance of happening) and even if all of the muslims in the world suddenly decide they love us (which has even less of a chance of happening) they (and we) will be experiencing the horrors of this war for the rest of our lives
Posted by justin @ 04/24/2004 11:52 AM NY
The 1st paragraph of the CNN story refers to a "series of incidents" without any reference to location at all - i.e., it's not clear whether they mean a series of incidents throughout Iraq, or whether they're saying that the whole series of incidents occurred in Baghdad (of which Sadr City is a part, I believe). So, there's just no way to know what the answer is to Justin's excellent question, based on what CNN says. Apparently, CNN feels it's okay to be vague and careless when reporting US combat deaths. Way to go, CNN!
Posted by wpm @ 04/24/2004 02:16 PM NY
well, most of them are just poor people anyway, and we all know they dont vote, and they certainly dont make political contributions. i think that after yesterday, it should be blatantly apparent to everyone that a rich person's death is much more of a tragedy, especially if they are good at playing with balls.
Posted by justin @ 04/24/2004 02:22 PM NY
OK I'm going to be a contrarian here.
At least they noted the deaths of Iraqi civilians... I'm so very tired of this idea that only American deaths count.
Posted by renato @ 04/24/2004 02:27 PM NY
OK I'm going to be a contrarian here.
At least they noted the deaths of Iraqi civilians... I'm so very tired of this idea that only American deaths count.
Posted by renato @ 04/24/2004 02:28 PM NY
that is true. but i think they are using the iraqi deaths for more sinister purposes, to mask the american deaths, besides, i really dont think that most americans really think of iraqis as people anyway, they have a hard enough time viewing the american soldiers as real people without seeing pictures of their coffins. americans think war is a video game, it doesnt register that people are actually dying unless they actually knew them personally
Posted by justin @ 04/24/2004 02:33 PM NY
More dead? Will they be counted as war heroes too or didn't they give up a high enough paying job?
Be funny to see how quick the right wing blogs are to drag out these names and make them heroes as well.
War memorial web site listing all their names, where they were from, and naming them heroes might be a good idea.
But someone from the right would never do that would they.
Posted by IXLNXS @ 04/24/2004 03:16 PM NY
Justin speaking of the coffins and the photos, it seems that the Memory Hole site is nearly overloaded. It took me almost 5 minutes to access with broadband.
Posted by Demeur @ 04/24/2004 05:38 PM NY
in response to your question, blah3, al-sadr city is a large neighborhood in northwestern baghdad, formerly informally called saddam city. it's the ghetto home to some 2 million baghdadi shi'a, who've renamed their quarter in honor of the late grand ayatollah sayyid mohammed baqir al-sadr, who was executed in early 1999, allegedly under saddam's orders. the current 'sadr' is a son of that grand ayatollah. suggest juan cole's informed comment blogsite as invaluable trove of all things iraq. or try this particular article posted on the national catholic reporter website. if link doesn't work, you may have to cut and paste this url: http://www.nationalcatholicreporter.org/iraq/in051203.htm
Posted by oldupperwestsideLIBERALjew @ 04/26/2004 11:05 AM NY
