Photos from Iraq

This looks like good ol' fashion mind control to me.

I rarely watch American news services, because they tend to be shown at 4 or 5am. But when I do, they consistently have stories about how much Iraqis love troops, and how the soldiers are banding together to fight evil and bring democracy to the people of Iraq.

I mean, for a while there they were calling the war Operation Iraqi Freedom for fuck's sake. Is that an appropriate moniker for the war?

Once the news starts showing people shot, blown up, etc. - on both sides - I'll consider that maybe there's some need for positive images.

Why doesn't the media ever talk how the Bush administration rewrites history. We went to Iraq for nukes and wmd's. Then we went to Iraq for freedom etc. They never talk about this. But whatever they say is what gets reported.

Why isn't the media flooding the story about the memo that Clarke gave to Bush 5 days after he became president about the warnings that "Al-Qaeda represented a threat throughout the Islamic world". Why aren't the flooding the TV on how this was declassified one day before Rice testified to the 9/11 commission so that the commission wouldn't have time to read it. Why didn't the media flood the TV with how Rice didn't want to testify in public or under-oath?

Where is all the talk about why we really are in Iraq and about to start more wars ... PNAC. The project for a new American century. I NEVER hear about this on TV. Why is that?

I could give 1000 more examples, but I will end with this, the most recent. THE Gannon/Guckert
STORY.

If Clinton was the President and had a gay prostitute come into the whitehouse with a fake name and throw softball questions, what do you think would happen? You would never see the end of Clinton on TV. geez.

To be fair, all of these stories are getting or have gotten their fair share of coverage. If people don't respond to these stories with outrage and moral indignation and, say, NOT VOTE FOR THE DOUCHEBAGS who did all this stuff in the first place, the media can hardly be blamed. It's not the job of news outlets to hammer this shit home when people fail to take it seriously enough. The Gannon thing is getting a lot of coverage and probably it will continue to get covered until the white house does something to counter the story. Right now they seem to be hoping that saying nothing will result in it going away, but the details are too deliciously salacious for that strategy to work.

Ya know it's strange, someone said that Iraq was nothing like vietnam, but what I took from those pics was an odd feeling of it being excatly like vietnam. I saw some good pictures, some Iraqis wanted us to free them because they couldn't. I get that, and I support freedom for all people around the world. But I also saw the pain in the eyes of the soldiers, the worry, the lonelyness and the sadness. I saw a cuple pics there that showed me some of those guys didn't wanna be there, only wanted to be at home with their familys. I donno how you can call any of those pics propaganda, pics of tanks and guns with sunsets in the background arn't excatly compelling argument for war. And seeing kids running down the street wanting to meet soldiers isn't excatly telling either, they are kids, interested in all kinds of things, if you were playing on a street here in the states and a humvee with guns n shit on it as a kid you'de be running up to the soldiers too! If you think we were the bad guys to everyone in Vietnam ya got no clue.

Anyway, I saw the wounded, and the guys reading about home, missing it. I miss them, they don't belong in a war where our president lied to us on why he wanted to fight it. cmon if ya wanted to "Free" the iraqi people, why didn't you just say so in the first place? Where's the Wmds? Noones answered that, noone's told us where they went if they were even there in the first place. We didn't vote on wether or not we should free a country, we voted on if we should destroy a regiem because he posed a threat, a threat which has now be found to be FALSE.

One american soldiers life is too hgh a price when our president lies to us. Now were over 1000, and countless innocents and non innocent alike. For what? You wanna go around freeing countries who's leaders are abuseing their citizens? Are we gonna stop at iraq cuz it's the only one with oil who doesn't cooperate with us? How about China? How about Saudi Arabia? Iran? Syria? Yemen? N. Korea? Rowanda? Congo? Libera? Cmon there's a big ol list, we can't be spending years on Iraq when we got about 75 other countires to "Free".

And by the way, if you told us the truth, that you actually wanted to FREE countries not invade them to make sure your buddies get big fat wallets, I might be with you! God knows there are oppressed people all around the world who would love to be freed from their dictators......... Hmmm..... I'm thinking of one right now!

Our president lied to us, he betrayed our soldiers. Tell us the truth... It's yer job Mr. President. What's next Mr. President. Are we going to force our view of "Democracy" on any country you see fit? I saw you withdrew our Ambassador from Syria..... Whatca saying there? Now they partnering up with Iran, Pretty convienent Mr. President. Two birds with one stone why we still got our troops their!!!! Funny how syria just now decides to assassinate the PM of Lebanon when were about ready to start new operations. Funny how they side with Iran knowing what's comming. Funny how it all falls into yer lap Mr. President. Good luck with that, I hope it doesn't cost the lives of our soldiers so that you can prove your the good guy... Cuz War is bad Mr. President.

Of all the things I saw in those pics I have to say...... No matter what you want your pics to say, people will see whatever they want too. Because pics show you what's real. No matter what words you put under the caption. I saw sad people, I saw happy people, I saw wounded people and Lonely people. All of them want to come home, I say let them come. They've been gone far too long for a bullshit cause from a bullshit leader. Give me liberty or give me death.

abbababababababab zaaababababababbaab dooobobbobobo dooooooo!

Crazy bitchs!

Edited, Saw replaced with Say.

[Edited on Feb 17, 2005 by H4a2s0H]

This looks good.


Gunner Palace

Donkeys run on gasoline?!?!?!?!?!!!!!!

Ahem, bullll-shit.

I live in the 4th largest TV market in the country, and my local stations have shown *zero* dead bodies. They might report for all of 15 seconds on the number of soldiers getting killed and injured every day, but that's the news: they report car crashes, fires, storms, robberies, etc. That's the bulk of any news report, anywhere in the country, any given day. They *never* show graphic pics, and *never* have a long, negative, in-depth story on the body count or innocents killed.

The fact is, the bad news is what we hear because *it's news*, and there isn't much going on in Iraq that is upbeat and newsworthy. Your local affiliate isn't going to burn up 5 minutes of film at 11 to show a soldier refueling a donkey and another giving candy to babies. Why? Because it's *not news*.

PS - you hippie!

Yes, two sides. You are with us or against us
I like my politics in black and white

so did anyone else find the lower-case d spelling of democratic in the original post especially funny?

[Edited on Feb 17, 2005 by d20]

At first I did, then I decided it was actually accurate

So, is this a response to perceived inadequacies in the coverage of the war?
Because that's all I can find that resembles a point here.
Do you guys really believe that we hate the troops? Honestly?
Does anyone really look at shots like these and say "wow, now I agree that it was good that we went to war in Iraq"?

Honest, serious question: can anyone articulate the point behind posting this slideshow?

I think you people are missing something, by "one sided" I think he means those in touch with reality.

Bunch of crazy reality based extremists... how dare they not show the other side