The chair of the House Armed Services Committee asked the Pentagon today to remove C-N-N reporters embedded with U-S combat units.The network televised portions of a video on Wednesday showing insurgent snipers targeting U-S military personnel.Executives said the tape came to the network unexpectedly through contact with an insurgent leader.Representative Duncan Hunter wrote in his letter that, quote, "C-N-N has now served as the publicist for an enemy propaganda film featuring the killing of an American soldier."San Diego-area Republicans Darrell Issa and Brian Bilbray also signed the letter. C-N-N executives defended their decision to air the footage, saying its news value outweighed other concerns.
The only real question remaining is "What took them so long?"
Fascinating, how CNN - and other MSM - can justify actions which endanger US military and also serve as propaganda for insurgents and terrorists - by simplistic phrases such as 'the public's right-to-know' and 'newsworthy'.
These are interesting phrases; they transfer full responsibility for publication from themselves to the audience. The sole fact that there is an audience for the data, alone justifies publication. This supposed audience is 'entitled' to know.
This means that if there is an audience for child pornography, that alone justifies its publication. If someone exists who will read secret military documents, then this justifies publication. If there is a reader who will read a confidential medical report, then this justifies its publication.
Fascinating how semantics can be used to justify anything, isn't it?
Great entertainment; combat 'snuff' films.
What nether region of Hell will show itself next?
Hades is alive and well and coming to a TV near you.
The bad news is that in the interest of Muslim outreach, CAIR, MPAC and the Muslim Brotherhood will now be embedded in CNN's place.
Well, it seems to me that the American people DO have a right to know that their young people are being slaughtered in Iraq. Maybe then they'll start asking their governement why. Of course, this is the same government that banned showing images of coffins coming home so that the public wouldn't be upset and start questioning the war.
I'm watching CNN's "Broken Government" now and based on the viewer e-mails even the average American is starting to wake up to the fact that the war in Iraq and the greater war on terror have been pretty much a waste of time and money.
Indeed. All that money could have gone instead into T-shirts with the logo, "I for one welcome our new overlords".
Fascinating how semantics can be used to confuse the issue. Pedophilia is illegal, as is releasing state secrets, however, disseminating information of public interest is not....er...lemme check...yep ..still not.
If the media does not posses the characteristics of a gadfly, as Socrates suggested, serving something greater than its very existence, then we are all compromised. Are the facts uncomfortable, unfortunate or simply an irritant to your delusion?
Attention:
joebaloni will be offering free copies of Triumph of the Will to all those in need of having their public interest disseminated, in the name of delusional irritation and in the name of Socrates.
We are constantly whining that the MSM does not tell the truth, but spin the story to suit those they support. Now we have seen the real actions in Iraq and we want to shut that down too? Of course the defenders of Iraq are targeting US soldiers, just as US soldiers are targeting 'insurgents'. It is called WAR! And they are not throwing flowers, they are using bombs and bullets.
Jeez, I remember when Ted Turner's CNN was considered to be right-wing. What happened? Did CNN leave the right wing, or did the right wing leave CNN behind?
agitator - your comments are not relevant to the discussion, which is biased reporting.
The fact that you conclude that the US are being 'slaughtered' (your term), ignoring that casualties are a fact of war, shows your bias. Does CNN show the 'slaughter' of the other side?
I disagree with your conclusion that the war on terror is a waste. Can you come up with another solution to Islamic fascism other than the removal of dictatorships and the opening of these countries to the utterly new experience of democracy? The fact that tribalism doesn't move easily from tribalism into democracy shouldn't be a valid reason to abandon the effort.
Proof that the US gov't banned images of repatriation? I thought it was the Canadian gov't.
joebaloni - your comments are spurious. You are ignoring that the 'right to know' means knowledge of full facts, not biased reporting. Second, my comments were meant to focus on the assumed authority of the MSM, which posits the 'right to know' of the amorphous public as the sole authority in the release of information. This is invalid.
excellent analysis I see from some commentors. I'm so glad the blogosphere is here to bring this out. Can anyone imagine an embedded reporter commenting on the allied invasion of Normandy? It would just not happen. Another favourite tactic of reporters in the MSM ,(and the national enquirer) is to use unnamed sources, as did Bob Woodward in his book "State of Denial". Even the title of the book is ironic!
excellent analysis I see from some commentors. I'm so glad the blogosphere is here to bring this out. Can anyone imagine an embedded reporter commenting on the allied invasion of Normandy? It would just not happen. Another favourite tactic of reporters in the MSM ,(and the national enquirer) is to use unnamed sources, as did Bob Woodward in his book "State of Denial". Even the title of the book is ironic!
* with the exception of agitator
With years of working very hard to defeat America the msm has sunk to a new low. Have they ever wondered what would happen to all those reporters, networks etc. if the US and the west lose this war. As their livelihood is taken away, and they are being killed or dictated to as to whatt they can and can't report, they will go to the public and say, What did we do. Reminds me of BS trying to convince the cdn public she is a decent moral woman, when all she is doing is reminding us of all her sexual affairs.
How to Lose A War: The Press and Viet Nam
By Robert Elegant
Reprinted from Encounter (London), vol. LVII, No. 2, August 1981, pp. 73-90
It's long (about 18 pages) but an extremely enlightening confessionsal about the western press and "Vietnam Syndrome".
link: (with maz2's suggested filter get-around)
w3.wellesley.edu/Polisci/wj/Vietnam/Readings/elegant.htm
Was listening to "Rush" yesterday, and as a fan of the show, was never more upset than with his discussion on this very topic. He too made the comparasion that if CNN felt it was justified in showing the U.S. soldier being shot by a sniper, then CNN should be also showing terrorist insurgents being killed. But for me, an even more pointed illustration of what CNN should be showing (with or without broadcasting the video of the U.S. soldier), would be kidnapped victims, with bag over their heads, with their hands cuffed behind their backs, with men chatting and praying. They should show the butchers knife being drawn, and pressed to the skin on the neck of these victims, and just as the blood is ready to spurt fade to black, just as they presented the soldier video, of course letting the audio play on !
"Did CNN leave the right wing, or did the right wing leave CNN behind?"
Yes, I was thinking about that, too. I see CNN as right wing, but I'm not "on the right". The right, I think, has moved.
It's just businessn war profiteering. CNN is simply trying to capture Al-Jizzera's market share.
as a former soldier, and with blood brothers who served in somalia and gulf war 1, i think the media should run whatever it gets its hands on...we fight for freedom of speech..let's keep it that way.....GO ARMY
btw..i am no fan of the msm..they smeared my brother's duty in somalia some terrible...can never forget that...but..free speech rules!!!
one last thing...did anyone not see all the excellent footage of our boys kickin taliban butt????what's good for the goose......
I was just reading up on some of CNNs' Canadian content. Sarah Schnare is very good looking and a producer on the Larry King Show AND a recent contestant to marry the prince on ABC's The Batchelor: Rome.
Her interview for her hometown newspaper The West Kootenay Weekender on Oct. 13th is a hoot.
Here are some excerpts.
WKNDR: There must be a lot of politics involved in lining up guests for a show as high profile as Larry King.
SS: ...We have A-listers we want to get on the show. But by putting someone else on, it might frustrate the guest we're ultimately trying to get, so we won't put that person on the show.
WKNDR: What are some of the big stories you've worked on this past year?
SS:...I spent some time in Napa Valley working with Robert Redford during our coverage of rising oil prices.
When she is asked about Pres. Clinton, Schnare says, He's so engaging.
And about Pres. Bush she says, During his interview he made of couple of vocabulary errors. We all kind of laughed. He was not so friendly. He was in and out. It seemed like he could have cared less.
WKNDR: So, What's Larry like?
SS:...he does not think about what he is going to say. If you ask him, Do you like what I am wearing he'll say something like, You look fat in that! He'll just tell you. He's kind of like a grandpa.
George, what you fail to understand is that in war, propaganda is a key weapon, aimed at the opponents will to fight.
For CNN to transmit enemy propaganda is to aid the enemy.
Kingstonlad,
"what's good for the goose......"
It is the enemies goose we want to cook, not ours. There is no moral equivelance between our side and our enemy's side. They are the enemy; we should not distribute their propaganda. They want to kill and defeat us so we should not assist them.
again..footage is not propaganda...it is the truth...it is not bad for citizens to see how their soldiers are dying...can create some sober second thought...should we have outlawed war artists and photographers during wwII?????remember....truly free people will prevail in the end...let's keep speech FREE......GO ARMY
Kingstonlad
"footage is not propaganda"
Wrong! Wrong! Wrong!
It's called brainwaswhing. It's called propaganda. Tokyo Rose used to play contemporary music and report facts about the war. She wasn't always lieing.
I suggest you take remedial Goebbels 101.
Just one more item to back up the dipping of bullets in pigs blood.
I haven't seen this news tape so I really don't know if it compromises safety and secrets or not.
However, I am a bit suprised at the notion that morale depends on favourable press coverage. In any dangerous job, be it mining, construction, police work, or the military morale is a function of the relationships within the organization. Mutual respect and confidence are critical, and satisfactory pay and equipment come into the picture as well. A bad day in the media is going to disappoint people in the organization, but it's also going to make them band together to fight off any negative impression. That kind of closed world attitude can be dangerous for the organization when something needs to be fixed and outside warnings get ignored.
I have no problem with them publishing these videos...however, now they have absolutely no excuse for not having published the beheading videos, or the images of the two US soldiers who were kidnapped and mutilated. They want to show death? Fine. Don't show the clean, long distance kills made by a sniper. Show what these animals do to hostages. Should change a lot of peoples opinions on whether or not we need to be fighting them.
No more free rides for the Communist News Network and BIG BAD WOLF BLITZER but what will RED TED TURNER have to say
Somewhere along the way I remember reading that Eason Jordan hooked up with Daniel Pearl's wife - how inappropriate of them both.
"No more free rides for the Communist News Network and BIG BAD WOLF BLITZER but what will RED TED TURNER have to say"
May I respectfully suggest that, if you think CNN is communist, you need to do some reading.
The CBC would have had better sense than to run this. That's why it's Canada's most trusted news source!
Does the press/media have the right to show/print everything they come in possession of? That is the question of the day! Certainly, by law they do have that right. What about moral law. Should they publish/show everything? My personal view is no. They have to draw the line some place and they have to exercise moral judgement. Unfortunately, moral judgement is in grievous short supply in today’s media.
I recall Gulf War I, Stromin Norman, made very good use of the media, especially CNN. All he did was move a Marine Amphibious Assault Group off the coast of Kuwait and then let the CNN talking heads do the rest. We all remember the outcome, a dash across the Iraqi desert to cut off the supply lines to the army occupying Kuwait. I even recall General Schwarzkopf thanking CNN for helping in the ruse.
Good lord...same bunch a no nothin's talkin' the same crap as last time old sarge stopped by. poor mary T is jest as insane as ever. sad really. CNN works fer old bush and his neocon traitors. those boys at CNN don't run nuthin' old bush and his evil minions dont tell 'em to. sarge been to enough funerals i n the last 4 years he dont need to see the footage, but soft liley white civilians do need to know whats bein' asked of our boys-too bad CNn wont tell 'em the truth on that. 'sides, aint no diffferent then CNN showing shock and awe over bagdad over an over ad nauseum nor rilen' you simplitons up by showing the twin towers falling over and over ect ect. if hiding that footage was all it would take to win the war, sarge would be all for it, but we is beyond redemption on the simple merits that we aint winning and the iraqis dont want us there.
trea·son (trē'zən)
n.
Violation of allegiance toward one's country or sovereign,...by consciously and purposely acting to aid its enemies.
I didn't see this footage -- are you telling me a CNN film crew actually filmed a terrorist insurgent killing an American soldier??? And then broadcast it?
Is that what happened? Because standing around watching while an enemy kills your own countrymen -- isn't that treason????
I prefer CNN to FOX any day of the week, but if that is what happened, then the film crew should be charged. Seriously charged.
CNN, knew exactly what it was doing, to sway the up-
coming elections. They prefer the Dhimmicrats and
"Team Billary" the spotlight. The method is to sour
some of the electorate, from even going to the polls.
If they also showed a film of when our Canadian soldier nailed a Taliban at 2200 meters then you could call it balanced reporting. This is giving aid to the enemy.
"I suggest you take remedial Goebbels 101."
precisely.
goebbels perfected it to its highest effectiveness, and showed how its done. mixing in broadly known truths to bolster the unproven (including the bullshit part which is the REAL objective) increses credibility of the message.
then repeat ad nauseum and they will swallow anything.
propaganda includes clever use of the truth. it doesnt even have to be out of context but often is.
footage of OUR combatants being sniped at is propaganda, deserving of sanctions against those broadcasting it.
after consulting with numerous american and canadian vets...vietnam, congo, korea, cyprus, etc, etc, etc....not one disagreed with my opinion on this subject...front line grunts never shy from the truth....GO ARMY
Just wait RED TED TURNER and BIG BAD WOLF BLITZER will be screaming like stuck pigs over this
Where is the Video of Americian or Canadian Snipers taking one shot to the head of Insurgents/terrorists.That would even better if the happen to be praying to there god.