Here We Go Again
The media has received a helluva black eye over the course of the last year. And it has all been self-inflicted; a stumble here, and a bumble there, and heads have rolled over these mishaps.
They continue to hype their own made-up story of Abu Ghraib. There was no torture. There was abuse, and those responsible have been punished, or are still going through their accorded rights under the UCMJ. The media forgot that words mean things, and they mean what they say, so drop the "torture" monniker attached to Abu Ghraib.
Dan Rather, in the worst case of journalistic malfeasance, ran a phony story about the National Guard service of the president. This story was destroyed in a matter of hours, and Dan Rather’s "swan song" read more like a carefully orchestrated hit-piece. I hear when Rather finally does leave CBS that he will join OJ Simpson on Florida golf courses looking for Lucy Ramirez; the woman that supposedly gave him these memos.
Eason Jordan stands up at the Davos conference in Switzerland, and accuses US troops of targeting and torturing journalists in Iraq. When called to account for it, Jordan his behind the fact the conference was "private", and he did not have to answer any questions. Well, one does when there are enough people that corroborate your words, and those words spread like wild-fire across the blogosphere. Within weeks, Jordan was gone.
Newsweek elicited a swarm that quickly gained speed, and within a week forced them to retract another phony story that revolved around a single accusation that our troops had flushed a Koran down a toilet at Gitmo. Even the lone accuser used in the piece had backed away from the story, and the magazine was left with a lot of egg all over their face, and the blood of 17 people killed in riots in Afghanistan on their hands.
Now, today, we bloggers intrduce you readers to Linda Foley. Ms. Foley is the president of the Newspaper Guild. And she just pulled an Eason Jordan. (Hat-tip to Michelle Malkin and LaShawn Barber. The story here comes from World Net Daily.)
http://michellemalkin.com/archives/002509.htm
http://lashawnbarber.com/archives/2005/05/19/linda/
Echoing a claim that led to CNN executive Eason Jordan's resignation, the president of the 35,000-member Newspaper Guild asserted U.S. troops deliberately are killing journalists in Iraq.
Linda Foley, speaking Friday in St. Louis, said the American attacks are focused particularly on Arab journalists, according to a tape aired by Sinclair Broadcasting's "The Point", a commentary segment by Mark Hyman.
The remarks came as Newsweek magazine continued to manage fallout for a report in its May 9 edition that sparked protests and rioting across the Muslim world resulting in at least 17 dead, scores injured, relief buildings burned down and a setback to years of coalition-building against terrorists.
Earlier this year, Jordan, CNN's chief news executive, suggested at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland that some of the 63 journalists killed in Iraq had been specifically targeted by U.S. troops. Jordan quickly backed off his suggestion, but constant exposure from political weblogs led to his resignation. He also admitted last year that CNN withheld news of atrocities taking place in Iraq under the regime of Saddam Hussein because the network was afraid it might lose access to the country.
According to a tape of her remarks, Foley said: "Journalists, by the way, are not just being targeted verbally or … ah, or … ah, politically. They are also being targeted for real, um … in places like Iraq. What outrages me as a representative of journalists is that there's not more outrage about the number, and the brutality, and the cavalier nature of the U.S. military toward the killing of journalists in Iraq."
Foley continued, "They target and kill journalists … uh, from other countries, particularly Arab countries like Al -, like Arab news services like al-Jazeera, for example. They actually target them and blow up their studios with impunity. ..."
Hyman called on Foley to immediately present evidence to support her claims or resign.
"Unfortunately, the damage may have already been done," he said. "Her remarks could lead to further bloodshed, including against Americans."
Hyman concluded: "The question is whether Newspaper Guild members will hold Foley accountable or will they give her a free pass in endangering American lives with inflammatory remarks without any proof?"
The Newspaper Guild posted an April 15 article on its website that blames the U.S. for the deaths of journalists José Couso and Taras Protsyuk, April 8, 2003, at the Palestine Hotel. They were on a balcony watching the Third Infantry tank division exchange fire with Iraqi forces, the report said. After a lull in the battle, a U.S. tank fired an incendiary shell at the hotel. U.S. officials say the troops believed they were taking fire from the hotel.
First off, this is no different that what Eason Jordan did, and it demands a similar punishment. Like Eason Jordan accused our troops of committing a war crime, so does Linda Foley. (I would also like to point out that Giuliani Sgrena, the Italian journalist rescued in Iraq that was involved in a checkpoint skirmish, parroted similar sentiments.)
And I applaud Mark Hyman for standing up and demanding proof. If her proof is a simple attack on a hotel where our troops they were taking fire, then it does not pass the smell test. Has this idiotic woman ever been in a combat zone? Has she ever seen combat, up close and personal?
You know what, neither have I, but with my brother in the Army, and the research I have engaged in when it comes to the military, I can honestly say I do not fault the military for taking out a target they believed to be hostile. In combat, if you hesitate, you die. It is just that simple.
It is regrettable that two journalists were killed in that particular incident, but our troops did not fire on that hotel without provocation. Our troops do not target journalists. Contrast her comments with the comments of Terry Moran on the Hugh Hewitt show. (Hat-tip to RadioBlogger for the Moran transcript)
http://www.radioblogger.com/#000697
"There is, Hugh, I agree with you, a deep anti-military bias in the media. One that begins from the premise that the military must be lying, and that American projection of power around the world must be wrong. I think that that is a hangover from Vietnam, and I think it's very dangerous. That's different from the media doing it's job of challenging the exercise of power without fear or favor."
That quote has a lot of media people up in arms. But Moran hit the nail on the head. There is an inherent bias by the MSM in regard to our military. For some odd reason, they just cannot get beyond the Vietnam War. For the media, any story revolving around the good our troops are doing in Iraq or Afghanistan is tossed in the round file; it is not sexy. It is not newsworthy. But, one or more soldiers that act in a questionable manner (Was that Iraqi really dead? He is now, sir) and the media is all over them like a pack of rabid dogs. I am sick of it.
Ms. Foley had better put up or shut up. If she does not, she deserves no quarter from bloggers, or from America. And, ultimately, she deserves the same thing that Eason Jordan received: A pink slip, and a swift kick in the @$$ on the way out the door.
The Bunny ;)
The media has received a helluva black eye over the course of the last year. And it has all been self-inflicted; a stumble here, and a bumble there, and heads have rolled over these mishaps.
They continue to hype their own made-up story of Abu Ghraib. There was no torture. There was abuse, and those responsible have been punished, or are still going through their accorded rights under the UCMJ. The media forgot that words mean things, and they mean what they say, so drop the "torture" monniker attached to Abu Ghraib.
Dan Rather, in the worst case of journalistic malfeasance, ran a phony story about the National Guard service of the president. This story was destroyed in a matter of hours, and Dan Rather’s "swan song" read more like a carefully orchestrated hit-piece. I hear when Rather finally does leave CBS that he will join OJ Simpson on Florida golf courses looking for Lucy Ramirez; the woman that supposedly gave him these memos.
Eason Jordan stands up at the Davos conference in Switzerland, and accuses US troops of targeting and torturing journalists in Iraq. When called to account for it, Jordan his behind the fact the conference was "private", and he did not have to answer any questions. Well, one does when there are enough people that corroborate your words, and those words spread like wild-fire across the blogosphere. Within weeks, Jordan was gone.
Newsweek elicited a swarm that quickly gained speed, and within a week forced them to retract another phony story that revolved around a single accusation that our troops had flushed a Koran down a toilet at Gitmo. Even the lone accuser used in the piece had backed away from the story, and the magazine was left with a lot of egg all over their face, and the blood of 17 people killed in riots in Afghanistan on their hands.
Now, today, we bloggers intrduce you readers to Linda Foley. Ms. Foley is the president of the Newspaper Guild. And she just pulled an Eason Jordan. (Hat-tip to Michelle Malkin and LaShawn Barber. The story here comes from World Net Daily.)
http://michellemalkin.com/archives/002509.htm
http://lashawnbarber.com/archives/2005/05/19/linda/
Echoing a claim that led to CNN executive Eason Jordan's resignation, the president of the 35,000-member Newspaper Guild asserted U.S. troops deliberately are killing journalists in Iraq.
Linda Foley, speaking Friday in St. Louis, said the American attacks are focused particularly on Arab journalists, according to a tape aired by Sinclair Broadcasting's "The Point", a commentary segment by Mark Hyman.
The remarks came as Newsweek magazine continued to manage fallout for a report in its May 9 edition that sparked protests and rioting across the Muslim world resulting in at least 17 dead, scores injured, relief buildings burned down and a setback to years of coalition-building against terrorists.
Earlier this year, Jordan, CNN's chief news executive, suggested at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland that some of the 63 journalists killed in Iraq had been specifically targeted by U.S. troops. Jordan quickly backed off his suggestion, but constant exposure from political weblogs led to his resignation. He also admitted last year that CNN withheld news of atrocities taking place in Iraq under the regime of Saddam Hussein because the network was afraid it might lose access to the country.
According to a tape of her remarks, Foley said: "Journalists, by the way, are not just being targeted verbally or … ah, or … ah, politically. They are also being targeted for real, um … in places like Iraq. What outrages me as a representative of journalists is that there's not more outrage about the number, and the brutality, and the cavalier nature of the U.S. military toward the killing of journalists in Iraq."
Foley continued, "They target and kill journalists … uh, from other countries, particularly Arab countries like Al -, like Arab news services like al-Jazeera, for example. They actually target them and blow up their studios with impunity. ..."
Hyman called on Foley to immediately present evidence to support her claims or resign.
"Unfortunately, the damage may have already been done," he said. "Her remarks could lead to further bloodshed, including against Americans."
Hyman concluded: "The question is whether Newspaper Guild members will hold Foley accountable or will they give her a free pass in endangering American lives with inflammatory remarks without any proof?"
The Newspaper Guild posted an April 15 article on its website that blames the U.S. for the deaths of journalists José Couso and Taras Protsyuk, April 8, 2003, at the Palestine Hotel. They were on a balcony watching the Third Infantry tank division exchange fire with Iraqi forces, the report said. After a lull in the battle, a U.S. tank fired an incendiary shell at the hotel. U.S. officials say the troops believed they were taking fire from the hotel.
First off, this is no different that what Eason Jordan did, and it demands a similar punishment. Like Eason Jordan accused our troops of committing a war crime, so does Linda Foley. (I would also like to point out that Giuliani Sgrena, the Italian journalist rescued in Iraq that was involved in a checkpoint skirmish, parroted similar sentiments.)
And I applaud Mark Hyman for standing up and demanding proof. If her proof is a simple attack on a hotel where our troops they were taking fire, then it does not pass the smell test. Has this idiotic woman ever been in a combat zone? Has she ever seen combat, up close and personal?
You know what, neither have I, but with my brother in the Army, and the research I have engaged in when it comes to the military, I can honestly say I do not fault the military for taking out a target they believed to be hostile. In combat, if you hesitate, you die. It is just that simple.
It is regrettable that two journalists were killed in that particular incident, but our troops did not fire on that hotel without provocation. Our troops do not target journalists. Contrast her comments with the comments of Terry Moran on the Hugh Hewitt show. (Hat-tip to RadioBlogger for the Moran transcript)
http://www.radioblogger.com/#000697
"There is, Hugh, I agree with you, a deep anti-military bias in the media. One that begins from the premise that the military must be lying, and that American projection of power around the world must be wrong. I think that that is a hangover from Vietnam, and I think it's very dangerous. That's different from the media doing it's job of challenging the exercise of power without fear or favor."
That quote has a lot of media people up in arms. But Moran hit the nail on the head. There is an inherent bias by the MSM in regard to our military. For some odd reason, they just cannot get beyond the Vietnam War. For the media, any story revolving around the good our troops are doing in Iraq or Afghanistan is tossed in the round file; it is not sexy. It is not newsworthy. But, one or more soldiers that act in a questionable manner (Was that Iraqi really dead? He is now, sir) and the media is all over them like a pack of rabid dogs. I am sick of it.
Ms. Foley had better put up or shut up. If she does not, she deserves no quarter from bloggers, or from America. And, ultimately, she deserves the same thing that Eason Jordan received: A pink slip, and a swift kick in the @$$ on the way out the door.
The Bunny ;)
posted by Syd And Vaughn | 10:14 AM
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