Iraq War Death Count Energizes the Press

The most disgusting behavior from the media in recent years has resulted from their apparent obsession with dead soldiers in Iraq. You cannot watch or read news about Iraq without repeatedly being assaulted by the running tally of dead soldiers.

The mainstream press defends themselves by saying that they are honoring the dead by reminding America of their sacrifice, but this is just the way the press justifies the daily grim tales of soldiers killed in action.

CBS NEWS is the worst offender and has the deepest obsession with the death count. If you do not believe this, watch any CBS NEWS program. You will not go more than thirty minutes without seeing a huge red graphic splashed across your screen showing you the body count as of the last hour. Along with the graphic, you will see a sad-faced reporter telling you about how more soldiers have been killed by insurgents.

CBS NEWS is not the only offender. NBC, ABC, CNN, MSNBC, Fox NEWS, etc. are all guilty of obsessing over every loss in Iraq. They are pretending to be concerned, but they do not really care as much as they want you to believe. They love to show the body count because we are Americans, we love our soldiers, and the press knows we will always have an emotional reaction to the body count. That is why they show it. They know it will get our attention, and since most of the mainstream press is liberal, they hope the rising body count will sway our support for the Iraq War.

Even worse than the obsessive reporting of the body count is the press’ desire to celebrate milestones in the death tolls. Remember how energized the press got back when the Iraq body count got into the 900s? The press could not contain themselves. Even when the body count was still in the 950s, the press started using phrases like, “death toll approaching 1,000,” “nearly 1,000 dead,” and “almost 1,000 killed.” The press was almost eager in their anticipation of the body count reaching four digits.

We saw the press get energized once more when the body count got into the 1,900s. The press then started using phrases like, “close to 2,000 killed,” “death toll climbing to 2,000,” and “dead soldiers could soon total 2,000.” When the body count finally did hit 2,000, the press jumped into action and reported it relentlessly for days. Why should the press make such a big issue out of the milestones? Was not the 1,999th soldier killed as important as the 2,000th?

Unfortunately, the death toll in Iraq does continue to rise. At some point, the numbers may get just far enough past 2,000 that reporters start feeling comfortable using the phrase “thousands killed.” Let us all hope that never happens.

It is important that we remember our fallen soldiers. Their sacrifices must never be forgotten; however, when we speak of their deaths, we should do it with honor and dignity. We should never exploit the deaths of courageous soldiers just to write attention-grabbing headlines to boost ratings or promote political agendas.

Seventy-One Percent of Iraqis Are Happy, But ABCNEWS Is Not

Today, ABCNEWS released the normal "Here’s good news, but don’t believe it" story. The story is about a recent poll in Iraq that reveals Iraqis have a fairly positive outlook on life in Iraq. Even though the poll results indicate that America is making some good progress in Iraq, Gary Langer and Jon Cohen of ABCNEWS will not let you believe it.

The negative tone of the story is evident in the opening paragraphs. Here are some examples of sentences that show the liberal, manipulative bias of ABCNEWS.

"Surprising levels of optimism prevail in Iraq with living conditions improved, security more a national worry than a local one, and expectations for the future high."

"Despite the daily violence there, most living conditions are rated positively, seven in 10 Iraqis say their own lives are going well…"

"Surprisingly, given the insurgents' attacks on Iraqi civilians, more than six in 10 Iraqis feel very safe in their own neighborhoods…"

These sentences start with "surprising," "despite," and "surprisingly." The writers want you to know that they are baffled by how Iraqis could possibly be positive. ABCNEWS is quite confident that Iraq is a disaster, and they just do not understand why the Iraqis have not figured this out yet.

The message that ABCNEWS is sending you with this story is "Iraqis are happy with the results of the Iraq War, but that’s just because the Iraqis are clueless. If they really knew how evil the United States is, they would be just as miserable as American liberals."

ABCNEWS makes a big issue of the less favorable numbers in the poll and goes into detail about all of the reasons that catastrophe must be inevitable in Iraq. The biggest point that ABCNEWS makes with this story is that 71% of Iraqis say things are going well in their lives; however, only 44% say things are going well in their country. Why this huge discrepancy? Maybe most Iraqis are actually doing well, but they perceive that things are not so good in their country. Hmm. Maybe 56% of Iraqis watch ABCNEWS.

Click here to read the original article: "Poll: Broad Optimism in Iraq, But Also Deep Divisions Among Groups"