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.