Poll: Media coverage of the shooting scandal

[basketcase]

My hometown newspaper is running this same poll, and I am curious to see some other feedback.

[jgr451]

It looks like a very unfortunate incident.The slavering media 's avidity to sell their stuff keeps it on the air over and over ad nauseam.
1.Hard for due process to take place in that kind of hysterical atmosphere;see the crowd outside the courthouse when Scott Peterson was convicted?They were dancing,laughing,cheering;as if "let's kill Peterson"was the party theme;
2.It encourages Iraquis to be outraged and makes the task that much more dangerous for the people there;
3.Notice how fond the murderers in Iraq are of having their terror broadcast to the world?Who benefits from that horror?

In my opinion the western media are not helping with this interest in the horrible.

[kbasa]

Urban warfare is nasty stuff. I heard that a GI had been blown up the day before by a booby trap in a dead body. I don't blame the guy at all, though I can see how it could cause problems.

[Ironhorsecowboy]

This story wouldn't be taking place if those media crews weren't going door to door with our troops. I haven't had much time to follow this story due to extended work hours this week. Let those terrorists be glad I am not over there. There wouldn't be any prisoners if they had been shooting at me either. I can imagine the adrenaline was pretty high and killing another terrorist wounded or not wasn't on his mind. :nra

God bless America and Pray for our Soldiers

[dlearl476]

This story wouldn't be taking place if those media crews weren't going door to door with our troops. I haven't had much time to follow this story due to extended work hours this week. Let those terrorists be glad I am not over there. There wouldn't be any prisoners if they had been shooting at me either. I can imagine the adrenaline was pretty high and killing another terrorist wounded or not wasn't on his mind. :nra

God bless America and Pray for our Soldiers

Hear, hear. I was listening to MSNBCs coverage in the background this morning and apparently nobody is mentioning the poor kid was wounded by a "playing dead" insurgent in the very same mosque a short time before and insisted on rejoining his unit as soon as the docs would clear him. (or someting to that effect. Like I said, it was BG noise)

[Rad]

Can you even imagine what it must be like to have a camera watch'n you in a war zone conflict :uhoh

Daymn, these are just kids with a few months training.

I wonder how nasty the film would have been if they could go back and look at what took place in other wars such as; WW II, WW I or the Civil War...Nasty business, this war stuff.

I can only hope it can be ended soon and these guys and gals can come home

[riderR1150GSAdv]

1 The media should NEVER have been allowed in a war zone, this is not a
nintendo game we are watching. Overexposure is hampering operations.
2 Unless anyone is there at that moment going through this, no one can have
an informed opinion.
3 The more terrorist that croak now the better, so we don't have to deal with
them later.
4 IMHO that soldier did what most of us wish we could do. Kill terrorists.

Ok feel better now....must .....have..... :coffee

[bullit7801]

Thought the forum might be interested in word from the father of a soldier in Fallujah. A friend of the father forwarded the message to me. I know the father but not well. This is real. I have removed the names.

11/17/04

Finally got word from my son XXXXX. He’s okay, the worst thing plaguing him is bug bites. He hasn’t showered in seven days and they finally gave him 48 hours back at the base to relax, clean up, eat a hot meal not from an MRE pouch, and sleep peacefully before going back to the city for the weekend. He said he had to wait an hour for the phone.
His job was and is to blow up weapons caches, and he said there were plenty. The enemy was well fortified. Yesterday he said they found enough RPGs and surface to air missiles to fill a truck.
He said his band of eight were going down an alley when an RPG was shot at them. They tried to get around a corner before it exploded, but unfortunately two of his guys are being tended to in a German hospital. XXXXX says the concussion threw him face down and he thought he caught shrapnel in the back of his head but he wasn’t bleeding and nobody could find any, and he said he shook it off after a while. One of the injured was the sergeant and he took shrapnel in all four appendages and in the face as well. XXXXX’s band of 8 engineers now was down to 6 and XXXXX became senior P.O. This put them on constant alert and they had stay close to the action for 7 days straight.
At night they found large houses or mansions and posted watch guards on the roof and on the street and found time to sleep. Every morning was another gunfight.
He said the city smells of death and decay. Dogs are devouring corpses and it not unusual to see a dog walking around with a human limb in its mouth.
A number of the locals were unable to get out before the bombing started, so these poor folks have been without electricity, food or water for a week, many starving and dehydrated. The Americans are now occupying a mosque and brought in food and water for the locals and announced over a public address system that they could come in for supplies. When the locals showed up they were hugging and kissing the Americans for saving them from the foreign insurgency. The Americans had set up an ultraviolet gate that the people had to pass through. When the presence of gunpowder showed up on hands or necks or faces it was pretty obvious these guys were the enemy coming in for the feast. The Americans locked up another 41 insurgents.
XXXXX said Fallujah was a pretty city about a week ago, but when the residents come home they are not gonna be real happy with what they see.

Pray for our troops. They are doing a very tough job and doing it, in general, very well.

tb

[kbasa]

Thanks, Tom.

:usa

[Rhino]

Can you even imagine what it must be like to have a camera watch'n you in a war zone conflict

Rad - I can tell you from first hand experience. It stinks! Just flat out stinks! I babysat a news crew for 2 weeks over there and it damn near cost some lives. I'm all about getting the news out but not when it jeopardizes the people on the ground, we had enough to worry about...

[riderR1150GSAdv]

Thanks, Tom.

:usa

Well said. :thumb
That letter from a GI is the reason we need to support all our troops and not let the media stab them in the back. :usa

[Ironhorsecowboy]

Bullit, my sister-in-law has her brother in Iraq as well and he is Special Ops. He does some extremely dangerous stuff and when he was in back in early 04 on leave he and I got to talk and some of the things he was allowed to tell were mind boggling. It is hard for us to imagine how much fear these young soldiers have not knowing who or what vehicle or the next doorway they pass through might be the battleground. I make it a point to go up and thank any uniformed soldiers I see in public for there patriotism, service and sacrifice. :usa

[jgr451]

Bullitt thanks for your post.
As a Canadian I am removed from the daily tragedy and horror experienced by the men and women in harm's way.Nonetheless,it grieves me sorely to see and hear the awful horrors that are being experienced and inflicted.Make no mistake,I am one Canadian who absolutely respects America and her citizens,especially her fighting men and women.This is a very nasty war,though.Is it time the political leaders started thinking of a different strategy?
America went there to liberate Iraq from its oppressors so that she could join a lineup of free democratic nations around the world.

That does not seem to be happening;nor does it now seem to be what Iraquis want.I have heard there are 100,000 dead in Iraq.If that is true,then we,the free world,are losing not just the battle,but the war as well.

[tnk12lt]

Do you really believe that the number of insurgents and those that support them outnumber the regular citizens of Iraq that would like to see some peace and stability and live their lives in freedom? What kind of strategy would you like to suggest?

[manicmechanic]

Also to make a point, but how many of the opponents are easily identified by wearing uniforms? Who's the enemy? Just like in the last undeclared war, guerilla tactics were the norm. Now we've got the media there covering closely and they're shocked? This isn't some schoolyard brawl, and it isn't going to be pretty.

[lorazepam]

Having Iraqui's wave a white flag, then fire upon the soldiers who come out to a surrender flag. To behead people there to help them , one woman rest her soul, who gave years of her life to make things better. To violate all aspects of the Geneva Convention, and not expect the same in return, is ludicrous.

What if the third largest standing army in the world invaded Canada, and the US stood by and watched. How would the Canadians treat the occupiers? I know if diplomatic means would not remove them, I would take matters into my own hands.
the majority of the country welcomed the fall of Hussein. The "insurgents" who continue to cause trouble are in the minority.
I just hope the fighting stays there and does not erupt here. I am glad to be moving to the country soon, and away from urban areas.

[manicmechanic]

Perhaps a question to the media - if the soldier and the cameraman were to exchange their gear, would the event have been different? If so, how?