CNN Finds NEW Way to Count Body Bags, Now in Afghanistan
By Warner Todd Huston Posted in War — Comments (5) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
We've taken notice that Iraq is suddenly out of the news now that things are consistently going so well for U.S. forces there. Well, since CNN can't find much bad to talk about in Iraq they've finally found some "bad" news they can use as a needle to stick in the Bush Administration's collective eye. In Coalition troop deaths in Afghanistan surpass Iraq, CNN has discovered that they can make a body bag contest out of casualties between Iraq and Afghanistan. Oh, joy!
For the second month in a row, U.S. and allied troop deaths in the Afghan war have surpassed those in Iraq, according to official figures tallied by CNN... In June, 46 foreign troops died in Afghanistan and 31 troops died in Iraq. In May, 23 foreign troops died in Afghanistan and 21 died in Iraq.
Stop the presses! And, did you notice that now they are adding foreign troops up because they can't get enough American deaths to report? Can you remember the last time the American press was worried about the casualties among our foreign coalition?
It also doesn’t escape notice that the headline is a bit misleading. Read standing alone, one would think that the headline is saying more troops have now died in Afghanistan than have died in Iraq for the entire war. After all, the headline doesn’t restrict itself to just the two months in question! A lazy reader might tend to take away the wrong impression by this badly composed headline.
Now, veteran newsers know that the largest amount of news readers only read the headline and the first few paragraphs before moving on to the next story. For that matter, many people only read the headline before they move on. So, all the bad news is often pushed up front so that the worst impression is left with the half-readers. And this story is a classic example of that.
Still, one should give this CNN report some credit because it does say things are going better in Iraq.
Violence in Iraq has dropped. Among the reasons that have been cited are inroads made by the "surge" military offensive; Iraq's military operations against militants; the growth of the Awakening Councils, opposing al Qaeda in Iraq, among Sunni Arabs; efforts at political compromise; and the cessation of hostilities by mainstream members of Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's Mehdi Army.
So, kudos for that one. In fact there is quite a lot of good news in this particular report on how violence and deaths are down in Iraq and Afghanistan... all after the lede, of course.
Sadly, though, instead of headlining the story with the good news, CNN leads the reader with all the bad news first. All the better to leave the worst impression possible even while actually reporting some good news.
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for us for his service to this country. His volunteering for service with the full knowledge that he would be going to war could not have been a decision he entered into lightly.
I am puzzled though by your post. Are you angry at the disingenuous attempt by the new organization to portray Iraq and Afghanistan as battling body bags, or are you angry at Todd for reporting on it?
I don't believe that you will EVER see the community here making light of American casualties. You will see people here pointing out hypocracy of the MSM anti-American left.
Know what's funny about his ill tempered response, David.
MY SON just got back from Iraq. He is soon off to Afghanistan, too. So I am not writing with no concern for our troops at all.
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Are the Democrats still pressing on about increasing the American troop presence in Afghanistan? Or, is CNN now moving away from this talking point?
Many of us have been predicting for some time that if the Dems succeeded in withdrawal from Iraq, withdrawal from Afghanistan would inevitably happen about 6-9 months later.
But now that Iraq is successful, and there's no political hay to be made there anymore, it looks like the Dems will switch plans and start pushing to get out of Afghanistan.
By August, the nutroots will no doubt, in unison, start calling Afghanistan a "hopeless quagmire, than we can't possibly hope to win" and will start calling for the U.S. and NATO to withdraw their forces.
The change in Press coverage of Afghanistan over the last two months is only the opening salvo in this.
This is all about helping Obama out.
Sorry dude, but this just pisses me off to no end when I see crap like this...."oh, things are going so well over there....hardly ANYONE is dying these days". Like the guys that are dying are next to meaningless. Just numbers, no big deal. Only 4...or 5....or 10 this week. I mean, who cares, right? In the grand scheme of things, a measly 4 or 5 or 10 dead guys a week is great news, huh. Well, not if it's your kid over there.
My son is on his 3rd tour. 3rd Friggin Tour. He's with the 101st in Bayji this time, and there is only one word he describes Iraq with: Sucks.
Maybe not as much as his first two deployments, but it still sucks. Actually he uses a lot of other adjectives, but I doubt I'm permitted to write them here. As a parent, I wouldn't wish the worry and anxiety of having a son over there on my worst enemy.
Five more months and he's out, thank God. When he joined the Army in 2004 he was planning on making a career of it. Sorry, I don't mean to fly off the handle, it's just that it's so easy to talk about how "hardly anyone is dying anymore" when you don't actually have your loved one in harm's way. Me? I cringe everytime I open up CNN or USA Today and see casulties reported.