Rant on the war in Iraq

[jsrussell]

So I was listening to NPR today on my drive to an interview Terry Gross was having with a U.S. soldier / platoon leader that had served in Iraq.  He was talking candidly about his experiences there.  I listened to him talk about hating Iraqi's and how their training helps foster this.  I listened to him talk about how they all wanted to kill the '

Comments

NPR is for pinkos and commies that hate America

[anonymous]

Crazy accusation, right? Unfortunately, you won't hear honest conversations like the one you describe on cable or other commercial media because their sponsors don't want to risk offending the "patriots" or awakening the sleeping masses. The reason the masses don't rise up and protest is because the radio and TV they consume do not give them enough information to motivate them to action.

Remember when the towers fell? CNN, FoxNews, and your 6 o'clock local news showed the collapse of the twin towers, the maimed bodies, the tearful survivors, and still photos of the bad guys on a continuous loop. People rose up and demanded an eye for an eye.

What did we get in return? Sterile shots taken from satellite images of bombs busting bunkers and hitting buildings. We saw lots of night-time bombing raids and many images of soldeiers on patrol. Have you ever seen photos of the carnage on TV? Have you ever heard reports told from the perspective of terrorized Iraqi families on CNN? Does your local paper run photos of injured Iraqi kids? No. They don't.

The poverty of images has removed death from the war. I don't think that, for the majority of Americans, there exists a sense that real people are really dying over there. This lack of images and information is the result of a carefully crafted media relations strategy born in the bowels of the Pentagon. "Patriots" within the Bush administration remember how inconvenient the Vietnam protesters were to their grand plans. The mistakes of the 60's were not going to be repeated this time around.

Check out photos that Chris Hondros took at http://www.chrishondros.com/images.htm Click on the "Tal Afar" link. Why is NPR the only radio station that does this kind of thoughtful interview?

-Manuel P.