War pornographer Michael R. Gordon goes to Iraq and, using his well trained 'journalistic' eye, sees and hears only Americans. That's the conclusion to draw from this morning's "On Patrol With Marines, Iraqi Soldiers Get a Lesson in War’s Danger" in this morning's New York Times as Gordo quotes this American and that American and, as an aside, an Iraqi Humvee was in flames, three Iraqis were wounded and outside and one was trapped inside (where he would die). But Gordo's not interested in that.
He'd rather tell you about how this American plans to be a math teacher, or that American supposedly has a St. Christopher blessed by the Pope (get the feeling Gordo doesn't know much about Catholicism?), or "nervous laugher" among Americans or . . . Gordo's up to discussing pretty much anything but Iraqis. As a foreign correspondent, Gordo's a bit of joke.
At other times he comes off like Woody Allen in Love & Death (but remember Woody meant to be funny).
"The evening before had been relaxed and even festive," he writes -- following this statement, "This reporter and a photographer for The New York Times were taking a firsthand view of how a team of Marine advisers was training the new Iraqi Army, specifically the Second Battalion of the Second Brigade of the newly formed Iraqi Seventh Division." Yes, Gordo, never forget that YOU are the story. But the whole passage reads like the scene in Love & Death where they troops watch the STD play-lette and Woody Allen's character offers a critique. (Again, Woody intended to be funny.)
Does the paper pride itself on the disinterest in Iraqis? Do they seem to feel that no Iraqi is worthy of coverage? Is it xenophobia or just tremendous ignorance? Who knows but more and more the reporters for the Times are coming off like travel study students who are so homesick they never leave their hotels or hostels unless someone can guarantee them that there's a McDonald's within walking distance.
Maybe the answer lies in Edward Wong's article today?
"You can't tell your friend from your enemy," an Iraqi Army officer said as Iraqi troops moved in.
Is that it? Supposed reporters need those clearly drawn lines as much as the Bully Boy? That could very well be it because Gordo's no reporter, he was a war cheerleader before the illegal invasion (Judith Miller didn't write all those stories herself). The paper very much provides the "us & them" attitude one expects in the looney rantings of Fred Barnes, it just doesn't provide reporting.
It's not just their bodies that have been embedded.
Martha notes a highlight and when you read the excerpt (or use the link and read the full article) note who speaks and how different the coverage is from that of the Gordos, Dexys and Burnsies in the Times. From Joshua Partlow and Naseer Nouri's "'Neighbors Are Killing Neighbors' Across Baghdad, Violence Leaves Residents Fleeing or Imprisoned at Home" (Washington Post):
When her home became unlivable, when her neighbors were gunned down in the streets, a mother of seven said goodbye to her teenage sons and set out on foot into the lethal Baghdad night.
Ignoring the citywide curfew, the woman known as Um Mustafa grabbed her two youngest children and walked five miles down the back roads of moonlit urban slums to the refugee camp that has become their new home.
When her home became unlivable, when her neighbors were gunned down in the streets, a mother of seven said goodbye to her teenage sons and set out on foot into the lethal Baghdad night.
Ignoring the citywide curfew, the woman known as Um Mustafa grabbed her two youngest children and walked five miles down the back roads of moonlit urban slums to the refugee camp that has become their new home.
Just contemplate the differences in the coverage.
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the new york times
michael gordon
the washington post
joshua partlow
naseer nouri
