What a bunch of liars.
Iraq Body Count counts 457 dead in Iraq from violence through yesterday. Iraq Body Count is independent. The wire services are going with the Iraqi government figures. The wire services don't bother to track even the deaths that they do report. And they're too intimidated to cite an independent source like IBC. So they parrot lies from a government determined to bury the truth, like corpses, in an unmarked grave. And the wire services gladly go along.
It encourages Nouri in his attacks on the press so the wire services should be very clear that their whoring hurts everyone. It especially hurts those in Iraq who intend to report. When foreigners can't even tell the truth how are the Iraqis supposed to be feel safe in doing the same?
The wire services can pull out at any time. Most of their reporters can leave at will (they employ Iraqi stringers). So when AFP, Reuters and AP and the rest whore, they're not just hurting people's understanding outside of Iraq, they're harming journalism within Iraq.
They're also rewarding Nouri al-Maliki's attacks on the press. Since 2006, Nouri's attacked the press for covering violence, attempted to make it illegal for them to cover violence. Here are non-Iraqi outlets censoring themselves and rewarding a tyrant.
It is one sentence, just one sentece, to say, "Iraq Body Count notes ___ deaths in the month of ___." But it's too much for them to do. They'd rather censor themselves and weaken press in Iraq. What does it matter how strong the press is in Iraq when the AP and others can always leave anytime they want?
In their own way, they are as destructive as the illegal war itself.
It's over, I'm done writing songs about love
There's a war going on
So I'm holding my gun with a strap and a glove
And I'm writing a song about war
And it goes
Na na na na na na na
I hate the war
Na na na na na na na
I hate the war
Na na na na na na na
I hate the war
Oh oh oh oh
-- "I Hate The War" (written by Greg Goldberg, on The Ballet's Mattachine!)
The number of US service members the Dept of Defense states died in the Iraq War is [PDF format warning] 4488.
The e-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com.
iraq
i hate the war
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