But they weren't missing the stories.
They were ignoring them.
The western media had already decided the March 10, 2010 elections would result in a landslide for Nouri. They were so convinced they would tip their hands. One outlet would do it so badly, they'd declare Nouri the winner before any vote totals had been announced and while the count was continuing.
We'll be reliving that moment in snapshots in the coming weeks. We'll even be naming the 'reporter' as we did in real time.
But the point right now is that the western media whored in 2010. They wanted it to appear Nouri was beloved and they ignored anything that contradicted that false belief.
They whored then and they whore now.
I've spent an hour on the phone getting various excuse from various friends at various outlets on how they missed the big story out of Iraq today.
Strangely, social media maven Prashant Rao of AFP made a point to Tweet and reTweet today over 14 times but never mentioned the big news. Unless, of course, you consider his socks to be big news.
Most sane people don't.
They do, however, consider a protest taking place today, a protest pulling in thousands, a protest against Nouri al-Maliki, to be news.
That's Dar Addustour.
That's Alsumaria.
That's Al Mada.
Getting that it's news? Even though this Saturday morning event is completely absent from the Western media news cycle?
Moqtada al-Sadr returned to Iraq on Friday. Western media avoided that as well.
And today was the protest he had called.
Thousands turned out in Nasiriyah for his demonstration. Signs denounced the United States and Israel. Moqtada spoke and said the voice of the people was powerful and more powerful than the voices of tyrants and injustice. He declared Iraqis are Iraqis, that the Shi'ite and the Sunni are Iraqis as are their "Christian brothers" and that all suffer today in Iraq. He called for the people to use their voices by voting in the planned April 30th parliamentary elections. He declared the Iraqi people had to pull together to defeat those who loot the government and sew divisions.
Western media couldn't tell you about it.
So it must not be important.
The important things they made time for.
Like this.
Prashant Rao
Cleaning room, found London Underground socks @jessbrammar and @braintoldme got me before I left for Baghdad in 2009 pic.twitter.com/ZRuLF0W04U
If you look at the picture, you'll learn even more. They were tube socks.
Tube socks missing since 2009 have been found!!!!!
That's the sort of meaningless nonsense the Western press can provide -- and about all they can provide.
And they wonder why they're seen as such gutter slime?
Not one western outlet reported on the Saturday morning protest which attracted thousands.
Not one.
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] 4489.
The e-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com.
iraq
i hate the war
the ballet
