For what?
Here is some clarity, on the latest
Corporatist newspeak, posted at www.buzzflash.com, one
of the great bastions of the Information Rebelion...
The month of November 2003 has had more U.S. soldiers killed than any prior month of the Iraq Occupation/Invasion/war.
More U.S. soldier deaths than March 2003
More U.S. soldier deaths than April 2003
More U.S. soldier deaths than May 2003
More U.S. soldier deaths than June 2003
More U.S. soldier deaths than July 2003
More U.S. soldier deaths than August 2003
More U.S. soldier deaths than September 2003
More U.S. soldier deaths than October 2003
http://www.buzzflash.com/
About the Bush Cartel's "Smiley Face" Spin on the Grim
November Record for GI Deaths in Iraq -- And the Month's Not Over Yet
A BUZZFLASH NEWS ANALYSIS
If you are a FOX News GOP butt-sniffer, you might have
been heartened by the Pentagon reassuring Americans
that "U.S. Says Attacks on Troops in Iraq Decline"
[LINK]. In fact, since it was a Reuters report, you
could have just been a mainstream newspaper reader and
felt relieved.
But of course, it is just the usual Bush Cartel Soviet
style spin. You can imagine this is the kind of
propaganda that the Soviet forces kept feeding to the
Russians as their soldiers were being killed in
Afghanistan.
Here is what one of our readers discovered about U.S.
military deaths in Iraq in November (and this doesn't
include the deaths of our soldiers in Afghanistan
during this period):
The month of November 2003 has had more U.S. soldiers
killed than any prior month of the Iraq
Occupation/Invasion/war.
November has had MORE U.S. soldier deaths - 75 to date
PLUS the 21 additional Coalition deaths of UK, Italy,
and Poland also killed in the month of November.
Total Coalition deaths for this month alone so far
total 96.
Total Coalition deaths since now total 511 -- and this
is only as of November 24.
More U.S. soldier deaths than March 2003
More U.S. soldier deaths than April 2003
More U.S. soldier deaths than May 2003
More U.S. soldier deaths than June 2003
More U.S. soldier deaths than July 2003
More U.S. soldier deaths than August 2003
More U.S. soldier deaths than September 2003
More U.S. soldier deaths than October 2003
[LINK]
So, the Pentagon can tout out its Soviet-style
propaganda reassurances, but the facts on the ground
speak for themselves. Helicopters being shot down,
Italian soldiers being blown up, American soldiers
having their throats slit and then having their bodies
battered by Iraqi teenagers.
The Pentagon is admitting that attacks are up --
despite their renewed military operation against the
insurgents -- but, catch this, the Pentagon is using
the highly questionable assertion that the increase in
attacks are against Iraqis and not GI's. In a month
that saw the most GI's die, it appears to be a
distinction without a difference.
Meanwhile, the Taliban are re-energized and starting
to fight back against American forces, as they did
against the Soviets.
According to the "Daily Mis-Lead"[LINK], despite
Bush's boast of having "won" Afghanistan, the Taliban
are rebuilding:
President Bush yesterday said that we "put the Taliban
out of business forever" - taking credit for
supposedly ridding the world of the terrorist regime.
He made these comments just a day after the Taliban
launched a rocket attack on Kabul's most prominent
hotel. It was also one day after Reuters reported
Mullah Omar, the Taliban's still at-large leader,
"urged Afghans to unite against U.S.-led foreign
forces on their soil" and the same day Afghanistan's
Foreign Minister desperately requested more
international help in fighting off Taliban guerrillas.
All told, the AP calls the Taliban "an increasingly
virulent insurgency" while the LA Times reports
"nearly two years after the U.S. drove the Taliban
from power, remnants of the Islamic extremist group
are regrouping and attacking U.S. troops."
That's the Bush Cartel. As our soldiers continue to
get killed and their bodes desecrated, the Bush Cartel
sees its first obligation is to cover up for its own
incompetence, not to protect our troops.
Another of our readers is a bit more observant than
the mainstream press about this issue:
****
Hey Buzz:
On Monday, we get this from Reuters in an article
talking about how the U.S. intends to "blitz" the
media to put a more positive spin on Iraq:
"The media blitz coincides with a sharp rise in
attacks by guerrillas against American interests and
comes amid signs that both U.S. troops and the
American-led civilian administration are losing the
battle for the hearts and minds of Iraqis."
On Tuesday, the blitz blows in and the wire services
report the raw spewage without question, contradicting
their own stories from the previous day.
Here is Reuters:
"A top U.S. general said on Tuesday that intensified
U.S. military strikes had halved the number of attacks
on his forces in Iraq (news - web sites) in the past
two weeks, but assaults on Iraqis had surged."
Sweet lord, I can only hope the American people are
not so sheep-like as the administration believes. And
why isn't the press doing its job by questioning these
leaders about what the reporters have seen with their
own eyes on the ground in Iraq?
Why do I even ask?
A BuzzFlash Reader
****
Why, indeed.
After all, the Bush Cartel won't even let us mourn our
dead soldiers with public honors. The visual images of
death might remind people that the White House is
using our troops for cannon fodder.
When Bush dared to speak before a military audience on
November 24 (in between fundraisers) the press was
FORBIDDEN from talking with the troops, lest they
express dissent and dissatisfaction with King George
[LINK]:
Before the press was herded into the giant hangar in
advance of George W. Bush's pep rally/photo op with
the Fort Carson troops, we were given the rules.
No talking to the troops before the rally.
No talking to the troops during the rally.
No talking to the troops after the rally.
In other words, if I've done the math right, that
means no conversation at all - at least, while on base
- with any soldiers. After all, who knows where that
kind of thing could lead?
The article from the Rocky Mountain News was entitled,
"Gag order leaves troops, reporters speechless."
The Denver Post put it more succinctly: "Ground Rule 9
for the media covering President Bush's presidential
visit Monday sounded more like an edict from Beijing
or a banana republic." [LINK]
In a scathing column, the Denver Post Columnist
lacerates the Bush Administration for muzzling our
soldiers who are putting their lives on the line, in
order to ensure a Karl Rove controlled photo-op
success. Whatever this propaganda technique is, it is
not America: It borrows part from the Soviet Union and
part from Goebbels.
"If there are problems with the war in Iraq, they
don't come from the folks doing the fighting," the
Post reporter observes. "Those men and women are doing
a heck of a job. If there are problems, they stem from
spin doctoring."
"Monday's Ground Rule 6 [for the media]- 'no roaming'
- amounted to a heavy-handed smack at the First
Amendment. But it was an insult to the intelligence of
military men and women and their families as much as
it was an indictment of the media."
Bush makes eloquent speeches about spreading the seeds
of democracy around the world, while he is doing
everything that he can to dismantle it at home.
These young men and women are being denied their
rights as Americans, just as they are being asked to
die for democracy.
Strip Bush of those army jackets he wears to try to
dispel his AWOL Chickenhawk personal history. Put him
in one with black and white stripes.
Too many good young men and women of America have died
for his lies and his deceptions.
A BUZZFLASH NEWS ANALYSIS