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Media Celebrate 2,000 U.S. Dead in Iraq
Reporters who ignored the countless acts of heroism by U.S. troops in Iraq, not to mention the incredible progress their efforts have yielded, suddenly can't get enough of the fact that 2,000 of America's heroes have died. In New York, Wednesday morning's newspapers headlined the news of U.S. dead with what seemed like macabre glee. "2,000 Dead: As Iraq Tours Stretch On, a Grim Mark," blared the New York Times front page. Peace Mom Cindy Sheehan is paying tribute to the fallen heroes by stepping up her work to oppose their efforts, pledging to chain herself to the White House fence until President Bush agrees to cut and run.
Story Continues Below Almost nowhere in today's coverage will readers find a tribute to the titanic accomplishments purchased with the blood of these same lost heroes who believed in the cause. Nowhere but here, that is. Start with news that the vote on Iraq's constitution has finally been tabulated. It was ratified by a staggering 79 percent margin - making Iraq the first Arab country to approve a constitution in free election. Another important benchmark ignored by the press would be the dramatic plunge in violence that accompanied the Oct. 15 vote. Insurgent attacks on polling stations dropped from 347 during January's election to a minuscule 13 - thanks, due in large measure, to the increasing competence of U.S.-trained Iraqi security forces. Newsbusters.org Tom Segal recently put together a compendium of U.S. achievements in Iraq. Highlights include: In Sadar City, 86.5 million dollars in infrastructure improvements have been completed and another $246 million are ongoing. These include increased drinking water and electricity to serve more than 240,000 people. Soldiers from the U.S. 7th Infantry Regiment joined local contractors in cleaning up the roads and repairing broken sewer pipes in Abu-Dashir. At the same time four new substations opened and provide power to the electrical distribution system serving 1.3 million residents of Basrah. In Mosel, a substation expansion project has doubled the capacity of a 400kV transmission line to Baghdad and now provides in increase in the amount of power to the entire country. This addition impacts more than 6 million people. In the same city, three new police stations have been built and are manned, increasing local security. The main railway station has been completely renovated and is in operation. The Iraqi Special Forces Barracks in Baghdad has been completed along with five military company barracks and one senior barracks. Included were utilities consisting of potable water, septic tank and electricity. At the same time it is reported that construction is 95% complete on a 21.9 million dollar public works and water project for the capitol city. But rather than celebrate the tremendous progress achieved by America's heroes, the press has consistently dumped on their work. In a study released two weeks ago, the Media Research Center noted: "Network [news] coverage has been overwhelmingly pessimistic. More than half of all stories (848, or 61%) focused on negative topics or presented a pessimistic analysis of the situation, four times as many as featured U.S. or Iraqi achievements or offered an optimistic assessment (just 211 stories, or 15%)." By its attempts to trash the U.S. war effort, the press betrays its true feelings about America's heroes - and those feelings have little to do with honoring their sacrifices.
Editor's note:
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