Haditha: searching for this war’s “defining atrocity”
My Lai was the template. A bona fide atrocity (see this for the complete My Lai story), it not only made the name of journalist Seymour Hersh and won him his coveted Pulitzer, but it profoundly shocked the American public and helped turn them against the Vietnam War.
And ever since the Iraq War began, the media has been searching for its My Lai. Abu Ghraib was an attempt to find one, but although it garnered enormous publicity and shamed the military, it wasn’t a good enough parallel. No one was killed, for example. A comparison of My Lai to Abu Ghraib illustrates the old Marxian adage the history repeats itself the first time as tragedy and the second as farce.
And so the media had to keep looking. They thought they had found what they were looking for in Haditha.
True, the scale wasn’t as great as in My Lai. But Haditha, unlike Abu Ghraib, featured the deaths of civilian innocents at the hands of Marines, and so it was close enough.
Time correspondent Tim McGirk broke the story in March of 2006, having received information and a videotape from Iraqi sources. However:
McGirk received his video “evidence” and contacts from two known Iraqi insurgent operatives already under observation by Marine Corps counter intelligence teams. One of the Iraqi witnesses McGirk relied on had just been released from almost six months captivity for insurgent activities and the other witness was considered a useful intelligence tool by Marines listening to him talk on his cell phone. McGirk never interviewed the Marines…
The contrast between the way the Haditha and the My Lai stories broke is instructive. In the latter, the incident came to light because of reports by American military forces who had themselves witnessed the killings, and an Army investigation was launched which unfortunately turned out to be a whitewash. After that, the American whistleblowers turned the information over to reporter Hersh, who publicized it and sparked a new investigation which led to the prosecution of the perpetrators.
In contrast, in Haditha, reporter McGirk was, by his own admission, actively searching for a story about civilian casualties, and then got in touch with some Iraqi groups who provided it. The investigation and prosecution was launched after the MSM broke the story, and the informants seem to have all been Iraqi, some of them of extremely questionable origin.
And now it turns out there is evidence that the entire thing may have been planned by al Qaeda operative intending to use the US media as a propaganda tool:
The attack was carried out by multiple cells of local Wahabi extremists and well-paid local gunmen from Al Asa’ib al-Iraq [the Clans of the People of Iraq] that were led by Al Qaeda foreign fighters, the summary claims. Their case was bolstered by Marine signal intercepts revealing that the al Qaeda fighters planned to videotape the attacks and exploit the resulting carnage for propaganda purposes….During the November Haditha battle, the insurgents secreted themselves among local civilians to guarantee pursuing Marines would catch innocent civilians in the ensuing crossfire.
Gateway Pundit traces the NY Times’s Haditha coverage. One of the earliest articles states, “This is the nightmare that everyone worried about when the Iraq invasion took place.” I beg to differ; it was the nightmare many reporters hungered for, the story they were eager to break when the Iraq invasion took place, the new “defining atrocity” of the new bad war.
Before My Lai it was considered inconceivable that American soldiers could commit such atrocities. The pendulum then swung so far in the other direction that now it is considered inevitable that they will do so. So reporters have abandoned the healthy skepticism they require in order to ferret out the truth. Instead, all they feel they need to do is find the atrocity stories, write about them, and then sit back and garner their own Pulitzers.
Fortunately, this time I don’t think there’ll be a Pulitzer in it for Tim McGirk.
How many of the people who need to read this will actually see it?
The people who need to read this are the average Americans who know in their gut that they should be proud of our military, but who are fed a constant stream of half-truth and misinterpretation.
Now, if the New York Post and New York Sun would run this on their front pages …
Two points to remember:
First, journalists are not as clever as they believe themselves to be. They’ve all heard that Al-Qaeda are trying to influence American public opinion and make use of the media — but that’s always some other reporter who’s being used.
Second, journalists are liberals. Just about everyone who goes to journalism school nowadays does so because they want to “make a difference” and change society — in other words, they don’t like America as it currently exists. Which means it’s okay to exaggerate, uncritically report propaganda, and outright lie if it helps The Cause.
Or, to sum up in words of one syllable: they are evil fools.
Nice post!
Hersh has been on a “My Lai” campaign since 1969. I’m sure McGirk would like to gain the same kind of anitwar notorieity.
Oh, here’s a heads-up for you: This week’s Newsweek story on Giuliani’s got this quote:
“‘He’s positioning himself as the neo-neocon,’ jokes Richard Holbrooke, a top foreign-policy adviser to Hillary Clinton.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21162326/site/newsweek
I guess Holbrooke’s trying a bit of his own neo-smearing.
Have a great day!
Tri, I usually agree with you, but here I must vehemently disagree: evil has two syllables, you dratted, lying neocon!!! Claiming it has only one is merely another whitewash to cover up the inherent social injustice of the imposition of phonetic unit dissonance on the American people in order to enrich Halliburton with the stolen phonemes!!! You won’t get away with this, you eeevilllllllllllllllllllll NEOCON chimp-lover!!! We’re on to you!!!
No blood for linquistic phenomena!!!
this would work: they are vile fools.
Oh, well, yeah, there is that, now that you mention it.
On the other hand, all you’ve done is rearrange the letters of the word ‘evil’ in a classic neocon attempt to encode your REAL meaning —
Sorry, folks. Too much time over at the KosKids this morning. It’ll eventually wear off. I hope. Unless I’ve been implanted with a secret microchip that —
I don’t see why McGirk shouldn’t win a Pulitzer, in the “effort” category. You have to admit, he put some sweat into this one. Not his fault it didn’t work out.
Lest we forget, the Press was still patting itself on the collective back for its grandstanding in New Orleans, even after every horrific cannibal-gang-rape detail they trumpeted to the heavens turned out to be a complete fabrication.
Though that bit with Sean Penn trying to bail out his photo-op boat with a plastic drink cup was almost worth it.
I suppose what I’m saying is, my faith in the Press is absolute. It’s just absolutely not what they’d like it to be.
So an American excuse for a reporter paid for an attack on American forces and the death of Iraqi citizens. Do you really think the MSM care about it? They’re only concern is they got caught and not enough Iraqi’s were killed by the Marines under attack by an American reporters paid forces. I think the paperwork indicating the planned attack has been found hidden by the JAG officers who hoped the make a name for themselves. Time for a reporter to face murder charges and JAG officers to face charges of assisting with a story to convict Marines of murder when no murder occured, not by the marines anyway .
Enough of this already.
One group tries to find a massacre or war crime under every rock. Others say
Neither is accurate. Any cursory study of our history will show other regrettable incidents. Our soldiers are human.
The difference, it seems to me is that unlike the Nazis or Imperial Japanese, we do not attempt to eradicate entire populations as a matter of policy. We do not endorse genocide or massacre as a military tool. Unlike today’s terrorist cowards we do not deliberately target women and children. Our aim is not to destroy entire populations. Believe it or not, we are somewhat unique in history.
Bad things have happened at the hands of American troops in the past and I suspect they will in the future. But they are by far the exception, not the rule. We punish our perpetrators. Ask the soldiers who were recently convicted of raping and killing that 14 year old Iraqi girl and members of her family.
Also civilians are being killed in order to make journalists feel better and provide the journalists better career options. This would make them accessories to the crime, had there been an actual world constitution like the US Constitution enforced on folks/
An event that contrasts in interesting ways with Abu Ghirab. Similar activities, except they’re voluntary at the Folsom Street Fair.
http://michellemalkin.com/2007/10/05/miller-beer-filters-out-photos-of-its-own-company-sponsored-public-indecency/
I thought Haditha was old, old news. They’re all piling on Blackwater now. News this morning was that Blackwater employees don’t recycle. I foresee a long, satisfying scandal that will finally allow the newsies to show us the True Consequences of War.
Some questions for you and your readers since you no longer allow comments that don’t back you:
first Q., : why do you scrub posts that don’t echo your line of the day?
second Q: why do conservatives always end up defending evry action, in Bugs case Blackwater, the private army paid for by taxpayer money, as if every action taken in our name was a good action?
third Q: are you proud of the actions of the Haditha Soldiers? Should the soldiers be awarded medals for bravery under potential fire? Should Wunterich run for office as a Republican? Maybe under the slogan, “He knows how to clear a House?”
fourth Q: what do you make of this observation: ““It does surprise me to see that the killing of seven women and children by grenades and rifles, for the purposes of clearing structures, is being treated the way this investigating officer has treated it,” said Eugene R. Fidell, an expert in military law in Washington.”
Is the killing a cause for celebration?
what happens to people when they become conservative or ne-neo conservative.
I hope you don’t take my post down………
[To tjproudamerican from neo-neocon: Anyone who reads the comments on this blog knows there are plenty of posts by people who are critical of it. That’s why the discussion tends to be lively here.
I scrub comments by trolls such as you, however. I’m leaving this one of yours up merely to post this answer to you. You comment under many names, with many styles, but I get information that allows me to know it’s the same poster. Some of your comments seem relatively reasonable, such as this one. Some are simply angry personal insults, sometimes of a pretty vile nature.]
Off-topic, tj. The subject was not Haditha incident, but political spin around it and using tired templates of VietNam era for journalist self-promotion, regardless of actual events.
Journalists “hunger” for atrocities.
Or, in reality, journalists cover stories where American soldiers commit atrocities.
Such assertions, combined with linking to that hack Gateway Pundit, do quite a lot to lower the credibility of this blog. Well, beyond the fact that you became a neo-con in the midst of the neo-con’s worst foreign policy failure.
Killing civilians and destroying mosques is par for the course for muslim terrorists and islamist jihadis. They are proud of the blood on their hands.
It is the foolish Americans who shy away from killing innocents and desecrating places of worship. If American journalists so badly wish to catch American soldiers in the act of behaving like muslim terrorists, one must ask the question “why?”
Why do American journalists hate the American military so much, that they would ignore the bloody behaviour of muslim terrorists, then blame all the blood on the American soldier?
That appears to be what is happening regularly.
The media bought and paid for this attack on the marines. As usual they’re pals the slimey terrorists used civilians as bullet stops. What happened during the attack wasn’t as bad as the media getting caught setting up the attack so they could push their anti-american agenda, All with the blessing and support of the democrat party. Mad Jack Murtha should be dragged out and hanged on the nearest light post. That’s one fact that is clear.
tj, some answers:
to Q2: Conservatives don’t defend every action. Conservatives have been quite critical of a number of administration actions and policies, just not the same ones lefties are.
to Q3: So, did you applaud the 9/11 attacks? Do you feel the attackers should have been lauded as heroes? Should bin Laden run for office as a Democrat, maybe with the slogan, ‘I sure know how to bring down the house!’
to Q4: Out of any broader context, it’s hard to say. He may have a good point. On the other hand, he may be trying to score political points or have an axe to grind. Either way, he didn’t review the evidence, and outside of that, opinions are like bellybuttons.
tj: Is the killing a cause for celebration?
tj, this would probably be the answer to your Q1. I’m sorry your sense of humanity has deserted you. I’m a bit worried that you do not seem to feel conservatives are human beings. Questions like that are simply part of a dehumanizing process, and you know that.
tj: what happens to people when they become conservative or ne-neo conservative.
What has happened to you, tj?
X, you aren’t bringing the level of discourse up any.
Oh, I’m sorry, do I have the moral authority to speak here? I should have asked first I guess …
Scrapiron: The media didn’t pay for this attack. The media were just tools for AQI, as seems to have happened often over the last six years or so.
Unfortunately, Vietnam was hardly the starting point for leftist journalists to latch onto anything that could paint the United States as evil. Try the Bridge at No Gun Ri in Korea, for instance.
Touted as a massacre of civilians during the Korean war, it turns out the star witnesses weren’t even there, and no hard evidence has turned up after archaeological digs at the site.
Everything old is new again…
That is why it is critical for the United States to fabricate US atrocities with the hopes of luring media personas into a trap, and then crushing them as Dan Rather was crushed by his own hubris and lady luck.
After all, if you aren’t willing to fabricate it, be assured that your enemies will be eager to do it for you.
tjproudamarican,
Gee I suppose that your comment above must really pass for devastatingly witty, in the McDonalds break room or whatever cellar dweller lefty sites you hangout at.
a) try actually penning some original thought of your own, not some 10th grade leftie talking points
b) try actually thinking about what you said above and how callow & pathetic someone like you must seem to real adults
tjproudamerican
a question for you:
Why do Leftists always resort to insults, snark and ad hominem attacks, instead of actually trying to debate an issue? Are you really trying to change our minds, here? You come in with a whine about how you’re somehow being censored, and then proceed to paint all us evil conservatives as bad, and yourself on the side of the angels. That’s childish.
You’re not here to debate, or put forward your own point of view; you seem to be here to insult us, and/or make us feel so guilty, we’ll agree with you, just so we’ll feel good about ourselves; “Aw, gee, tjproud doesn’t like us, he sees us all as bunch of facists! Guess we’ll all just have to change our evil ways!”
That might work in a classroom, or when bullying friends who aren’t willing to stand up for themselves, or their opinions. It doesn’t work outside of those two instances.
I mean, what happens when people go Leftist? Why do they always forget how to spell, and how to debate?
“I mean, what happens when people go Leftist?”
Leftists are children. Regardless of what their actual age may be, the determined effort to replace reality with fantasy by wishing with all their hearts can only be maintained by those of a childlike mentality. The assumed elevation of snark and bile to the level above rational debate is a side effect of this.
I’m afraid you’re right Tatterdemalian.
You’re the hack, Xanth. Or did you not notice your hacking?
credibility of this blog
As if your opinion can lower the credibility of this blog. You have a mighty high opinion of yourself for a hack.
Conservatives don’t defend every action. Conservatives have been quite critical of a number of administration actions and policies, just not the same ones lefties are.
My viewpoint, Ag, is that Republicans are defensive because Democrats are always on the attack with character assassinations, unethical ploys, and corrupt actions. It is sort of like asking why the woman being assaulted is on the defensive, cause she is being attacked by too many thugs at too many locations.
X, you aren’t bringing the level of discourse up any.
You can’t bring up anything by hacking at it. You might be able to bring some trees down, however.
I should have asked first I guess …
It requires form X A 9521, in triplicate, along with documents that prove your home location, bank account, and gainful employment. (in order for them to check up on it and create a portfolio)
Should the soldiers be awarded medals for bravery under potential fire?
The shame is yours, not theirs. For you have betrayed your own defenders, defenders that are sworn to the protection of not only American citizens but also to the Western World through American treaties and alliances (pseudo-alliances). You folks have forgotten the meaning, since perhaps you were always incapable of honorable conduct.
Is the killing a cause for celebration?
A defeat for those that would tear down the United States Constitution is always a cause for celebration.
I hope you don’t take my post down………
Your post was very likely caught in the spam filters, but due to the fact that you assume other people act the way you and yours act, the first thing that comes to mind is censorship rather than something you did.
Regardless of what their actual age may be, the determined effort to replace reality with fantasy
That is why I think most Republicans would favor socialism, national healthcare, federal funds used for abortion, and so forth so long as it is the citizens registered as Democrats that have to pay the taxes on such things. They are the ones that need the oversight and the restrictions.
Just as children get benefits and protection only through the parent, the same would be good policy for the Democrats.
tj – Since you mentioned me, I wasn’t defending Blackwater’s alleged misbehavior. I was pointing out that the media is once again exhibiting its flavor-of-the-month feeding frenzy behavior. Dead babies sell papers as long as they were killed by Americans.
Y, Where do you get the forms from again? Shoulda known there’d be a bureaucracy around this …
Y, Where do you get the forms from again?
You can get it through the Cindy Sheehan special membership. There’s a sign up fee, which will get you 2 months of membership. In those two months, you must be able to acquire 2 more members others they will not renew your membership after two months regardless of how much you pay them.
In a year or two, your membership should qualify for a permanent moral authority card. Otherwise known as a green card, which will also allow you to save on carbon emissions and credits through a partnership deal with Al Gore’s Green investment portfolio. In 10 years, you may take a test and swear an oath to the leftist creed of absolute entropy and self-destruction in order to upgrade your green card to an absolute moral authority card. Either that or you would qualify if you sacrificed a son or daughter. Only direct family connections qualify. Cousins, mothers, fathers, nephews, etc don’t qualify you for an absolute moral authority card ahead of the 10 year waiting period.
Thanks, Neo, for defending tj in this case. I’m not familiar with his other blogs, but it appears to me that there’s enough name calling from the Right on this blog to allow some of the same on the Left.
I wasn’t going to respond to this particular blog, but I can’t help being upset by the notion that journalists are always “looking for the next My Lai.” My God, isn’t it clear that in war no one has to look very far for these events and that if journalists aren’t there to report them, they go unnoticed. I think the Right needs to really come clean about their attitudes on the Fourth Estate.
“.., Isn’t it clear that in war no one has to look very far for these events…?”
So then, why have so many reporters gone out of their way, paid money, and photoshopped for their “my lais”?
Today, I don’t trust the “Fourth Estate”. They have become a mere propaganda arm of the enemy. This isn’t Ernie Pyle’s or Lowell Thomas’ “reporting” anymore.
If Dan Rather and Scott Beauchamp are considered “journalists” to you, then I guess we’ll have to disagree about what passes for “truth” that should be “noticed”.
And what does the right need to “come clean about” that hasn’t been known for years, now?
Jimmy, I didn’t notice Neo defending tj. Did I miss something?
Anyway, the Left has come to specialize in smacking people it disagrees with in the back of the head and then trying to look innocent and agrieved when the person they’ve smacked tries to hit them back. You do realize how heinous an accusation “No blood for oil” is, don’t you? “Bush lied, people died”? Etc., etc. But it’s the Right that’s indulged in name-calling? Spare me.
Also, I think it’s the Left that needs to come clean about the media, along with how they really view America. If you are upset by the notion that some people think journalists actively seek out American atrocities, then you haven’t been paying attention. The reporting on this war has, from the beginning, focused on anything negative about US actions and on the whole ignored enemy atrocities except insofar as they can be painted as US failures. Excuse us for actually paying attention to reality and noticing.
I’m pretty sure that’s tj, pretending to be Jimmy. Sort of a troll’s version of “neener neener, I’m gonna break every rule I can, you can’t stop me” as the banhammer descends.
Sorry to disappoint you, Tat, but I am not, nor have I ever been, TJ. Just astounded that two people on this blog might vehemently disagree with you? Welcome to democracy.
Sorry to disappoint you, Jimmy, but here, this is “Constitutional Republic”, not “democracy”. Welcome to reality.
No, Jimmy, not surprised in the least that someone here disagreed vehemently. I don’t see anything that suggests anyone was astounded by that. It does seem, from your first post, that you were astounded by Neo’s opinion, but that’s democracy for you, eh?
Whoa, sorry, that’s two people, as in, you and tj. Thought that was a weird comment. Anyway, cheers.
Negativity is actually a very useful tool for raising morale, so it isn’t just for demoralization purposes.
The media wishes to demoralize Americans in order to stop them from fighting. You can demoralize someone through psychological operations that raise their hopes and then crushes them. On the other hand, you can demoralize people can be constantly preventing them from ever getting their hopes up.