For CNN, any opportunity is a good one to take potshots at U.S. policy in Iraq, even a solemn ceremony dedicated to honoring America's brave soldiers. This afternoon at 12:37 pm EDT, CNN International used the cover of a report on soldiers being honored for their valor to challenge MNF-I commander General David Petraeus on the success of the surge. CNN host Michael Holmes, an Australian, introduced the segment with a skeptical spin.MICHAEL HOLMES: The U.S. troop surge. Is it working? Well, the top U.S. commander there says it’s too early to know for sure. David Petraeus is also urging patience, as the administration has for some time, despite the increasing number of U.S. casualties.View video here.
Cut to a clip of General Petraeus, explaining that the soldiers being honored had responded to what’s known as a “Fallen Angel” radio call, a report that an aircraft had gone down. CNN reporter Hala Gorani used the facts of the case as a springboard for her bigger point:
CNN REPORTER HALA GORANI: That day in January 12 soldiers died and there were no survivors from the Blackhawk, and the number of U.S. military deaths has not let up since. Last month, one of the bloodiest for U.S. soldiers and Marines since the war began. Fourteen were killed this weekend alone. The American strategy to increase troops has not reduced U.S. casualties. Why?
GEN DAVID PETRAEUS: It’s happening in part because we’re going into areas that the enemy has had sanctuaries for quite some time. The surge has enabled us to go into these areas and to take them back from the enemy and the enemy is not going to allow us to do that without a fight.
GORANI: Should Americans expect a bloody summer because of this, a bloody summer for the troops in Iraq?Those interested in learning about the heroism of the soldiers who were honored at the ceremony can do so by reading here the official narrative of the Silver Star awarded to Chief Warrant Officer Three Jerry D. Sartin.
PETRAEUS: I think all the commanders on the ground have said that this will be harder before it gets easier.
It’s a good thing CNN wasn't around 63 years ago this week, or else this is how it might have gone.
CNN REPORTER: General Eisenhower, D-Day began yesterday, and yet Allied casualties are actually up from a month ago. Isn't this a sign that the invasion isn't working?Mark was in Iraq in November. Contact him at mark@gunhill.net
SUPREME ALLIED COMMANDER DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER: #&*#+%!!
—Mark Finkelstein is a NewsBusters contributing editor and host of Right Angle. Contact him at mark@gunhill.net.
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Just remember The Communist N
June 5, 2007 - 20:31 ET by newstalkmachineIf you'll recall, CNN was the
June 6, 2007 - 06:31 ET by Sergeant ROCKIf you'll recall, CNN was the official cable news channel in Saddam's Baghdad before the war. Of course, atrocities by Saddam were not to be reported. It's called objective journalism these days.
Is the surge wroking?
June 5, 2007 - 20:51 ET by c5thenWell, it's really too early to tell for sure, but the preliminary answer has to be....*%#@#&! RIGHT IT IS!
How about every commander, when interviewd by CNN, asks them why they have lost so many viewers to FoxNews?
The day that "politician" became a career choice is the day we started losing the Republic
Whoever it is in the above ca
June 5, 2007 - 21:28 ET by jdhawkWhoever it is in the above caption, notice that her hair is perfectly coiffed and her makeup just so. She is presumably teetering on high heels eschonsed on the usual balcony overlooking the capitol of Iraq. She has never been to war, never seen war, and barely heard of war. Yet, there she is in a "war zone" "reporting" about the war. She has her talking points. Her producer and writers wrote the text that she is mouthing to the camera.
How credible is someone like this?
What drivel.
She wouldn't know if we were winning or losing if it smacked her upside her vacous bird brain.
And, she will never know, but she will have "been there" to all her collegues back home at CNN.
They will marvel at her bravery. Some will be envious over her "opportunity." She will win awards or points toward awards that these "reporters" give each other with abandon.
Is anyone puking yet?
It’s a good thing CNN was
June 5, 2007 - 21:57 ET by Tom1969caI'm reminded of the statistic that the number of US soldiers lost in Iraq in the past four years is roughly equal to the casualties in the first 12 hours of D-Day...
...and those lives were sacrificed to liberate those cheese-eating surrender-monkeys, the French. At least the majority of Iraqis appreciate being liberated!
~~~
"The current tax code is harder to understand than Bob Dylan reading Finnegan's Wake in a wind tunnel."-- Dennis Miller
More Good News From Iraq
June 5, 2007 - 22:09 ET by acumenMeanwhile the good news about the war on al qaeda in Iraq.
Sunni Insurgents Continue to Join Coalition Forces and the Iraqi Army in Fight Against al qaeda in Iraq.
The news of battles between al Qaeda in Iraq on one side, and the residents of the Baghdad district of Amariyah, the Islamic Army of Iraq and the 1920 Revolution Brigades on the other dominated the headlines late yesterday and this morning. The Washington Post reported the battles began Wednesday “over accusations that al-Qaeda in Iraq had executed Sunnis without reason,” and portrayed the fighting as between the residents of Amariyah only and al Qaeda. The Associated Press stated the Islamic Army of Iraq and the 1920 Revolution Brigades battled al Qaeda. Most importantly, AFP reported that the Anbar Salvation Council sent in a unit to fight al Qaeda.
“We dispatched around 50 of our secret police from Anbar to Amiriyah, and started to hit Al Qaeda there. We killed a lot of them,” Sheikh Hamid al-Hais, the head of the Anbar Salvation Council, told AFP in a phone interview. “A similar operation will be launched in Al-Ghazaliyah against Al Qaeda today. We have sufficient information on places they are in, and we will punish them.”
This is not the first expeditionary engagement by the Anbar Salvation Council. In the beginning of May, this “clandestine SWAT unit” engaged al qaeda in the town of al-Nibayi, near Taji in Salahadin province. The Anbar Salvation Council had thought they killed Abu Ayyub al-Masri, but actually killed Muharib Abdul Latif, al Qaeda's information minister, as well as Sabah Hilal al-Shihawi, Latif’s religious advisor and Abu Ammar al-Masri, an operative that was "facilitating insurgent activity and infrastructure support for al-Qaeda in Iraq."
LTG Odierno confirmed this in yesterday’s press briefing. “[The Iraqi government has] reached out to the tribes in Al Anbar, and they are working with them in order to continue their movement towards the political process,” said LTG Odierno “And that's what this reconciliation is about. It's about bringing these groups into the political process so we can deal with their differences in a peaceful way instead of in violent ways.” And, as we have noted repeatedly, the Awakening movement is spreading throughout Iraq.
As reported by Bill Rogio
MICHAEL HOLMES: The U.S. troop surge. Is it working?
Let's recap. Former Iraqi insurgents have joined the Coalition Forces and Iraqi Government in killing and capturing al qaeda leaders and others "facilitating insurgent activity and infrastructure support for al-Qaeda in Iraq.". Former Iraqi insurgents composed of mostly Sunnis and Baathists have joined the political process in Iraq. Yes, that would be the same political process the demedia has been relentlessly stating that is lacking in the Bush strategy and is so necessary to victory in Iraq. Is the surge working? Apparently to everyone but the demedia defeatists. Evidently, the only war CNN is interested in winning is the one being fought for the White House in '08.
The real question is; If a buckethead like myself can easily find the above progress due to the surge, why can't CNN? Follow-up - Wouldn't the above good news from Iraq be a more appropriate story for CNN to include in a medal ceremony story honoring our troops that are taking care of business in Iraq than the number of US casualties?
acumen...Thank you for the la
June 5, 2007 - 22:25 ET by bigtimeracumen...
Thank you for the latest news here...this is excellent news.
You know very well that this would interrupt the leftist media and their agenda to take the time to let others in this country know the great news like this...it would not look good for the left...we can't have any kind of progress or victory achieved...no matter whose blood is spilled.
Pathetic lot all of them...they will do their best to keep this up until Sept if possible for the next funding bill....and the political fight in congress.
Sickening isn't it?
CNN REPORTER HALA GORANI: . .
June 5, 2007 - 22:54 ET by GalvanicCNN REPORTER HALA GORANI: . . . . The American strategy to increase troops has not reduced U.S. casualties. Why?
It's assumptions like these that beg the question, "Why don't the MSM outlets hire reporters with military knowledge for assignments like this?"
There are way too few reporters who can talk intelligently about military matters.
Obviously, we need to put the
June 6, 2007 - 06:28 ET by Sergeant ROCKObviously, we need to put the MSM in charge of conducting wars henceforth.
only one word:
June 6, 2007 - 09:23 ET by RJDisgraceful.