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July 31, 2004

Supporting Our Troops: "All anyone wants to write about is our dead and wounded"

This attitude -- giving defeats and uprisings and bodybags front-page coverage, while relegating victories to page A16 -- couldn't possibly hurt troop morale, could it?

Everytime our troops are killed, it's mentioned, usually in in the top third or even the first or second story, on the network newscasts.

When's the last time you saw such prominent reportage of our hundreds of clear victories? Victories in which twenty or thirty or forty terrorists are killed with minimal or zero American casualties?

Most often, I see the press refer to such enemy kills as "Iraqis." Iraqis. Not enemy fighters. Not foreign enemy fighters, which is what most of them are. Just "Iraqis." Some Iraqi civilians just out for a stroll whom our troops massacred.

Anyway:

"Once we got in the city, we had hundreds and hundreds of people trying to kill us," said the [soldier fighting in Fallujah, a] native of El Paso, Tex., recalling how the cascade of enemy shell casings from windows above the Marines sounded like a never-ending slot machine payout.

After braving enemy fire four times to evacuate wounded Marines, Petty Officer 3rd Class Jason "Doc" Duty received a medal nomination that reads, "As bullets impacted within inches of his head, Duty remained resolute in his mission."

...

More than 50 Marines from Echo Company have been recognized for valor between March 18 and April 26, when they went into Fallujah to root out insurgents after four civilian contract workers were murdered and two of the bodies hanged from a bridge.

The battalion's Fox Company has recommended about 20 Marines for medals.

"My boys are superheroes," said Capt. D.A. Zembiec, the Echo company commander who climbed atop a tank while under fire to guide it to where his men were pinned down. "I got guys with two Purple Hearts still out here working."

...

As word of the violence spread, the media gathered for a closer look.

When insurgents attacked Marines in a house, Lance Cpl. John Flores, 21, stood outside protecting the left flank. Wounded twice, Flores could have left for treatment, but he said he didn't have the heart to leave his fellow Marines.

"One reporter said, 'It can't be that bad,' " recalled 1st Sgt. William Skiles, Echo Company's top enlisted man.

"Well," Skiles recalled, "the Armored Assault Vehicle had just stopped to let the media off when the first (assault rifle) rounds flew overhead. Then came the (rocket propelled grenades). There weren't a whole lot of stories filed that day because the reporters were face down in the dirt."

During the encounter, journalists often asked Skiles, 43, of San Juan Capistrano, for information for their reports about the fighting, but he thought they were missing something.

"I kept thinking: What about valor? Why weren't any of the reporters interested in the valor of our Marines?

"All anyone wants to write about is our dead and wounded," he said, thumbing through military papers that included nominations for Silver and Bronze stars.

It would be nice to see Our Patriotic American Media give greater coverage to stories like the ones recounted here. I'd excerpt, but there's very little of the story that's not worth excerpting. Read the whole thing, as the man says.

It's a sick world where Michael Moore is lauded for having the "courage" to make a film guaranteed to win him praise from his peers and millions in profit, while the guys who actually have courage -- the real kind, not the fakey "artistic bravery" sort -- can't get a single column inch on the front page of any of our very patriotic newspapers.

posted by Ace at 11:26 AM

Comments

You are 100% correct.Why does not EVERY site post a link to addresses where we can continually send messages of support to the troops on the front line?And why not mention the need for this each and every day?I would be happy to take the time to maybe make 1 person on the front lines feel a bit better.It is the LEAST I can do.
As for the media,I now live in hope that any terrorist attacks might be 'inadvertently'directed at the headquarters of these seditious swine.I am not proud to feel that way but I have grown to loathe the MSM as I have recognized what they are in fact doing.

Posted by: dougf on July 31, 2004 12:24 PM

Ooops !!
Should have looked at the 'trackbacks' before posting earlier,I guess, but I still think the daily reminder is a good idea.

Posted by: dougf on July 31, 2004 12:29 PM

Ace,

You Get It.

This is your best post.

I will pass it to my Senators and my Congressman.

Thanks.

Keep. Up. The. Good. Work.

Posted by: MeTooThen on July 31, 2004 12:34 PM

Good story. I just want to see more news on the other guys getting whacked.

Posted by: Dick on July 31, 2004 02:31 PM

Excellent post Ace, and that last paragraph is priceless.

Posted by: Jeff Brokaw on July 31, 2004 05:24 PM

One of my favorite quotes from Air Marshal Hugh Dowding, whose strategic and tactical skills contributed significantly to the British victory in the Battle of Britain,

He was contacted by Churchill's staff when the RAF had shot down over 160 German aircraft in a single day's action, with minimal British losses - they said the Americans were having a tough time believing such good news from the front. Can you provide confirmation?

Dowding said "I'm really not interested in dealing with propaganda. If we're right, they'll give up. If we're wrong, they'll be in London within a week".

Posted by: Dave in Texas on August 1, 2004 02:32 AM

The 1st Sgt. is right, get those reporters locked on to the valor of our people. Dick, we don't want them reporting on the other guys getting whacked - they are being atritted at a rate that would make the Turks at Galipoli blush. We don't need some politician throwing that anchor on the ship now. Besides who has time to put the body parts together and count. 8, 80, 800, 8,000 at a clip, who cares, that's what arty and C-140 converts do. Semper Fi!

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Funniest thing I've read about the Virginia mess. Back when they were hustling the referendum through the assembly both Senators, Warner and Kaine, advised them to go slow and play by the rules. Louise Lucas said she respected them but didn't need advice from the "cuck chair" in the corner. The gerrymandering was overturned and Louise is heading for the big house. Edward G. Robinson voice "where's your cuck now?"
Posted by: Smell the Glove

I posted his post on twitter and it's gotten 25K views so far. Thanks, Smell the Glove

Chris
@chriswithans

"Ahhhhh ahh I put my career on the line for Louise Lucas and Jay Jones thinking they'd vault me into presidential contention and we ended up costing Democrats 20 House seats and unleashing a Reverse Dobbs ahhhhh ahhh"

Forgotten 80s Mystery Click That Sums Up the Democrat Communist Party Today
Something is wrong as I hold you near
Somebody else holds your heart, yeah
You turn to me with your icy tears
And then it's raining, feels like it's raining

TJM wonders about world building in stories, mostly The Hunger Games

"It's f**king f**ked."
-- reportedly a genuine comment offered by a "senior Labour source"
Correction: I wrote that Labour is losing 88% (now 87%) of the seats it is "defending." I think that's wrong. The right way to say it is the seats they are contesting -- that is, they don't necessarily already hold these seats, but they have put up a candidate to run for the seat. It's still very bad but not as bad as losing 87% of the seats they already held.

Basil the Great
@BasilTheGreat

🚨ED MILIBAND [a Minister in Starmer's government] SAYS KEIR STARMER WILL RESIGN AS PRIME MINISTER

He has reportedly reassured Labour MP's that Starmer will be resigning following the disastrous results tonight

It's over

"The end of the two party system in the UK" as first the Fake Conservatives and now Labour chooses political suicide rather than simply STOPPING THE INVASION
Incidentally, the only reason this didn't already happen in the US is because of the Very Bad Orange Man (who is right on 85% of all policy calls and extremely, existentially right on 15% of them)

No political party that is NOT also a doomsday religious cult would EVER choose a cataclysmic loss -- and possible extinction as a party -- to support a toxically unpopular favoritism of NON-CITIZEN ILLEGAL MIGRANTS over actual citizen voters.

Only a cult does this.

Now they've lost 84%.

Annunziata Rees-Mogg
@zatzi
If this continues Labour loses 2,148 seats tonight.

That is much worse than the worst case predictions I’ve seen.

Cataclysmic

Update: They've now lost 88% of the seats they're defending. As I mentioned earlier, I think I heard that London will not bail them out, as many of those Labour seats will probably flip to "Muslim Independent" or Green. Detroit's 5am vote will not save them.

Yup, Labour is losing 80% of its seats...

The British Patriot
@TheBritLad

🚨 BREAKING: Labour have lost 80% of all seats contested as of 2:25 AM.<
br> If this continues, Keir Starmer will be out of office next week.

Reform has surged and projected to pick up between 1700-2100 seats.

Wow, up to 1700-2100 seats. It's not incredible that this is happening. It's incredible that the Davos crowd is so absolutely determined to privilege Muslim "migrants" over the actual native population who elects them, no matter how loudly the natives scream that they want to be prioritized, that they will gladly self-extinguish as a party rather than simply representing the interests of their own voters. Astonishing.
Remember, when they call other people "cultists" -- they are the ones so imprisoned in their social reinforcement and discipline bubbles that they will choose political death rather than dare upset the Karen Enforcement Officers of their cult.
Update: Now they've lost 83% of the seats they were defending.

(((Dan Hodges)))
@DPJHodges

Reform are basically wiping Labour out in the North. It's not a defeat. It's not even a rout. Labour are simply ceasing to exist.

Nick Lowles
@lowles_nick

Tonight’s results are calamitous for Labour. Not just for Keir Starmer's leadership, but for the very future of the party

STARMERGEDDON: In early returns, Reform gains 135 seats, Labour loses 90, the Fake Conservatives lose 36 (and I didn't even know they could fall any further), the Lib Dems lose 4, and the Greens gain 6. Note that the only other party gaining seats is the Greens and they're only gaining a handful of seats.
Update: Reform now up 145, Labour down 98.
Labour projected to lose Wales -- where they've ruled for 27 years.
Fulton County Georgia just discovered 400 boxes of ballots for Labour
Update: REF +156, LAB -107, CON -45
Brutal: In four out of five council seats where Labour is defending, they've lost. 80%.
I'm sure it's not this simple, but Reform is straight taking Labour's and the "Conservatives'" seats. They've lost almost exactly what Reform gained. If understand this right (and warning, I probably don't), all of London's council seats are up for election, and Labour might lose hugely there, as their old voters abandon them for Reform, Muslim Indenpendents, and the Greens.
REF +190, LAB -134, CON -56.

Updates on the Labour collapse in council elections -- which wags are calling #Starmergeddon -- from Beege Welborne. There are about 5000 seats up for grabs, Labour is expected to lose 1,800, Reform will probably gain 1,580, up from... zero. So this would be more than that.
People claim that while Labour has adopted the Sharia Agenda to appeal to the million Muslims it allowed to migrate to the country, those voters are ditching Labour to vote for the Muslim Independent Party or the Greens. Delicious. This shadenfreude is going straight to my thighs.
Oh, and if Starmer loses about as badly as expected, Labour will toss him out of a window Braveheart style and replace him. He will announce he is resigning to spend more time with his Gay Ukrainian Male Prostitutes.

Media bias and senationalism are as old as, well, the media:

That was written by Denny O'Neill and illustrated by, get this, Frank Miller. Editor to the Stars Jim Shooter was in charge at the time.
I always thought the gag was original to the comic book, but in fact the "Threat or Menace" headline was a satirical joke about media bias and sensationalism for a long while. The Harvard Lampoon used it in a parody of Life magazine: "Flying Saucers: Threat or Menace?"

Hamas is Humiliating Trump's 'Board of Peace'
[Hat Tip: TC] [CBD]

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Podcast: Starting a new season, CBD and Sefton discuss their personal journeys to conservative principles, is Nick Shirley the beginning of a trend?, Iran trying to reignite the war, the Left attacks itself, even on "Best Guitarist" lists, and more!

TJM definitively ranks the films of Billy Wilder, like Some Like It Hot

TJM talks about Billy Wilder