May 20, 2005

The latest NYSlimes has the following story:
"In U.S. Report, Brutal Details of 2 Afghan Inmates' Deaths"
(I'm not going to link it, because I loathe that paper and you can look it up if you must read it!)
Of course, it's yet another report of our soldiers abusing, torturing and executing 2 of the enemy, this time in Afghanistan.
Here's the meat:

[...]
The story of Mr. Dilawar's brutal death at the Bagram Collection Point - and that of another detainee, Habibullah, who died there six days earlier in December 2002 - emerge from a nearly 2,000-page confidential file of the Army's criminal investigation into the case, a copy of which was obtained by The New York Times.
[OK, who's the leaker???
This has got to stop!!--Jen]

Like a narrative counterpart to the digital images from Abu Ghraib, the Bagram file depicts young, poorly trained soldiers in repeated incidents of abuse. The harsh treatment, which has resulted in criminal charges against seven soldiers, went well beyond the two deaths.

In some instances, testimony shows, it was directed or carried out by interrogators to extract information. In others, it was punishment meted out by military police guards. Sometimes, the torment seems to have been driven by little more than boredom or cruelty, or both.
[This is editorializing by the Slimes of the worst kind!--J.T.]
[...]
The Times obtained a copy of the file from a person involved in the investigation who was critical of the methods used at Bagram and the military's response to the deaths.
[Wrong, wrong, wrong--there are channels in the military for this!
If you don't like it, take it up with your CO!
This report was classified and we're at war: why is there no respect for this?
Or should we let the NYSlimes and Newsweek run the Pentagon?!?]

Although incidents of prisoner abuse at Bagram in 2002, including some details of the two men's deaths, have been previously reported, American officials have characterized them as isolated problems that were thoroughly investigated. And many of the officers and soldiers interviewed in the Dilawar investigation said the large majority of detainees at Bagram were compliant and reasonably well treated.
[Well, Jeebus. At least there were "fair and balanced" enough to report this!
But you can tell these pinkos don't believe it.]

Yet the Bagram file includes ample testimony that harsh treatment by some interrogators was routine and that guards could strike shackled detainees with virtual impunity.
[It's called war, Gray Lady--and it's often not pretty!]

Blah, blah, blah...and the article continues about how horribly cruel our military is to these "innocent lambs" who were trying to kill them and set the soul-murdering, if not actual murdering Taliban back up in free Afghanistan.
Let's not forget that militant Islamist Afghanis were running amok, burning down mosques and killing each other over an alleged Koran flushing that was supposed to have occurred half-way around the world!

The MSM makes a big mistake with these stories (other than the obvious one of slandering our troops) which is that they assume the American people want to know if our soldiers are treating enemy prisoners a little roughly.
I don't know about you, but I don't.
(Note that as with Abu Ghraib and even the Gitmo "revelations," that these Leftist stories are about internal investigations within the military that are already ongoing and don't need the scrutiny of the latte-sipping, peacenik, red diaper doper babies who form the East Coast Liberal soi-disant "intelligentsia.")
My sympathy meter for these people pretty much tapped out on 9/11/01.
No-one had any pity or compassion for our fellow citizens who had to leap 100 stories to their deaths or who were crushed to pieces when the Towers fell or who had their throats cut on the planes.
We are at war and if the MSM must take the side of our enemy time after time, then something must be done.
The appearance of this story only shows that the Newsweek fiasco chastened Old Media none at all--the only problem was their "anonymous source."
I still believe that there was no source: the story was "fake, but accurate" because they wanted it to be true.
And they hate the military (...as well as the USA...and President Bush...and we Red Staters who support all three.)
If they can't report about our military, except in a negative way--and if you can believe the Slimes's own Elizabeth Bumiller, they can't-- and if they can't respect military files that are "Classified" in wartime,then it's time for the Bush Administration to revive the concept of WARTIME CENSORSHIP for reasons of national security, such as we used in WWII.
The press is so stupid that they can't realize these stories may frighten the enemy, which is definitely good, but they're using them to play "Gotcha" with the Bush Administration and to tie the hands of our soldiers so that they are as powerless as possible when dealing with a deadly, deceptive, violent foe.
Not only did the Slimes defiantly run this story now, in the wake of the Newsweek scandal, to show everyone that they're not leaving the role as the Fifth Column, disguised as the Fourth Estate, but one of their own made a big show of repeating the Eason Jordan fantasy that US soldiers are targeting journos in Iraq:
Guild Chief Under Fire for Comments About Attacks on Journalists in Iraq

Linda Foley, national president of The Newspaper Guild, drew strong criticism today from some conservative groups for comments she made last Friday about the killing of journalists in Iraq. Foley said, among other things, that she was angry that there was "not more outrage about the number and the brutality, and the cavalier nature of the U.S. military toward the killing of journalists in Iraq. I think it's just a scandal."

I don't know how to say this many more ways: We are at war.
This paper and Newsweek and the rest of the MSM's American organs are based in this country and supposedly bought, read by and written for Americans.
If the MSM can't take America's side and that of her military in this war, they either need to shut up and close down or move to France, Saudi Arabia or Iran.
My patience for the biases of Old Media, as well as my sympathy for enemy detainees, has just run completely dry!
As for the troops themselves and their families, God love 'em!, how they stand these kinds of scurrilous, continuous attacks without targeting journalists only shows how basically good, tolerant and noble they are!