US Public Losing Interest in Iraq As News Coverage Wanes: Report

Dick Cheney was in Baghdad today saying that the War/Occupation is a great success. Lies on top of lies. The US has spent over $500B and the cost continues at $12B a month. We have sacrificed almost 4000 G.I.s, seriously wounded 30,000 others and the psychological damage to all of those combat troops who return can not be measured; except for one startlingly horrible fact. 10000 Iraq war vets have committed suicide. Over one million Iraqis have been killed. More than that have been displaced and have become refugees. And this is just the tip of the iceberg. How could this be characterized as anything but a unmitigated disaster. This information should be part of every newscast on TV and on the front page of every newspaper. But what we get in the mainstream media is the latest on Britney and the woman that Eliot Spitzer was meeting in Washington.

They just quit covering it. It's an obvious, cooperative ruse from the media to dovetail with the promoted "success of the surge."

People could use a little information out here on the Prairies.

I wrote to our local NY news station asking them to stop incessently rehashing the Eliot Spitzer scandal in the absence of new facts and to start covering other news.

But given a choice between talking about the whore or the war, the whore always wins.

FACT: People in this dumbed-down country are more interested in Britney Spears' daily activities than what is happening in this country and the rest of the world. With the help of the media, Americans have become the most ill-informed people imaginable.

" Doom n Gloom March 14th, 2008 10:02 am

"Where the hell have their minds (and souls) gone to?! Hell?"

Precisely Mike! ... Bush and Cheney are devils."

YES, 'DEVILS', and Bush and Cheney would be much better off for their souls' sakes if they were literally possessed, for the possessed is not responsible when he or she is made, by the possessing demons, to commit wrongs, evils, wickedness. Perhaps they are literally [influenced] by real demons, but I doubt that they are literally possessed, only acting as if maybe they are, though; therefore, guilty as hell ARE they. Oh, of course along with ALL of their demonically demented supporters, too.

Conversion to ways of PEACE and JUSTICE is salvatory, but it sure seems that many of the 77% who [unbelievably] supported the launching of the war on Iraq and who came to realise that they had been wrong have done gone and fallen back to their "old" ways AGAIN; having such WEAK spines that they don't stand up for more than ... temporarily. What's that? Being of nearly NO PRINCIPLES, for it takes real spine to be really principled.

I'd say the same with respect to the supporters of the launching of the war on Afghanistan, only this happened too close to 9-11, so many would then be dumbed by their so-called shock of those 'inside job' attacks on the USA, by the USA, but or while not only for the USA, for it clearly is "for" the whole world.

Mindbogglingly 'DUMB ANIMALS'.

Oh well, likely no one will see this post now that there are many new articles posted at CD; but figured to go ahead with this comment anyway, as you can see.

On the other hand, a scoreless hockey game can be quite exciting.

Before any war, a population is conditioned to see the enemy as less than human. This conditioning allows us to look at the pictured of burned and maimed children and convince ourselves that "they" are naturally more violent than us or that "they" don't suffer pain the way we do, or "they" don't care about their children/grandchildren as much as we do. And the reason we buy into this bullshit is because it is less painful emotionally to think this way. As such, it is better, if someone wants to reach us, to focus on just a couple of children if you want people to care - or as much on the mourners as the victims. The more we can see our children in "their" children, the more we care.

Every time someone gives me the voting history of candidates in the American election - whether it be on the war or something else, I always ask them for the wording of the motion and/or the pre-vote discussion - because there always is one.

There is always a bit of a debate before a vote. Yesterday, the Tories and Liberals voted to extend the combat mission in Afghanistan another three years, the NDP and Bloc voted against this motion:

Thursday, March 13, 2008

Mrs. Betty Hinton (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Veterans Affairs, CPC): Mr. Speaker, I will be splitting my time with the member for Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke.

I am pleased to have this opportunity to speak to our mission in Afghanistan. Our government believes that the Afghan mission is important. It is important to the people of that country and it is important to Canadians. It is especially important to the Canadian sons and daughters who are on the ground there, our military, our diplomats and the civilian aid workers who are all trying to rebuild the lives and livelihoods of the Afghan people.

Last week, Mr. Speaker, you introduced six women seated in that gallery. Those women were parliamentarians in the fledgling Afghan government. Seven short years ago those same women could not have left their homes without burkas or unaccompanied by a male relative. Seven years ago they could not walk to the corner by themselves or access medical care. Now they are free to travel halfway around the world to sit in the gallery of the Canadian Parliament with their faces bare.

xxxxx

Ms. Dawn Black (New Westminster—Coquitlam, NDP): Mr. Speaker, I also listened to the member from Winnipeg and her speech today.

I met with the Afghan women parliamentarians that she spoke of in her speech and they told me that a week before they came here a woman was publicly stoned to death by her husband in Afghanistan. These kinds of abuses against women continue unabated.

In fact, they talked about the number of women who commit suicide in Afghanistan by setting themselves on fire. They talked about how forced marriages for young girls are still an ongoing practice. It is important to paint an accurate picture of what is happening in Afghanistan.

One said that when she was there after the fall of the Taliban, she could drive the highway to Kabul safely, and now, even though we have paved that road, she cannot drive on that road. She said that the Taliban shake down citizens in Kandahar at night and the police shake them down in the day time.

xxxxxxx

Mr. Alan Tonks (York South—Weston, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, I know that my colleague has great knowledge, having been to Afghanistan and having studied very closely what is happening at the community level.

She may know that the minister of community development established the national solidarity program. During that program's implementation over five years, water purification, the funding of co-ops for agricultural transformation, local auxiliary police training, and revamping community medical clinics have transpired. That same minister is now the minister of education. He has set the goal to bring education and training to all of the very remote communities of Afghanistan.

Is that not a laudable goal at the community level, an approach that works? That same minister has said that the presence of troops is necessary to secure peace in order for that program to be successful. Does the member agree with that?

Ms. Judy Wasylycia-Leis: Mr. Speaker, I have to tell my colleague that I have never been to Afghanistan. I wish I had so I could see firsthand what is happening, but I must rely on the good information of my colleagues, like the member for New Westminster—Coquitlam in British Columbia, who is our party's defence critic and has given us very accurate reports.

She and others will repeat over and over that, yes, aid and international development projects are important to the people of Afghanistan, but at the rate we are going, we are not going to be able to make a difference or stop the despair and destruction that is happening in that country. We are talking about a ratio of 10:1; for every $10 spent on military activities and countering the insurgents, we are spending $1 on aid.

If we could put some of that money toward international aid and development, we could multiply what the member is talking about. We could make a real difference if we could get some of this money and involve the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, UNICEF, the UN Development Programme, the Peacebuilding Commission, all of these organizations that are determined to make a difference.

We could make such a difference, if we only had a new approach and a different set of priorities.

http://www2.parl.gc.ca/housechamberbusiness/chambersittings.aspx?View=H&...

The Iraq war is as boring as a scoreless ball game in the 20th inning. War is a game.

I remember the day, when the slaughter and genocide of innocent, men, woman, and CHILDREN!!, would actually strike chord in the hearts of the majority of of the average joe. We have hit a record low, in the quest for humanity. Sad times.

Dmac, there is a slasher movie feel to the video that first causes shock then your urge is to distance yourself emotionally from it and try to convince yourself that it doesn't hurt them like it does us. You don't hear the kid screaming in pain and fear or the parent/grandparent crying over the child's dead or severely injured body. You don't hear that the family member they keep asking for is already dead.

Jim Glover - do your snowbird friends watch shows from home?

One thing that I notice when they talk to soldier is that the ones with a career in the Military tend to be more positive when interviewed - meaning that those who are more honest are either getting out at the first chance or know that their injuries are too severe for them to continue on in the Military. There is one who lost both his legs but, because he was a medic, can still teach basic first aid to soldiers - he's been on The Hour Twice - Paul Franklin - compare him to the soldier in Donahue's documentary (also on The Hour).

RE: - Fine. Post here among like-minded folks, but go too to your local media. Today. Now.

Speaking of local media, the documentary, "No End in Sight" on the Iraq war is going to be shown on CBC Newsworld Sunday around 9pm Texas time.

http://www.cbc.ca/passionateeyesunday/feature_160308.html

I wonder what the former host of The Passionate Eye (a program which hosts documentaries) is up to - probably sitting around waiting for the government to fall. The Governor General is the Queen's representative in Canada and the PM visits her to officially dissolve Parliament.

I'm afraid there's no denyin' I'm just a dandelion,
But I could show my prowess, be a lion not a mou-ess
If I only had a spine.

Jack Layton is a little upset that the Tories and Liberals got together and extended the mission in Afghanistan another three years and figured this a decent issue to defeat the government over. See the video to your right - there is a new escalator in a Mall in Kandahar - despite the lack of working electricity:

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2008/03/13/motion-confidence.html

You get better coverage of this on The National - which remains up on line for 24 hours

cbc.ca/national - right - "latest broadcast"

RE: - Vaudree: Your figures are wrong.

My figures are over a year old and the civilian casualties are very conservative estimates (meaning that the actual figures are much much higher). Seems that the difference between Iraq and Darfur is that we are ignoring the latter and encouraging the former.

RE: - In a US Government study on post-Gulf War babies born to 251 veterans, 67 per cent of the babies were reported to have serious illnesses or serious birth defects. They were born without eyes, ears, had missing organs, fused fingers, thyroid or other malfunctions.

RE: - Mike Corbeil, Kem is probably the CD expert on DU. Since I annoy him without trying, if you can encourage him to write it out one of these days. I once half hopefully half sarcastically asked him which of his home remedies he recommended to help those with DU remain functioning longer and he said that the only thing for them is if they can find good respite care and lots of pain killers. He seems to consider it a death sentence. Anything I've read on CD is toned down compared to the hint of information you get out of him once in a while.

RE: - The Scum learned from Vietnam was not the Colin Powell doctrine or its ilk, but to control the media coverage of their next war.

The excuse is that viewers would find those images offensive - it is the same rules as for other types of American profanity. Sometimes the truth offends - and lies seem more family (and recruiter) friendly.

RE: - If it's true that the Iraq war has become 'boring' or 'un-newsworthy' for most Americans, that to me means, at least, the following:

To me it means that there has been a concentrated effort to make it boring. It also means that, when it was covered, those who covered it did their best not to make the coverage "offensive" to viewers. There used to be something on line called "Deadline Iraq: Uncensored" (can't remember the rest of it) - a Canadian Documentary made up of stuff that US reporters could not put on the news at home. There are bootlegged copies all over the internet.

Looking at the rest

WTF,

Common Dreams did delete my second post last night. I just typed a similar one and "my coments are awaiting moderation," came on again. So much for The First Amendment.

The "thinker" is always a threat to a "tyrant."

"maelstrom March 13th, 2008 5:31 pm
Americans care about only one thing - their financial security.
The injustice of the Iraq war; the criminal policies of G. Bush are secondary.
If someone can show a direct link between the Iraq War and financial hardship, the war will end.
Not before."

Excellent point and this is what this election is gonna be about.... War Profiteering!

We have been handed the answer on a silver platter....

I can see Obama cleaning up by reciting the best parts of Ike's Warning about the MIC...

Slam Freaking DunK!

"Where the hell have their minds (and souls) gone to?! Hell?"

Precisely Mike! The unimaginable hell that we inflict upon others will circle and return to us. Our imposed cruelty and the horrible deaths suffered by others are beyond comprehension. Bush and Cheney are devils.

Speaks to the madness well dmac
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmRaKLilM2Q

thanks...

O Roe,
Thanks for the info on the origins of the term, "Winter Soldier." I had never heard of it until today when I visited the "Democracy Now!" website. I'm still mostly ignorant about the history of resistance to power, but I'm a big fan of Thomas Paine.

O roe,

Thanks for keeping up the good fight.

We need more people like you who go to the demonstrations even when they are not popular..... folks like you keep hope for peace alive.

I have friends here in Florida who are still goin to the peace marches and don't complain too much about low turnout... winter soldiers.

Pete Seeger wrote back to me :"This world will be saved by millions of small things".

Keep Hammerin, Peace Maker.

Love....

Henry Kissinger quote:

"'Military Men Are Just Dumb, Stupid Animals To Be Used As Pawns In Foreign Policy' - Hennry Kissinger".

Quoted from:

"Depleted Uranium: The Trojan Horse of Nuclear War", Leuren Moret, July 2004

http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/MOR407A.html

THE TROOPS AND MILLIONS OF IRAQIS NEED FAR better people back home than this roughly 50% of the population being such 'DUMB ANIMALS' that they can fantasize that the war on Iraq is 'going well'; bunch of soulless people!

Where the hell have their minds (and souls) gone to?! Hell?

WTF, in so far as I know 12 have been murdered since the other day have not been on sites for 2 weeks anywhere except what I will tell 2 others but the count may be 14 mitary murdered as of right now, please correct me.
tobee4, it is called ' Winter Soldier II ' Testimony and it started on the 13th, ' Winter Soldier I ' was given in 1971 and it broke open the Vietnam War it was about My Lai, I am a Veteran for Peace and we have a ton of stuff on board for the 19th but sadly many of us will wind up in jail maybe I will see you there. Winter Soldier comes from a quote by Thomas Paine, Google Quotes and his name you will see why we called It 'Winter Soldier '.
Thanks Vaudree for the link, after they rewrote the Military manual 2 1/2 weeks ago I went into detail here a bit ago so I won' t do it again but it says we will be in Iraq at least 10 more years, no one seems to give a darn what I say any way because I NEVER get a response even after a year of blogging here. I suppose they feel I am an obtuse woman with nothing of value to say so it is like I am talking to myself. Thank goodness for my Vets! Enjoy your day all! UhHuh

The Iraq war coverage has never been accurate. Thank goodness for CommonDreams and the internets for bringing the truth.

In an effort to shame my Senator, Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) I created a short YouTube video that includes "real" war photos and video clips. Check it out at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmRaKLilM2Q

Party 'till W pukes

The reported PROGRESS IN IRAQ is very easy to evaluate. Lets do it by the numbers.
1. 4 hrs a day of electricity
2. An average of 39 Iraq deaths per day this month
3. Only 40% of the citizens of Baghdad have clean water
4. A black spot of raw sewege as big as several football fields can be seen on
Google Earth
5. A substantial number of sites have the number of Iraqi's killed at over 1,000,000.
Yet we are told of great progress by our media. The President and V.P. started this war but the MSM is the one engine that just keeps perpetuating this holocaust.

Unrestrained pathological leadership requires pathological opposition. U.S. Iraq relations in a nutshell.

I've said it before: the main lesson The Scum learned from Vietnam was not the Colin Powell doctrine or its ilk, but to control the media coverage of their next war. Vietnam opposition came about and was sustained in large part because the hoi polloi saw it raw and nightly on their tubes.

Why do you suppose Idiot King doesn't attend funerals of the dead troopies? Answer: it would draw unwanted media attention. Same for not allowing coverage of the caskets debarking at Dover AFB.

WTF,

Well said. I made every march in San Francisco but one. The vibes are high and like-minded people share opinions but the the occupation continues. Hitting them in the pocketbook but even more significant, WTF is not working for them. But the task is difficult. We really do have a dumbified society which is easily manipulated. I told my boss I'm not working on the 19th. I did the same last September 11. All we can do is spread the word and lead by example.

GESTALT: A lot of people have to get mad before they get hopeful but I would never want anger to take the place of hope. Most of what you write is sharp and educational and makes me think just for that reason. This one I'm not so sure of. Maybe you had a bad day today. Always keep your hope stronger than your anger.

Thanks for the imput Jim Glover. When I saw the word "sheeple" I went into Geriatric Apoplexy.

Thanks for letting me rant once in a while CD. Most of what I've read here is perfectly reasoned, well informed, and helpful.

Vaudree: Your figures are wrong. Almost 4000 soldiuers have died and over 1,000,000 Iraqis. Your figures are Iraqi government figures. Totally wrong.

peaceman,

I had not heard of the Veterans for Peace plan for Mar 19. Like the genralstryke last year, it is hard to find legs. I totally agree with you, a nationwide GS would get everyone's attention, whereas marches are so passe and are easily manipulated by the media. The only way to get things done these days is to hit the elite where it hurts - the pocket, which also effectively removes their power.

WTF,

You might be right. I advocated the same kind of action last year and it wasn't posted, but at other times it was.

I don't use swear-words but I didn't know CD censored.

The ruling-elite are worried more about a generalstryke than a million people marching for a few hours on a Saturday. Thanks again.

zxvtrp,

The Guardian and The Independent are great newspapers. Even The International Herald-Tribune is better than most American papers. When I was in England, the Brits I met couldn't understand why we don't have free health care. Try explaining that our tax money goes for the death and destruction industries a dozen or so times. The English are polite and nod their heads in sympathy with us working stiffs.

If it's true that the Iraq war has become 'boring' or 'un-newsworthy' for most Americans, that to me means, at least, the following:

The mental competence of average americans, led easily downward in no small measure by a conscience-less, monstrously corrupt MSM, is in final/fatal decline.

It's quite bad enought that Americans didn't care that their government lied them into an illegal war in which many of their sons and daughters and many innocent Iraq's would needlessly die.

Fatally worse that: now that the death and destruction from The Lie have become old hat news, the filthy MSM are able to lead them, equally-easily, on to new idiotic and vile distractions.

If the report is true, then it's almost impossible to have any hope for 'reform-from-within,' of such a system/people/society. Especially considering that most Americans who're alive today, already saw this same kind of insanity happen 'in their name' with the US invasion of Vietnam.

Anyone with decent moral instincts, who's also reasonably well-read & cognizant of Human History, could be forgiven for now concluding that the USA's citizenry and Governing System is nothing but an increasingly hideous pestilence upon the planet: An erstwhile/nobly-intending body politic now quite dead, but monstrously re-animated by gaggles of sociopathic humans who represent the worst of our species, and now only to be brought-to-heel by a total internal collapse, followed by a
[probably similarly-vile] take-over from without.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/mar/13/immigrationpolicy.immigra... Sorry forgot the colon.

The people of Great Britan get way more coverage. Look at this site today in the Guardian. http//:www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/mar/13/immigrationpolicy.immigration

@peaceman

I suspect your reference to sickofitday caused the cut. This happened last year when I tried to mention (often) a genralstryke last 9/11. CD does censor.

CD has a robot that scans for specific phrases, and automatically deletes "offending" posts. Expletives are not in its vocabulary, so many posts with swear-words can get through.

Lets see if this post makes it, ie, if the robot is smart enough to pick up genralstryke.

The other article is posted with the moderation thing under my name???

Curmudgeon99 and WTF, You're both welcome. Something's fishy. On two different posts today on CD, I was given the "your comments are awaiting moderation." One post made it, and I just checked the other article on the left side of CD with the picture of the Iranian woman with children. My second, and more important post wasn't added.???

I'll go to the library and get Karnow's book if they have it. Did you ever read Arthur Schlesinger's book, 'A Bitter Heritage' Vietnam from 1940-1968? Excellent commentary.
March 19th is "sickofitday." Everybody call off from work.

Let me see if this post takes.

Okay. My second post is on the other article but the moderation thing is still there.???

I tell people all the time that the only thing that will wake people up is a HUGE loss of American lives, like the bombing of the Beirut barracks. The average American couldn't care less about Iraqi civilians, or even our own troops if it's only one or two a day. It has to be something SPECTACULAR. Besides, gas prices are the big story now. Bizarrely, neither the media nor the public makes the connection.

@peaceman, thanks for the link to 'The Winter Soldier' testimonies. I'll have to content myself with reading the testimonies as I am readying my coldframes for the next crop. I would highly recommend reading Karnow, probably the best history of Vietnam in English, and puts their centuries-old struggle for freedom into perspective. It is a monumental tome, but gripping reading.

@others who answered my question on the number of US soldiers killed. Most of you are on the ball, and knew the number because y'all acquire information via the internet. Traditional news outlets (TV, print, radio) appear to be afraid to highlight this information.

@vaudree, I stated that www.nowthatsfuckedup.com was shut down in 2006. The site has been taken over by cyber squatters. Wiki has a great article at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nowthatsfuckedup.com
12 months ago, a Google search provided many links to articles and blogs on NTFU. Many blogs co-opted the images, but have also been shut down. Though no explicit law against war porn exists, people are being threatened with legal action if they carry this material. The wiki entry is almost all that is left. This sick material exists in vast quantities out there, but the authorities cannot afford to have it circulated. Think of the worst photos from Auschwitz but in hi-def color, "suitable for framing". Yecchh.

Even the progressive blogs provide little coverage on Iraq, except for it's cost, and you have to go to the sites focusing on Iraq.

http://www.juancole.com/(bill peppin beat me to it)
http://warnewstoday.blogspot.com/index.html

Maybe people just recognize the futility of it all, but things seem to be deteriorating, which could be convenient if we want to do Iran since we can blame it on them.

It is not a surprise that MSM avoids Iraq coverage. One of the first rules of Colonialism is to keep news on what is happening in the colonies at a minimum. Good news gets reported. Bad news does not unless we can blame it on someone else and get support for whatever they want to do.

The people just sit back and let the news be dictated by the powers that be.
If it is not on CNN or Fox, it does not exist in their reality.

How many people even know Turkey invaded Iraq last week, or that Irans President had a pleasant visit to Baghdad (you would have thought we could arrange a suicide bombing that would target him instead of providing his security).

It's scary how our reality can be so easily controlled. If MSM says the world is flat, and 70% of the people can be made to believe this with all sorts of scientific experts explaining why it is flat, doing so because they rely on grants from government and tax free foundations who want you to believe this, then the world will be flat. Anyone saying it is not will be labelled a conspiracy theorist, so those who are not dumb enough to believe it will keep quiet. Powerful stuff.

To follow along the bouncing ball of Iraqi events, be sure
to tune into Juan Cole's blog, which is updated daily on news
from the two wars [sic] at

http://www.juancole.com

so be sure to check it out if you have not done.

The tragic incompetence, chaos, lies and crimes that surround our participation in the Iraq war need to be revisited each day so that we never forget the atrocities that have been committed in our names. The MSM needs to keep the focus bright and sharp on this horrible monument to the Bush Aministration. We need to impeach those responsible for leading us in the very worst administration in United States history.

Fine. Post here among like-minded folks, but go too to your local media. Today. Now.

Looked it up, 3,098 American soldiers, 647 contractors (country of origin not given) and approximately 55,664 to 61,369 Iraqi civilians have died, as of February 5, 2007, as far as we know (CBC) - which, at the time they said may have been low. There have been mass slaughters of whole villages since then. Your numbers seem in the ball park. Though, when the dust settles, estimates made during the war tend to be low. I think I will settle on "way too many" for now even if it is closer to "oh I can't believe it, not in my worse imagination did I think it was this bad."

The US has taken one side of a conflict in a province and gave them weapons to wipe out the other side - which is why there have been a few less US soldiers dying lately.

The latest on Omar Khadr:

U.S. 'manufactured story' on 2002 Afghan gunbattle: Khadr's lawyer

A military commander "retroactively altered" a report of a gunbattle in Afghanistan in 2002 to redirect blame for a U.S. soldier's death to Omar Khadr, Khadr's defence lawyer alleged Thursday.

Lt. Cmdr. William Kuebler made the allegation during a pretrial hearing Thursday for the 21-year-old Canadian citizen at the U.S. naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. ...

In the report, the commander said a U.S. soldier killed a man identified as the suspect in the slaying of Speer, said Kuebler.

However, the report was revised months later, under the same date, to say a U.S. fighter had only "engaged" the assailant, according to Kuebler, who said the later version was presented to him by prosecutors as an "updated" document.

"What we have is, as I said at the outset, is this manufactured story about Omar's participation in the event, or this myth about Omar's participation in the event, which appears to have been manufactured at some point during his detention," Kuebler said.

"And then you have government records, official government records, being retroactively altered to be consistent with that manufactured story." ...

(It gets worse)

http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2008/03/13/khadr-interrogators.html

MPs to vote on extending mission of torture

Liberals and Harperites focus on good intentions, not interrogation practices.

by Linda McQuaig

Later this week, our two leading political parties are expected to join forces and commit Canada to another three years of military intervention in support of the Afghan government — which we know practises torture.

This is a curious development, since most Canadians — like civilized people around the world — find torture abhorrent and utterly at odds with their values.

Yet the barbaric practice has achieved post-9/11 acceptability in some circles in the so-called advanced world, in the guise of being a necessary tool to fight terror. It's been a prominent feature of the Afghan war, which has spawned Guantanamo Bay, among other horrific prisons.

http://www.lindamcquaig.com/Columns/ViewColumn.cfm?REF=65

This weekend and next week take to the streets. I have no illusion that it will create a miracle. But, though I am not otherwise bored, I can think of nothing better I can do.

vaudree, you should make an effort to find out how many Iraqis have died. I will tell you that the best research now places the
figure at over 1.3 million; but, why should
you trust me or anyone? Do research on the
conflicting claims, factoring in known bias,
if any, and then make your own decision, but
do try to come up with a definite figure. It's not that hard.

All!!!! please attend a 5 year anniversary of the invasion on the 3/19/08. Check on commondreasms.org for a vigil near you or initiate one yourself. If we keep to the streets it will start appearing in the papers again.
Also, check on Pacifica Radio the 3/14/,3/15 and 3/16 for a hearing initiated by the Veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan "Winter Soldiers, Iraq and Afghanistan"

They don't want us to know anything, that way they don't have to lie as much.
Corporate media wont Tell America the true number of Iraqi deaths, or the true death toll of our brave Military men and women.
Because if they did, the Christians that support Bush would have to vomit.
I read somewhere that if our wounded are flown to a hospital out of Iraq , say Germany, and they die in transit, thier deaths does not count as a soldier lost in Iraq.
This administration is so deceiful, that they will stop at nothing to continue the course.

I don't pray for God to bless America, I pray that he saves America form this evil darkness that has us in its grips.

But the fact that Iraq is no longer news- this tends to happen with the passage of time- the u.s. lack of attention does not in any way diminish the misery of death and suffering the people of Iraq continue to endure. Or the people of Afghanistan.

Americans care about only one thing - their financial security.
The injustice of the Iraq war; the criminal policies of G. Bush are secondary.
If someone can show a direct link between the Iraq War and financial hardship, the war will end.
Not before.

"Iraq plans to take legal action against the suppliers of chemicals used in a poison gas attack on the town of Halabja in Iraq's Kurdish north, which killed 5,000 people in 1988."

Rumsfeld, wasn't it?

If America learns that war is not to be undertaken lightly, the deaths of the soldiers will not have been in vain. If America learns to be a good member of the world community, then, maybe, the death of 1 million Iraqis will not be for nothing. If America collapses into poverty and is no longer a threat to anyone and cannot recover its dominant position, those deaths will have been worth it. The death of an American soldier is not a bad thing at all. Imagine if none had died while raping a country and its people. How would that be better? In fact, the more die, the likelier it is that the US will behave in the future. 4000 is not enough to change the American mentality. Neither is 10,000.

Wrong. As public interest wanes, so does the coverage. Are we blaming thne media for the lack of compassion for Iraq that is evident, for a long time now, amongst Americans? Let's face it, Americans don't care about any ragheads, only their own. As soon as casualties mount again they will be interested. The falling casualties was a signal to forget about it. And most did. Typical.

Ho-hum. Another day in the life of an empire. The sun is always shining on the British (oops, American!) flag.

Did you all hear that the oil is flowing pretty good again, and the Iraqi government is getting a pretty fat bank account on that exported $100+ per gallon crude? Apparently they have no consensus on what to do with all the money, so its accumulating rapidly. The US should be taking its cut one of these days.

The occupation isn't a 'front page issue' because it being so is contrary to the interests of all parties involved, except perhaps the public at large. Remember, the surge is working! That was about the last major coverage coming out of Iraq, the Republicans don't want to change that message. The Democrats don't want to rehash an issue that they are too incompetent or indifferent to do anything about. The media has played the story for all they can get out of it, time to move on. The only people to benefit from added coverage (aside from any incidental lives that could be saved) are those opposed to the occupation. Why would the powers that be want to help them? It's simple, those who can do something about Iraq - Wont, so why even bring it up.

FWIW, I don't think the issue has dropped out of the public's consciousness, not in the least. It effects too much else that is taking place. It remains The central and defining issue of the day and will remain so until last soldier is pulled out or the last drop of oil is stolen, which ever comes first.

It is hard to miss when a Canadian soldier dies since the CBC first mentions the death, then mentions the ramp ceremon, then mention the arrival and, if the family permits, televises the eulogies at the funeral.

WTF - a dating service seems to have co-opted your webpage at this moment so, when the problem fixes itself, give us the link again.

WernerS you ever notice with the cbc.ca that it is

cbc.ca/fifth

cbc.ca/thehour - with George Stroumboulopoulos
cbc.ca/sunday - with Evan Solomon and Carole MacNeil
cbc.ca/politics - with Don Newman
cbc.ca/national - with Peter Mansbridge (though sometimes his ex fills in for him)

Don Newman is most like your George Stephanopoulos. We tend to have more stuff concerning Afghanistan than Iraq in our archives. Those who watch hockey know that Don Cherry from Coaches Corner tends to devote part of the segment here and there to the war in Afghanistan - between calling Russian and French hockey players sissies.

The CBC would not mind having their stuff air on other channels but, which that seems a possibility, they remove the online link.

El-Farouk Khaki's webpage (top left corner) links to the NOW article entitled "Addicted to power - Dion's deadly Afghan double-deal shows he'd rather count body bags than combat Tories" where it says:

The Tories and the Libs believe in war, a mutual conviction cemented last week when Liberal leader Stéphane Dion agreed to their pact to extend Canada's war commitment in Afghanistan until at least 2011.

On the other side altogether, the NDP is a pacifist party that pushes more creative options for conflict resolution than blowing the shit out of people who have different beliefs than your own.

The NDP would like to see the United Nations, the official international organization of conflict resolution, brought into the discussion of the Afghan quagmire, while the Conservative-Liberal cabal are content to swear fealty to the rogue forces of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

http://www.elfaroukkhaki.ca/

As the article says, it is the NDP and the Bloc which are keeping Afghanistan in the news.

The public mainly watches the news to be excited, not to be informed.
and
Out of sight, out of mind.

One problem with 'democracy' is that the people give up their responsibilities in governing to a set of 'representatives' ie members of a political party, who usually have other agendas.

Whoever believes the public is losing interest in the Iraq war will believe anything. Since the media is controlled by this federal administration, the news, if it can even be called that, let us say edited reports instead, is obviously trying to quell the repugnant facts of the war. I, personally, listen for any reports of the war. Don't you? After all the trillions of dollars spent that two or three generations of Americans not even born will have to pay off.

Thanks for info on kpfa.org, peaceman. I will definitely be listening.

Surprise!!! NOT!
Why do think that the administration has been monitoring all news medi?
Several years ago, all Iraq news was pushed to interior pages. Now all news about Iraq is smahed into one story, with any loss of human life NOT mentioned instory lead

From what I understand from a few of my old colleagues, the reporters in iraq have been pretty much restricted to the Green Zone... this is design, it prevents them from reporting on what they can't see for themselves.

It seems the big game in "news' reporting these days is to take a news "event" and speculate it to death... then do an endless critique on how good their OWN coverage was until the next 'event' comes up.

Some folks may have noticed that their favorite 'news' outlets have been running the very same stock footage over and over since this time last year. That is because the Occupation Forces have been keeping the reporters in the Green Zone "for their own safety"!

The net result is, the mistaken belief that "NO NEWS IS GOOD NEWS".

Cranky,

I think your metaphor about the Sheeple being lead to the slaughter house misses one point that in the political world contrary to the Meat Packing Industry, it is the black sheep, the squeaky ones who get the kill treatment, those who go along must learn to protest themselves if they want to improve their baby sheep's lives.

There is more protest going on than you will see in the media, but if we jump on the Sheep for that we are doing what the War Machine wants... blame the people not them.

The people have a lot more common sense than they get credit for and I see a better world coming out of the whole mess.

When will we ever learn?

We are, just not at the the rate comfortable for human consumption.... Instant gratification of the consumer ethic.

http://icasualties.org/oif/

Is there a 4K pool?

I'm always impressed by the unmitigated contempt I read on this board for the unenlightened masses.

Have ya'all ever tried talking to your neighbors like they were equal human beings? It's interesting that for all the disdain you have for the Corporate Media... you take your characterizations of your fellow citizens from that same source. Like every one that doesn't do what YOU do and believe what YOU believe is a knuckledragging Fox News addict.

I think Google has given you prosthetic brains, and eaten your hearts. You're incapable of forming a coalition of disparate people based upon common issues.

Soon I'll be hearing "genocide" given a new, Orwellian euphemism by progressives, as a possible approach to environmental conservation. Something like "thinning the herd."

"Sheeple?" Flippin "SHEEPLE?"

Will you be the ones cheering as they're Shepherded through the slaughterhouses? Perhaps they should be rounded up and placed in camps for "resocialization" some day. Won't that be dandy.

I'd rather be a misled sheep, than a heartless ideologue and judas goat.

For those putting links up to alternative media... thanks. I always appreciate it.

Thanks, Vaudre, for the Canadian link!....I know so many of the other posters here are more than "tuned in."...But how much can you know without doing something concrete!!!!I just sent the link:www.cbc.ca/Fifth/
lifeanddeathinKandahar/video/html along with a strong note to 60 minutes, Frontline and Bill Moyers Journal...urgently asking them to SHOW IT. I know it is a piddling reaction, but it beats intellectually sterile venting among the choir. Code Pink Ladies are on the right track!!!

WTF, Thanks for the info. I haven't seen Karnow's book. Your first question: as of yesterday? we officially lost 3,984 military in Iraq.

When I said, "out of sight, out of mind," I was referring to the lack of reporting on Vietnam by the press which was probably pressured by the government to keep the public in the dark.

Also, WTF, starting tomorrow, www.kpfa.org will be broadcasting 'The Winter Soldier' testimonies of Iraqi and Afghanistan war veterans. They'll be speaking up for several days.

I've noticed lately that the local news have the same stories on for three or four days in a row. It isn't even really news, but filler-type things because nothing else is going on to report. I don't know who owns the local channels on ABC, CBS, and NBC.

And of course now it's all about Spitzer, blown up and told in those hushed voices with wide, disbelieving stares as they give all the gory details, and then with such pride that they've learned who the call girl was, and every little detail of her life. SICK. SICK. SICK!

One of the best outlets on the Iraqi war/occupation was the web site www.nowthatsfuckedup.com (read the Wikipedia entry). Although it's reason for existence and target audience was pro-war 18-45 year old men, the appearance of trophy photos (war porn) from the battle zone truly showed some of what war is like to those that experience it first hand. Naturally, it was shut down in April 2006 on the grounds of "obscenity".

These images taken by the troops were horrifically and sickeningly obscene, but the best hi-def anti-war, anti-violence images ever.

Naturally, NTFU was shut down in April 2006 on the grounds of "obscenity", and the military subsequently made it illegal for troops or veterans to ever release such images (or forfeit their 'honorable discharge').

War as a business is about making money ...Politics and the media which do their part in the racket is about the entertainment aspect of everything they sell including the news.

This is the reality that is not taught in schools anywhere because if the truth was taught we would have a revolution based on logic instead of frustration.

The surge is boring war footage and the coverage is boring on purpose to bolster the Republican plan to keep as many seats in government as possible.

I think Admiral Fallon was wise to resign because once Bush/Cheney are gone in 09, they can't hide behind the military and the flag when the planet begins the search for justice in finding the War Criminals who encourage more War and terrorism.

Bush/Cheney in their greed and lust for power have set themselves up as the fall guys and stooges for the dark side.

I commend them for a hell of a job!

Every Sunday I watch This Week with George Stephanopoulos. At the end of the show is the "In Memorium" with all of our soldiers who were sacrificed during the week. From the beginning, when the numbers were much higher, I've watched, looking at each photo, and saying their name. I take note of how old they were and where they came from. I hope others are doing the same. It's so sad knowing what a waste it was. While their families and friends will of course note their passing, and the why of it, their ending is probably ignored by the majority of us.

Conservative America follows the media. Since they cannot think on their own they need a reporter or a pastor to tell them what is what. They mindlessly stare and nod with spittle running out the sides of their mouths. If the media said that the Sweedish were terrorists they would start shouting anti-Sweed slogans. No evidence is necessary. 9/11 is a perfect example of the gullability and mindlessness of America.
So whatever is in the news is in the minds of Conservatives whatever isn't, isn't.

Want videos of IED and blown up Hummers? Log onto Liveleak.com and search under IED for all the news not fit for the MSM.

I know that 80 Canadians and one diplomat have died in Afghanistan without looking it up. The last one might be the second suicide.

I think that the American count is past 3,000 and heading to four as far as soldiers (excluding contractors) go. I have no idea how many hundreds of thousands of Iraqis have died.

The Fifth Estate is updating their "THE Lies that Led to War" documentary next week (about Iraq) and this is what we were watching this week (and so can you free on line):

Life and Death in Kandahar

http://www.cbc.ca/fifth/lifeanddeathinkandahar/video.html

The headline is obvious enough. But how many people get their news from the internet as opposed to TV? How many people are still reading articles about Iraq?

It seems to me there was a near blackout in other media too.

Up until a couple of weeks ago, since the only thing on news teevee was Hills v. Obama, the only stories on Iraq (especially the Northern Turk invasion) were on Current TV--believe it or not they still have a reporter there, filing stories and getting them aired.

At any rate, with the media it's just like the beginning of the war: "Don't ask, don't tell."

Maybe if we get into a Depression and another couple of wars, the next election will take 3 years of primaries and congress will hold hearings on Tennis players who unceremoniously cuss out line judges.

Spot quiz: Someone tell me how many US troops have died in Iraq. Quick!

How many of you know what that number is on a day-to-day basis?

@peaceman: The slaughter at Dien Bin Phu was deliberately kept out of the French press, and was not symptomatic of reporting overexposure. (Stan Karnow, Vietnam, A History)

The elite now have a lot greater control over news sources than ever before. There is no pretty face for Iraq, it is a holocaust. They control what journalist go to Iraq and the country is now to dangerous for them to wander about anyway. Remember before the war, reporters could go anywhere in the country. Not anymore. It was a hell of a lot safer place to be when Saddam Husein was in control. Isn't that fact kind of a yardstick for how things are going?
Out of Iraq now, and war crimes and treason trials for the ones who got us into it.

RE: I guess Iraq made us forget Afghanistan

Well, if you want to know the latest on Afghanistan, there is supposed to be a vote to extend the mission.

Afghan mission extension expected to pass today

Parliament is expected to pass a motion to extend Canada's military mission in Afghanistan until 2011 today, just a few weeks before a crucial NATO meeting in Bucharest, Romania. ...

The vote is as assured after a compromise was ironed out between the Liberals and the Conservatives on the Afghan issue last month.

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20080313/liberals_co...

Motion to extend Afghanistan mission expected to pass

A confidence motion to keep Canadian soldiers in Kandahar until 2011 is expected to pass easily on Thursday, one of two possible votes facing the House of Commons that could trigger an election.

The Conservative motion, revised following consultations with the Liberal party, calls for the mission to be renewed past 2009, but with a focus on reconstruction and training of Afghan troops. It also includes a firm pullout date, calling for Canadian troops to leave Afghanistan by December 2011. ...

Both the NDP and Bloc Quebecois have rejected any extension of the mission. ...

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2008/03/13/motion-confidence.html

Recommend the Video links. BTW, if you wish to watch it live, cpac.ca should be covering the vote.

Why do we keep calling it a war, it is an occupation!!!

America suffers from "Attention deficit disorder." While everyone is o-o-o-h-ing and a-h-h-h-ing over the Spitzer story, and people are arguing over every little word from candidates, and from pundits-people are still dying in Iraq; horribly and violently.
What in God's name is wrong with this country? Are we becoming that easily distracted? Are we becoming that simple-minded?
Does a sex-scandal, and comments from advisors during presidential campaigns really weigh more heavily in our minds than the horrors of war?
Makes me want to yell; "Hello? Anybody home? Anybody? Anybody at all?"

Ghawar, Well said.

Lord Trigo, Good points. While the Foreign Legion was ultimately defeated at Dien Bin Phu, the cafes of Paris and cities across France were oblivious. Out of sight, out of mind.

The interests that control the mainstream media have this country's attention like I have my dog's while I'm holding a tennis ball. Wherever I move the ball, her gaze will follow, unflinching and oblivious to all else. At least I love my dog. The corporations that have purchased American journalism love only money, and will eventually extinguish people's ethical priorities altogether if left unchecked. And they are being left unchecked.

It is the intended effect of government sponsored education in the U.S. Every citizen is subjected to twelve years of brutal peer pressure which teaches conformity and a fear of speaking out or holding a contrary opinion. Now as adults, the sheeple do as they're told and, most importantly, believe as they are instructed by their television sets. Nobody wants to stand out as a misfit or weirdo. War is for everyone!

In earlier times, children spent far more time with adults - as farm boys and girls, as apprentices to adult tradesmen and as cabin boys aboard sailing vessels, or whatever the hell kids did long ago. The people's stupid conformity and obedience to words out of television sets is the result of the new way of growing up exclusively among peers in the U.S. "education" system.

It is a problem that can never be rectified, but can only be defeated from without as in the case of Nazi Germany.

I suspect the reverse is true too. As people have lost interest in the war, so have the media.

I had thought that the U.S. death toll in Iraq was closer to 400,000, and I am cheered to learn that the cost of democratizing that great new nation has been far less than I had thought or was willing to pay.

Like the war on drugs, the war in Iraq can fade into the background while yet it rages on. I think that will be the fate of war in Iraq: endless as planned, with endless profits and as far as the media and therefore the people are concerned, a non-issue.

The media are the people!

Occupational armies just don't make the TV glitz that blitzing armies do, ya know? It's the difference between ongoing brutalization and wholesale killing.

This just goes to show how the MSM is influenced by (ie - controlled by) gov't and big corporations. I guess Britney was the newer "shock and awe" until Spitzer made the forefront. I noticed the story never even mentioned Afghanistan. The average American probably doesn't even remember that war. I guess Iraq made us forget Afghanistan as Iran will make us forget Iraq.

Just as the Bush administration planned. Let the war drag on until it becomes just a murmur in the background, inaudible above politicians' sex scandals, celebrity rehab trips and news of the latest American Idol winner. Did the British public pay much attention to the various low-level conflicts raging in their empire? No, unless there was a catastrophic setback like the fall of Khartoum. By the time this empire has bankrupted itself, just as all others have done, it will be too late.