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Bombings in Baghdad Threaten DC Security
"Deadliest bombs since '07 shatter Iraqi Complexes. Key Government Sites. Synchronized car blasts kill more than 130 -- Security issue." So reads the headline in my newspaper.
According to the Associated Press, Iraq's deadliest bombing in more than two years killed at least 155 and wounded more than 500 Sunday.
Oct 26, 2009
"Deadliest bombs since '07 shatter Iraqi Complexes. Key Government Sites. Synchronized car blasts kill more than 130 -- Security issue." So reads the headline in my newspaper.
According to the Associated Press, Iraq's deadliest bombing in more than two years killed at least 155 and wounded more than 500 Sunday. Two suicide car bombs blew up almost simultaneously outside the Justice Ministry in downtown Baghdad having passed through multiple check points. At least 25 staff members of the Baghdad Provincial Council, which runs the city, are among the dead.
Security issue? Not for those watching US TV.
The deadliest coordinated attack in Iraq in two years merited no mention on the Sunday TV shows. Except for CNN, they've moved on to Afghanistan, the so-called "Right War." There, 14 Americans and three civilians were reported dead, victims of two helicopter crashes. By Monday, that was dominating the news.
Fourteen Americans equal how many Iraqis? I'd be interested to see the math.
What we do know is that many American policy makers are embracing a surge theory of success for US troops. It "worked," in Iraq. It will work -- they believe -- in Afghanistan.
Too much attention to what's actually going on in Baghdad -- 155 dead and 500 wounded and all the rest-might unsettle a very convenient consensus.
It's a security issue indeed, but the priority in US media isn't the life and death of Iraqi people; it's the security of the war consensus in Washington.
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© 2023 Laura Flanders
Laura Flanders
Laura Flanders interviews forward-thinking people about the key questions of our time on The Laura Flanders Show, a nationally syndicated radio and television program also available as a podcast. A contributing writer to The Nation, Flanders is also the author of six books, including "Bushwomen: How They Won the White House for Their Man" (2005). She is the recipient of a 2019 Izzy Award for excellence in independent journalism, the Pat Mitchell Lifetime Achievement Award for advancing women's and girls' visibility in media, and a 2020 Lannan Cultural Freedom Fellowship for her reporting and advocacy for public media. lauraflanders.org
"Deadliest bombs since '07 shatter Iraqi Complexes. Key Government Sites. Synchronized car blasts kill more than 130 -- Security issue." So reads the headline in my newspaper.
According to the Associated Press, Iraq's deadliest bombing in more than two years killed at least 155 and wounded more than 500 Sunday. Two suicide car bombs blew up almost simultaneously outside the Justice Ministry in downtown Baghdad having passed through multiple check points. At least 25 staff members of the Baghdad Provincial Council, which runs the city, are among the dead.
Security issue? Not for those watching US TV.
The deadliest coordinated attack in Iraq in two years merited no mention on the Sunday TV shows. Except for CNN, they've moved on to Afghanistan, the so-called "Right War." There, 14 Americans and three civilians were reported dead, victims of two helicopter crashes. By Monday, that was dominating the news.
Fourteen Americans equal how many Iraqis? I'd be interested to see the math.
What we do know is that many American policy makers are embracing a surge theory of success for US troops. It "worked," in Iraq. It will work -- they believe -- in Afghanistan.
Too much attention to what's actually going on in Baghdad -- 155 dead and 500 wounded and all the rest-might unsettle a very convenient consensus.
It's a security issue indeed, but the priority in US media isn't the life and death of Iraqi people; it's the security of the war consensus in Washington.
Laura Flanders
Laura Flanders interviews forward-thinking people about the key questions of our time on The Laura Flanders Show, a nationally syndicated radio and television program also available as a podcast. A contributing writer to The Nation, Flanders is also the author of six books, including "Bushwomen: How They Won the White House for Their Man" (2005). She is the recipient of a 2019 Izzy Award for excellence in independent journalism, the Pat Mitchell Lifetime Achievement Award for advancing women's and girls' visibility in media, and a 2020 Lannan Cultural Freedom Fellowship for her reporting and advocacy for public media. lauraflanders.org
"Deadliest bombs since '07 shatter Iraqi Complexes. Key Government Sites. Synchronized car blasts kill more than 130 -- Security issue." So reads the headline in my newspaper.
According to the Associated Press, Iraq's deadliest bombing in more than two years killed at least 155 and wounded more than 500 Sunday. Two suicide car bombs blew up almost simultaneously outside the Justice Ministry in downtown Baghdad having passed through multiple check points. At least 25 staff members of the Baghdad Provincial Council, which runs the city, are among the dead.
Security issue? Not for those watching US TV.
The deadliest coordinated attack in Iraq in two years merited no mention on the Sunday TV shows. Except for CNN, they've moved on to Afghanistan, the so-called "Right War." There, 14 Americans and three civilians were reported dead, victims of two helicopter crashes. By Monday, that was dominating the news.
Fourteen Americans equal how many Iraqis? I'd be interested to see the math.
What we do know is that many American policy makers are embracing a surge theory of success for US troops. It "worked," in Iraq. It will work -- they believe -- in Afghanistan.
Too much attention to what's actually going on in Baghdad -- 155 dead and 500 wounded and all the rest-might unsettle a very convenient consensus.
It's a security issue indeed, but the priority in US media isn't the life and death of Iraqi people; it's the security of the war consensus in Washington.
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