“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.
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.