September 5, 2006
DOUSING THE HOME FIRES
Afghanistan (Letters to the Editor, National Post, September 5th, 2006)
Dear Sirs:In an offensive on the weekend, Allied forces led by Canadian troops in Afghanistan managed to kill 200 Taliban fighters in a single battle. Four Canadians were killed. Tragic though the loss of any Canadian life is, any person with even a passing acquaintance with military history should recognize the battle for what it is: a brilliant and magnificent victory by our much-maligned and put-upon Armed Forces.
So, what were the national headlines on Sunday, either in print or on the Web?
- "4 Canadians killed, others wounded in big battle with Taliban" (The Calgary Sun)
- "3 Canadians soldiers killed" (The Toronto Star)
- "NATO forces in Afghanistan suffer casualties" (CTV)
- "4 Canadians killed, 9 injured in Afghan battle" (CBC.ca)
- "Four Canadian soldiers killed in Afghanistan" (The Globe and Mail)
- "Four killed" (National Post)In other words, so far as the media is concerned, if we win we lose and if we lose we lose. One imagines that, if the modern media were transported back to 1944, the headlines on June 7 would have read: "340 Canadians Killed" in 144 point type, with an unreadable subhead below reading "Allies seize French beachhead, begin liberation of Europe."
Fortunately, if you look hard enough, you can still find media outlets with the courage and integrity to tell it like it is.
Posted by Peter Burnet at September 5, 2006 3:07 PMForty-seven coalition troops lose lives at Omdurman. Kirchner offers no explanation for losses. It was rumored that 11,000 of the Mahdi army may also have been killed. Ho-hum.
Posted by: Lou Gots at September 5, 2006 4:19 PMThe US Navy today admitted the loss of the carrier Yorktown and destroyer Hamman to a submarine attack in a battle near Midway Island northwest of Hawaii in early June, a battle which also saw three squadrons of torpedo planes destroyed. Radio Tokyo sharply denied US claims that four of Japan's carriers and a cruiser were sunk in the same engagement, claiming that "Admiral Yamamoto and the Emperor's flagship Akagi returned home in triumph." Some analysts say that this engagement, in which the Japanese fleet closely approached Hawaii while another task force simultaneously captured several islands in the Aleutian chain, demonstrates that the Roosevelt administration has made no significant improvement in the American position in the Pacific in the seven months since the devastating surprise attack on Pearl Harbor.
Posted by: Mike Morley at September 5, 2006 7:17 PM"Fortunately, if you look hard enough, you can still find media outlets with the courage and integrity to tell it like it is."
You are hilarious.
Thanks for the belly laugh - Though it is kind of sad that al jazeera is more fair and balanced.