Found this link via Instapundit this morning.
What a fascinating series of photos of a car burning (bombed? shot up?) in Iraq. But more intersting than the photo series is the discussion of why there were so many photographers there (staged photo?) and the way Reuters managed to make it all sound much worse than it probably was.
The original site, The Obsidian Order, has a link to a commenter's site, which gives even more background and shows the photos for what they are: aid and comfort for the enemy via propaganda assistance from MSM.
This reminds me of something I learned back in 1988 when my husband and I traveled to South Korea to visit his sister and her family, who were living there for a couple years due to a job transfer.
[Warning: Long but 100% relevant digression here!]
For a solid week before we left, the news was filled with scenes of rioting and disorder in South Korea. The headlines were frightening. We envisioned the entire country in a state of chaos and danger.
I wasn't even sure if we should go, but we already had our airline tickets and our plans were made. Besides, we really wanted to see my sister-in-law, her husband, and their two adorable little ones. (Who, I might add, are now wonderful college kids, with a terrific younger brother, as well!)
So, we went.
And guess what? The only scenes of rioting and disorder were staged. Every day, at a time pre-planned to coincide with Western media's deadlines, a group of college students would assemble in downtown Seoul, and as soon as the cameras were running, they'd start their protests.
Cameras off, protest over.
And that was it. The rest of the city went on with business as usual (which, at lesat back then, meant "at a frantic pace") and we never had one moment's discomfort or unease.
I'm sure it's that way with Iraq, as well, at least in some cases as shown in the links above. Now, I know that there is real death and real destruction in Iraq, but we have to remember that MSM always wants to show things at their absolute worst.
If it bleeds, it leads. Did you ever see a picture of an oil well not burning when this war began? No, of course not, but the reality was that 99% of them did not burn.
Yes, there are bad things that happen in this world, but thank God, life is never as frightening or horrible as MSM would have us believe.
And thank God for the blogosphere to prove it.
UPDATE: You really don't want to miss the comment posted below by my brother.
Saturday, January 29, 2005
Why the world needs bloggers
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1 comment:
Yes - I agree: only the worst gets in the news. I was in Paraguay during the coup that ousted then President Alfredo Stroessner, and was actually only a few blocks from some of the worst fighting that night.
The entire coup took place in about 12 square blocks downtown, and then also at the Presidential compound: most of the country didn't even know it happened until the next day, including parts of the capital where the coup took place.
The only thing that got reported however was the worst. Judging by the MSM reports you'd have thought the entire country was up in flames.
On a side note, downtown Asucncion was a huge party the next day - makes you think that maybe those people really didn't like living under a dictator who threw dissidents out of airplanes...could it be the same in Iraq but we just don't hear about it???
Although there may not be parties in the streets of Iraq because of the continued fighting there, I truly believe that the vast majority of the people in Iraq are happy to be on the road to a free society.
I'm proud to be helping them get there.
pmm
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