'LACI IN BAGHDAD [Throwing cold water on our Iraqi "Quagmire" -My title]

New York Post ^ | 7/1/03 | Ralph Peters

[My2Cents]

That's why I didn't care for the original title. :-)

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

We are finally getting early morning sunshine down here on the beach.

Its probably 125 in Death valley!

[My2Cents]

and widen the info coming in on the perps

Do you have the same sense I do that with all of the folks the Coalition has apprehended, and with all those who are volunteering information, that eventually the US will come out with a huge report on the weapons of mass destruction that will silence the fools who are currently trying to gain a partisan edge by exploiting the impression that things are going badly?

[Lee'sGhost]

"They found Laci Peterson in Iraq?"

Yeah, what's up with that?

[ricpic]

I have read on other threads that after victory was declared against Germany and Japan there was a considerable period of time, and the loss of a considerable number of American soldiers lives at the hands of die hards, in both those countries.

If this is the case, why isn't it being publicized to, at the very least, educate the general public as to the inevitable messiness and loss of life that follows any victory? As usual, the field is being ceded to the left's propaganda machine.

[RGSpincich]

Original title is "Laci in Baghdad." I liked my title better.

That's because you didn't post the first part of the story. --------------------------

July 1, 2003 -- WE Americans have the finest media in the world, representing the broadest spectrum of opinions. Our media is feisty, but also self-critical and self-correcting (though The New York Times may win the Pulitzer Prize for fiction this year). Overall, the American people are very well served.

But the fierce competition that makes our media so effective can also be its worst enemy. The fight for the hottest headline can lead to peculiar forms of group-think and pack journalism at its worst.

The Laci Peterson story is a good example. One murder, among many, catches on - and suddenly it's a more important story than terrorism, famine, coups or genocide. Pack journalism leads to a loss of perspective that badly distorts our national priorities.

Well, journalistically speaking, poor Laci Peterson's in Baghdad now. A relatively small number of foreseeable attacks - predicted by this column months ago - have been blown wildly out of proportion.

[TomGuy]

They found Laci Peterson in Iraq?

No fear....Gretta's on it. She'll devote her whole program this week to this earthshattering news.

[RGSpincich]

See post #26.

[My2Cents]

As you point out, there has been some reporting of the US' experience in post-war Germany and Japan. Word and historical perspective is out there. Unfortunately, the usual suspects (mainstream media) don't seem to be able or don't seem to want to provide a historical perspective on post-war Iraq. I suspect the Bush Administration hasn't been hammering the point because a large majority of Americans support the President and our presence in Iraq (i.e., the naysayers aren't winning).

[TomGuy]

By the time any news reports from Iraq go through the media-spin-machine, it comes out twisted and convoluted. Such reports are all that most citizens read/hear, thanks to the alphabet-soup-taking-heads/prompter-readers.

More reports/articles like this one by Ralph Peters need to be published and reported on the news--but don't hold your breath. The alphabet-soup-taking-head/prompter-reader channels would never allow the unadulterated truth to be known.

[My2Cents]

I don't want to quibble with Ralph Peter's writing style, but the reference to Laci in the opening paragraphs of his column distracted from the meat of what he had to say.

[js1138]

Vietnam in 1965 would have been just fine if we had taken the war to Hanoi. Even the mining of the harbor would have been enough. Pity it wasn't used to win the war instead of covering our retreat.

[Grampa Dave]

It is up to us to send these reality news stories to our families, friends and relatives via email. Then we need to ask them to send this story on to their email lists.

It is amazing how these reality breaks get out there via emails.

[RGSpincich]

Yeah, he should have played it without the LP angle... but he didn't. Might have been nice to mention that you edited the original article.

[My2Cents]

Note the bottom of the posted text. It's noted that this is an "excerpt," with a link to the full article. Nice little feature on FR.

[Dark Wing]

ping

[1rudeboy]

Why is it a nice little feature? I think it's annoying.

[WTSand]

I thought it was right on topic. Reporters are standing knee deep in both places waiting for the worst.
"Bad news gets half way around the world before good news gets it's pants on" -Winston Churchill-

[My2Cents]

Great quote by Churchill, btw.

[My2Cents]

Hey! I posted the darned article! I'm really tired of the "24-Hour Laci Channel" on cable news. A tragic story, but it's grown really tedious. I decided to cut the Laci reference out of Peters' article -- editorial license -- but provided the "excerpted" notice, and FR provided a link to the entire article for those who wanted to read it in context.

When you post your own article, you can give it to us verbatim.