Posted on 08/11/2005 12:19:44 PM PDT by West Coast Conservative
Ted Rall has offered a "retraction" of his Aug. 4 cartoon that cited a 9,000 figure -- rather than the commonly used 1,800-plus -- for the number of American soldiers who have died in the Iraq war.
On Tuesday, Rall wrote in his blog: "I read a story that came off as possible, sourced it using previously reliable informants, and ended up doing a cartoon that I wouldn't have done had I known then what I know now. So this is a retraction of [the] cartoon. Did 9,000-plus soldiers get killed in Iraq? Maybe, maybe not. But as a cartoonist friend of mine points out: The relatives of those hidden 7,000 dead troops sure would be raising hell if the Pentagon were trying to hide them. ... The battery in my BS detector must have been running low last week."
The cartoon with the 9,000 figure (E&P Online, Aug. 8) showed a soldier -- as he helps carry a badly wounded man to a helicopter -- saying: "You don't count as war dead unless you die IN Iraq. If you die in Germany, or even on the plane leaving Baghdad, you're not counted." In the cartoon's final panel, the soldier urges the wounded man to try to stay alive at least until the helicopter takes off.
One of the sources used by Rall had been TBRnews.org.
Rall -- whose work is distributed by Universal Press Syndicate -- also wrote in his blog entry: "I draw more than 200 cartoons a year, but this has never happened to me before: commenting on a story that turns out to be, if not bogus, at least inadequately sourced. Of course, an editorial cartoonist is always commenting on other people's reporting, so he or she is always vulnerable to the possibility of being taken in... . Consider, for example, all the cartoonists who did cartoons about Saddam postulating what he'd do with his nuclear weapons!"
Rall's got a lot of batteries running low as it were...
Ted Rall, Michael Moore, Dean, Pelosi, the gifts that keep on giving. They can hire all the Lakoffs they want, but their true colors just keep shining through.
Lack of support for the Iraq War, perhaps. Support for these clowns, no way.
Sounds like a classic cranial rectal inversion to me.
Well, hope springs eternal, eh Rall? Snort.
Rall is filth. 100% pure, excrement!
Since Rall is filled with nothing but BS, his battery has never been charged - a POS of humanity
So what is he retracting?
A: The made up 9,000 figure dead.
B: His assertion in the "cartoon" that a soldier is not counted as dead, unless he dies "IN" Iraq.
Nice how the E&P runs the moronic commentary of the "cartoon," with nary a word to indicate that the commentator is wrong. Drudge reported on his show a few weeks ago the Iraqi death count included soldiers not in theater.
Rall is an uncartoonist in my book, and not worth my time.
DU pushed the 9,000 number for a while as well.
Sounds like he bought into Molly Ivan's articles. She has since also retracted her count of 9000.
Ted,
Please send a note to Cindy Sheheen that you're glad her son is dead and got what he deserved. That's what you have said about other Americans killed in Iraq. You have cheered for those who are doing the killing.
PS: that 9,000 number is way wrong. There have been many more than 9,000 mass graves found in Iraq containing Saddam's victims.
Sorry the 9,000 figure didn't work out for you Ted. One can hope though right? We know you are disappointed that there aren't greater numbers to help your 'cause'.
Ted is just another POS....sigh..
Quotes from Rall's source:
"The educated rumor is that the actual death toll is in excess of 7,000."
"The DoD lists currently being very quietly circulated indicate almost 9,000 dead, over 16,000 seriously wounded (This figure is now over 24,000 Ed)"
"educated rumor"? What the hell's an educated rumor other than whacko blather and spittle? Quietly circulated DoD lists. Where are these lists being kept and if its so quiet how come scum like you "know" about it? (Play them song from Twilight Zone here)
He's lying. He has hasn't replaced the batteries because the din was keeping him away from his drawing table.
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