An Interesting Omission
Posted by Spc. Phil Van Treuren
Camp Katrina
Dozens of innocent Iraqis were killed and maimed on Thursday in a monstrous terrorist car bomb attack at a hospital, as reported in this clip from a story by the Associated Press:
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A homicide bomber blew up his car outside a hospital south of Baghdad on Thursday while U.S. troops handed out candy and food to children, killing 30 people and wounding about 40, including four Americans.
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The emphasis is my own. It's a passable article, Katrina Campers, and a nice detour from a news organization that isn't always entirely fair to the interests of the United States military. The AP makes it clear that these terrorists bombed a civilian target where U.S. troops were doing the exact opposite of killing people and breaking things: they were, in fact, handing out candy to little kids.
But wait a second. Take a look at the New York Times article on the same story, and you'll see no mention of the reason why our troops were at the hospital.
Here's that article's opening paragraph:
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A suicide car bomb exploded Thursday near an American convoy at the entrance to the main hospital in the volatile town of Mahmudiya, killing at least 30 Iraqis and wounding dozens of others in a burst of fire and shrapnel.
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Once again, the emphasis is my own. An accurate account from the New York Times? Yes. But it also, quite deliberately, leaves the reader in the dark about the reason why our soldiers were there.
Adding five simple words, "handing out candy to children," would have painted a much different picture.
(Update: Major K. sends Camp Katrina this excellent bit if info: The reason that those troopers were handing out candy to kids there is that several of their officers were inside the hospital doing an assessment to have the place refurbished. - Yet another example of our kindness and how the arhabi repay it.)
(Update: Rantingprofs notices another interesting bit about the NYT article in this post.)
rantingprofs.typepad.com
(Update: Countercolumn also finds a not-so-subtle dig at U.S. forces in the NYT article here.)
iraqnow.blogspot.com
(Update: The Heretik disagrees and offers a different, albeit entertainingly-written, opinion here.)
theheretik.typepad.com
campkatrina.typepad.com
foxnews.com
nytimes.com
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