US retracting more statements

You all must have read yesterday the claims that Irqi's had slit the throats of two dead US soldiers, and than thrown rocks over their heads. Well the US army today released a statement retracting those claims.

They said, it was misinformation.

First they let the world condemn the 'savage Iraqis' and then the next day admit they were lying. Similar to when Blair claimed those soldiers had been 'executed', only to retract it afterwards.

Shameful.

Full story can be found on the NYC Times website, o alternatively it is listed as one of the news items for 25/11/03 here

Thanks

~Messiah~

Yep...next we'll be hearing that the children freed from prison were actually in a day care center....

There's truth amongst the fiction... Unfortunately, they were all too rushed to go to press before verifying much of it....

This is typical of the crap that come out of the UK and USA's mouths

Gazrock, I like your wedding website...that is sooooooo cool...

LoLLLLLL

~Messiah~

The point really is, why do the administrations of the US and UK allow for such rubbish to come out in the first place.

When you catch a liar, its BAD BAD publicity. And at the end of the day, this war is more about votes than most other things.

When statements are retracted, it doesn't reflect well on anyone. On 21st November I ran a story about Israel lying abuot the weapons it used in a Gaza raid.

Israel may be an exception to the rule, regards lying....but surely it doesn;t make sense for the US or the UK to lie for 'overnight sympathy'.

Surely this is either bad politics, or the US and UK are genuinely mistaken. Are we being too harsh ?

~Messiah~

Originally posted by Kalistenics
This is typical of the crap that come out of the UK and USA's mouths

What stupid nonsense. If it were to be propaganda, would there be clarification?
Typical of the crap that comes out of the mouths of anti-American/anti-British types.

The trouble is, news happens fast. It is reported even faster.
Funny thing is, I can remember not one of the many anti-American reports that I've read and then found to be bogus to have been retracted. Why would they? That would go against hiostory revisionism.

wwviews, there are two things that must be taken into account in trying to understand such scenes. The first is the witnesses that gives preliminary details. Such scenes are not under clinical conditions, more like madhouse conditions.
The other thing is the need for rushing the news out. I remember back when (don't dare call me old or I'll beat you with my cane!) you never had live feeds and up to the moment news. What we have today makes it more likely that bad news will be put out. There is no correction time allowed anymore.

Be glad there are corrections. That's as good as we can ask for nowadays!

I lelve with your argument Thomas, however even you must concede, the Iraqi 'mutilation' story was covered by EVERY news network in the US and UK, as well as most other 'sympathetic' networks.

However, the retraction article is evidently impossible to find on the news.

That is what gets under peoples skin.

The govt makes a hoo haa about the 'savages' and 'evil' of the opponent. But when it comes to showing good, or kindness, or even confessing to its own flaws, it is alot less vocal.

I am not stupid, I know that at the end of the day, it is both humbling and humiliating to withdraw statements and no-one would make a song and dance about it, but my understanding is the initial stories of the Iraqis attacking the dead bodies, were from statements released by the military.

There are not that many CNN or FOX or BBC reporters on the ground in Iraq, who would have witnessed the act. They got their info from the military, just as they have today gotten the retraction from them.

I reckon, the govt may not be as foul as some people make it out to be, its the media that moulds us all..that includes me and you...

~messiah~

You are correct, I have seen the stories, both the first and the clarified second, and the second is not as glitzy as the first.
But we are talking the media, and the reasoniong goes without saying. It has nothing to do with "sympathetic" as it does with typical jouranlism. Dog bites man, no news. Man bites dog, print it!

You know, I wonder how it was printed in the Islamic world. If it was printed that glorious freedom fighters slit the throats of Anmerican pigs, did they downgrade their heroism later?

The story of our soldiers being mutilated is more likely true than not. First of all, if you think about it.. the two soldiers from the 101st Abn. Division were traveling BY THEMSELVES in a white Toyota pick up. What does that tell you first? That they were most likely from 5th Group Special Forces. Of course they're not going to report anything about them. Second, our policy is to NOT report that kind of incident in the media. VERY BAD PR! Remember how Rumsfeld flipped out when our dead and POW's were shown during the invasion? It harkens back to the Somalia debacle. It equates to losing control. Sends the wrong message b/c Americans tend to lose it when they hear about such incidents. You can bet the Army is LYING about this. I saw footage of those soldiers, and frankly I could not tell WHAT I was looking at - other than it was a soldier lying twisted on the ground. Those bodies were stoned, stabbed, stripped and shot. We cannot report this because of the humiliating nature of it. Who ya gonna believe? This lying administration/DoD that LIED us into war in the first place?

Originally posted by Thomas Crowne
I remember back when (don't dare call me old or I'll beat you with my cane!) you never had live feeds and up to the moment news.

Yes you did, they were called "News Reels from the Front" & they showed them right before the Flash Gordon cartoon!

Seriously, of course the bodies were mutilated. It is part & parcel of warfare....particularly ones with such heightened animosity as the Iraqi's now have towards us - because of Israeli tactics like bulldozing homes & fields for 'snitch' non compliance. And don't forget that civilian non-combatant death toll into the 30% strata.
And the heightened animosity of our troops - living in sniper alley, not trained for the function they're peforming ( a police one), reservists in the thick of things, tours exteneded out a year, and the overall bullshyte reason for being there in the first place.