| Topic: |
Religions > Atheism |
| User: |
"" |
| Date: |
06 Jun 2006 11:31:47 PM |
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What Haditha portends By Patrick J. Buchanan |
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=50528
By Patrick J. Buchanan
..
About Haditha, Americans today agree on but one thing.
If Marines did shoot and kill women and children, either in rage or reprisal
after the killing of one of their own, and if this alleged atrocity was
covered up, those responsible must be punished. That such things happen in
every war, even "the Good War," does not excuse them.
But if we are agreed upon that, Haditha, nevertheless - and again assuming
the charges are true - is going to wound this country deeply and divide us
bitterly. For two cultures are heading for a collision.
The first is the culture of the Marine Corps, hierarchical and familial.
Marines are an extended family. They believe in loyalty up and loyalty down.
Their tradition is not only to retrieve their wounded, but retrieve their
dead.
They are as proud of the retreat from Chosin Reservoir to the sea, when
surrounded by Chinese troops in 1950, as they are of the victories of
Guadalcanal and Iwo Jima. Legendarily, they take care of their own. In a
fight, they stand by their own. And a fight for the reputation of the Corps,
unlike any in its history, may be coming. And, if it is, Middle America will
be on the side of the Marines.
The culture of the dominant liberal media, however, is different. It has
been so since Watergate. To the big media, the whistleblower - the
individual who exposes for the press the sins or scandals of church or
state, politics or government - is the real moral hero to be cherished and
celebrated.
In 2006, one Pulitzer Prize went to The Washington Post for revealing that
NATO allies were secretly allowing the CIA to bring terror suspects into
their countries for interrogation. Another went to The New York Times for
exposing the super-secret program of the National Security Agency to monitor
U.S. overseas calls to and from individuals under suspicion of terrorist
connections.
To advance "the people's right to know" of official misconduct, the media
claim rights denied to other citizens: the right not to have to testify to
grand juries about sources, the right not to have their notes inspected even
by prosecutors with warrants. They are the high priests of the secular
society.
In the Nixon era, the media celebrated their own for their roles in scandals
that were considered media triumphs: the exposure of My Lai, publication of
the secret Pentagon Papers, the Watergate scandal that brought down the
president. Journalists reveled in exposing past excesses of the FBI and the
CIA. Both institutions were demoralized and damaged not simply by the
revelations, but by the extended and hostile publicity.
The media response to such charges is that they were simply the messengers
doing their duty in bringing the bad news to the people and the responsible
authorities so reforms could be made.
But if that were all the media were doing, their reputation would not be as
low as the Marine Corps' is high. Why are the major media distrusted, even
despised by so many Americans in whose name they profess to act?
The truth is the public does not believe the protestations of the press
about the nobility of its motives. To many in Red-State America, the media
do not just expose wrongdoing. They revel in it, rejoice in it, profit from
it, as it enables them to preen as morally superior to those hapless souls
whose sins or scandals they have uncovered. Invariably, the media seem not
to seek to minimize, but to maximize the damage done to the institutions and
the individuals whose failings or crimes they have revealed.
Listening to the breathless reports of Haditha, noting the glee and
excitement in the voices of some correspondents, anchors and talking heads,
one senses anticipation about what is to come.
But if the media are seen as exploiting Haditha - again, assuming the
allegations of a war crime prove true - to undermine the war effort or the
soldiers and Marines fighting, or damage President Bush or his secretary of
defense, there will be a savage backlash. Any goodwill won by embedding
reporters with troops on the drive to Baghdad will be wiped out, and the old
Vietnam wounds, never healed, will reopen.
For any trial of Marines that could go on for months would not only damage
the reputation of the Corps, but also serve as a propaganda bonanza for our
enemies.
Given the proliferating allegations of war crimes committed by U.S. soldiers
and Marines, and the accusations by the elected leaders of Iraq and
Afghanistan that our troops are callous in their treatment of civilians, the
patience of the American people with these war commitments is certain to
dissipate.
But if we walk away and the governments in either or both of these countries
collapse, there will be a long, dark night of recriminations here unlike any
we have seen in our lifetimes.
"Woe to the world because of scandals!" the Lord says in Matthew 18:7. "For
it must needs be that scandals come, but woe to the man through whom scandal
does come!"
Sound counsel to the media today.
--
----------
J Young
youngopinions@aol.com
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| User: "Ray Fischer" |
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| Title: Re: What Haditha portends By Patrick J. Buchanan |
07 Jun 2006 12:02:02 AM |
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<youngopinions@aol.com> wrote:
By Patrick J. Buchanan
About Haditha, Americans today agree on but one thing.
If Marines did shoot and kill women and children, either in rage or reprisal
after the killing of one of their own, and if this alleged atrocity was
covered up, those responsible must be punished. That such things happen in
every war, even "the Good War," does not excuse them.
But if we are agreed upon that, Haditha, nevertheless - and again assuming
the charges are true - is going to wound this country deeply and divide us
bitterly. For two cultures are heading for a collision.
The culture of war and fascism and dictatorship, led by the likes of
Bush and Robertson one one hand. The culture of peace and prosperity
representive by those who oppose Bush.
--
Ray Fischer
rfischer@sonic.net
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| User: "Parsifal" |
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| Title: Re: What Haditha portends By Patrick J. Buchanan |
07 Jun 2006 12:53:56 AM |
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a =E9crit :
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=3D50528
By Patrick J. Buchanan
..=2E.>
The culture of the dominant liberal media, however, is different. It has
been so since Watergate.
It's not because a lie is repeated thousands of times that it becomes
true.
The "liberal media" is not dominant in the USA.
.
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| User: "Attila2" |
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| Title: Re: What Haditha portends By Patrick J. Buchanan |
07 Jun 2006 06:53:55 AM |
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On Wed, 7 Jun 2006 00:31:47 -0400, <youngopinions@aol.com> in
alt.abortion with message-id
<K-SdnVVGkuk9yxvZnZ2dnUVZ_sCdnZ2d@giganews.com> wrote:
Off topic spam.
What does this have to do with abortion or the Freedom of Choice?
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| User: "Matt Silberstein" |
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| Title: Re: What Haditha portends By Patrick J. Buchanan |
07 Jun 2006 09:24:49 AM |
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On Wed, 7 Jun 2006 00:31:47 -0400, in alt.atheism ,
<youngopinions@aol.com> in
<K-SdnVVGkuk9yxvZnZ2dnUVZ_sCdnZ2d@giganews.com> wrote:
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=50528
By Patrick J. Buchanan
[snip]
The culture of the dominant liberal media, however, is different. It has
been so since Watergate. To the big media, the whistleblower - the
individual who exposes for the press the sins or scandals of church or
state, politics or government - is the real moral hero to be cherished and
celebrated.
This is what I was taught, over and over, in stories and movies. Jimmy
Stewart standing up to the Powers-That-Be, struggling to get the truth
out. This did not somehow start in 1973 and it is not a liberal story,
it was part of the American sense of self. Since Watergate people like
Pat have worked to *change* things. They have worked to make the
president an untouchable king (as long as the president does not have
sex, of course).
In 2006, one Pulitzer Prize went to The Washington Post for revealing that
NATO allies were secretly allowing the CIA to bring terror suspects into
their countries for interrogation. Another went to The New York Times for
exposing the super-secret program of the National Security Agency to monitor
U.S. overseas calls to and from individuals under suspicion of terrorist
connections.
To advance "the people's right to know" of official misconduct, the media
claim rights denied to other citizens: the right not to have to testify to
grand juries about sources, the right not to have their notes inspected even
by prosecutors with warrants. They are the high priests of the secular
society.
In the Nixon era, the media celebrated their own for their roles in scandals
that were considered media triumphs: the exposure of My Lai, publication of
the secret Pentagon Papers, the Watergate scandal that brought down the
president. Journalists reveled in exposing past excesses of the FBI and the
CIA. Both institutions were demoralized and damaged not simply by the
revelations, but by the extended and hostile publicity.
We are all better off if we don't know the bad things our government
does. Like protect Nazis*. Of course, Pat probably considers
protecting Nazis a good thing.
*
CIA Ties With Ex-Nazis Shown
"The CIA organized Cold War spy networks that included former Nazis
and failed to act on a 1958 report that fugitive Nazi war criminal
Adolf Eichmann was living in Argentina, newly released CIA records
show."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/06/AR2006060601555.html
The media response to such charges is that they were simply the messengers
doing their duty in bringing the bad news to the people and the responsible
authorities so reforms could be made.
But if that were all the media were doing, their reputation would not be as
low as the Marine Corps' is high. Why are the major media distrusted, even
despised by so many Americans in whose name they profess to act?
Because people blame the messenger.
The truth is the public does not believe the protestations of the press
about the nobility of its motives. To many in Red-State America, the media
do not just expose wrongdoing. They revel in it, rejoice in it, profit from
it, as it enables them to preen as morally superior to those hapless souls
whose sins or scandals they have uncovered. Invariably, the media seem not
to seek to minimize, but to maximize the damage done to the institutions and
the individuals whose failings or crimes they have revealed.
Listening to the breathless reports of Haditha, noting the glee and
excitement in the voices of some correspondents, anchors and talking heads,
one senses anticipation about what is to come.
I have not heard a bit of glee.
[snip]
--
Matt Silberstein
Do something today about the Darfur Genocide
http://www.beawitness.org
http://www.darfurgenocide.org
http://www.savedarfur.org
"Darfur: A Genocide We can Stop"
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