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Old 10-20-2006, 05:49 PM   #21
non sequitur
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Isn't every war ugly and brutal?
You're correct. Every war is brutal. And we should be reminded of that fact constantly. It shouldn't be sanitized. It shouldn't be abstracted. And it shouldn't be sloganized. It is unconsionable that politicians would minimize the devastation of this war for the sake of political expediency. It's also unconsionable that support for this war should be framed by some as a benchmark of one's patriotism. That's political pandering at its worst.
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Old 10-20-2006, 05:54 PM   #22
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You're correct. Every war is brutal. And we should be reminded of that fact constantly. It shouldn't be sanitized. It shouldn't be abstracted. And it shouldn't be sloganized. It is unconsionable that politicians would minimize the devastation of this war for the sake of political expediency. It's also unconsionable that support for this war should be framed by some as a benchmark of one's patriotism. That's political pandering at its worst.
And the way to be reminded of that is by showing an insurgent sniper's view and fatal hits on our soldiers?
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Old 10-20-2006, 06:20 PM   #23
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Originally Posted by non sequitur View Post
You're correct. Every war is brutal. And we should be reminded of that fact constantly. It shouldn't be sanitized. It shouldn't be abstracted. And it shouldn't be sloganized. It is unconsionable that politicians would minimize the devastation of this war for the sake of political expediency. It's also unconsionable that support for this war should be framed by some as a benchmark of one's patriotism. That's political pandering at its worst.
Are these statements also true of all wars? Can no war be a benchmark of patriotism? DO we have an obligation ot have a all Iraq, all Afghanistan news channels where we can see shots of all the beheadings and car bonmbs and body parts all dat long, so as to avoid sanitizing the results? Perhaps we could add a few Kens Burns type shows on some of the historical atrocisites to give it context. Would it be pandering to show deaths in afghnistan followed by shots of people jumping from the world trade towers?

Some of this is hyperbole, obviously, but the underlying questions are real and I don't pretend to know the naswers. It is a tough question. I do think you are going a bit far in saying that it is uncionscionable to try to minimize the impact of the war, as everybody is biased to some extent when they present any idea about which they have a prior belief, but I suppose that is a quibble and may just be your own hyperbolic endeavor. .
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Old 10-20-2006, 07:55 PM   #24
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And the way to be reminded of that is by showing an insurgent sniper's view and fatal hits on our soldiers?
Exactly. It's not news, it's enemy propoganda. Why is any U.S.-based news network showing it?
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Old 10-20-2006, 09:06 PM   #25
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I do think you are going a bit far in saying that it is uncionscionable to try to minimize the impact of the war, as everybody is biased to some extent when they present any idea about which they have a prior belief, but I suppose that is a quibble and may just be your own hyperbolic endeavor. .
It is unconscionable to minimize the impact of war when you are doing so out of political expediency. During the Vietnam war Americans were deliberately misled about the number of casualties. We were misled because politicians didn't want to lose the support of their constituencies. To me, that is unconscionable. And when George Bush attempts to convince us that the war in Iraq is progressing on track, that too is unconscionable.
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Old 10-20-2006, 09:26 PM   #26
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It is unconscionable to minimize the impact of war when you are doing so out of political expediency. During the Vietnam war Americans were deliberately misled about the number of casualties. We were misled because politicians didn't want to lose the support of their constituencies. To me, that is unconscionable. And when George Bush attempts to convince us that the war in Iraq is progressing on track, that too is unconscionable.
It's also unconscionable to show this footage on the news.
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Old 10-20-2006, 09:30 PM   #27
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Let me clarify my position by first stating that I think showing video of soldiers being killed by enemy snipers is in bad taste. It is sensationalistic and unnecessary. While I accept that showing the video may be in poor form, if it serves to outrage people and diminish grass roots support for the war then I have little problem with it. People should be outraged, and if CNN showing these videos helps accomplish that, then I am more than willing to forgive them for their bad taste.
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Old 10-20-2006, 11:05 PM   #28
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It is unconscionable to minimize the impact of war when you are doing so out of political expediency.
And what is political expediency? Why is it not political expediency to try to maximize the impact of the war in order to throw out the republicans? WHat is the "true" impact of the war? You say showing sniper kills of US troops is unconscionable unless it's to try to get us out of Iraq. So your view of unconscionability turns on whether it is something with which you agree? That is too relative for me. I think all war coverage is politcal, no matter what, and so it should be governed by taste and strategic ocnerns, balanced against freedom to know. IOW, as long as we have competing outlets for news and courts trying to lkeep the press free, we'll be oK. IOW, pretty much whay we have now.
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Old 10-20-2006, 11:14 PM   #29
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And what is political expediency? Why is it not political expediency to try to maximize the impact of the war in order to throw out the republicans? WHat is the "true" impact of the war? You say showing sniper kills of US troops is unconscionable unless it's to try to get us out of Iraq. So your view of unconscionability turns on whether it is something with which you agree? That is too relative for me. I think all war coverage is politcal, no matter what, and so it should be governed by taste and strategic ocnerns, balanced against freedom to know. IOW, as long as we have competing outlets for news and courts trying to lkeep the press free, we'll be oK. IOW, pretty much whay we have now.
Nice post.
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Old 10-21-2006, 12:16 AM   #30
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I've heard many on cb complain about the mainstream media "focusing" on American deaths and injuries in Iraq. They believe that this news will lessen support for the effort.

So I suppose the media should not report it, or gloss it over?

It would be hard to sustain a war effort if every person in America saw footage of our GI's getting killed. Maybe that is good, maybe that is bad. But at least it would take away the notion that wars are nothing more than a video game of people pushing buttons.

And there should be a serious conversation about whether we should be trading GI's lives for Iraqi lives (to prevent civil war and bring democracy). I personally don't think we have the power to do so, therefore I believe that we should get out.

We should have a nearby base, and we should maintain a large force. And we say "just try starting a terrorist regime, see what we do." Invade, destroy, and then get out again. Maybe then eventually people will believe they are not better off under terrorist rule.
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