This begs the question that has been burning in me for quite some time: Just how concerned are Americans for the lives and injuries of our troops in Iraq?
I heard a story yesterday in passing that the New York Times had a subhead of how ABC was using Woodruff and Co. as a ratings strategy, the reporter who was victim to road bomb (IED).
It angered me really that they would be so cold and actually subhead such a callous story when a man's life was in a critical state. The least they could've done was wait and make sure that this man, his camera man and their families were ok before they struck out with their competetive claws. The financial ruin of ABC is really besides the point I think in this situation.
Later in the evening Pat mentioned a headline to me:
Some US troops question Woodruff coverage
Ding!!!! A gong went off in my head. Very interesting that our troops are feeling a bit stung by the revelation that a single reporter would get so much attention when they lose men and women almost daily. But not surprising, I've been awaiting the day that the media would catch wind of it and actually take it and write about it. I told Pat even before he opened the link, "Yeah, the troops are pissed and they should be. Afterall, to the media, they are just numbers." And as he opened and read, he laughed and said that I was correct in my assessment.
"At least 2,242 troops have died in Iraq since the war's start, 1,753 of them killed in action. Another 16,000 have been injured, half of them seriously enough to require evacuation from the battlefield. According to the Pentagon, 60 percent of the deaths are the result of IEDs. IEDs have injured more than 9,200 troops, nine times more than gunshots.
"The point that is currently being made (is that) that press folks are more important than mere military folks," a senior military officer told UPI Tuesday."
Our soldiers, Iraqi soldiers, Iraqi reporters, civilians, why don't they warrant the same attention???? Some may say that there are just to darn many of them but are they not worth the coverage? More so than a reporter? Or maybe just as much as a reporter? On our local news it is usually a 3 minute story when a soldier from our state dies and life goes on. Oh and the reporter gets puppy eyes and creates a 'sadness' to their tone of voice but once it's on to the next story, the face changes and the tone is back to that upbeat, annoying drone about the kitty stuck in a tree.
One must wonder what our troops are thinking about the sad state of their own country. The bitter battle that goes on daily in the media. How people call our troops terrorists or murderers and in the same damn sentence say that they support our troops. Yes, this has been something that I have read with my own eyes. Apparently 'supporting our troops' has a whole new meaning to those who choose to spew such outrageous and hateful venom from their mouths. Here is just a little taste of what one of the soldiers/officers feels:
"It's just a bit frustrating to see something so dramatized that happens every day to some 20-year-old American -- or worse to 10, 30-year-old Iraqi soldiers or cops alongside us. Some of the stories don't even mention the Iraqi casualties in this attack, as if they're meaningless," wrote the officer in Baqubah.
Now doesn't that sum up how much our troops feel that they are being supported? What does something like this do for their morale? Maybe they feel as though their lives just don't matter as much, that no one cares about them because they aren't famous, just military slugs who walk into the arms of danger because they are programmed? Or perhaps because they are being led on leashes by George Bush into a war that was started under false pretenses? As George Bush stated in his SOTU address last night, the military leadership on the ground will dictate when the troops come home, not politicians in Washington.
Bring down the morale of our troops and more will die. More will care less about their mission and feel that's it's pointless and look ahead to returning home only to see all the negativity that ensues behind their backs. Steep downward spiral really. How nice.
I really do hope that Woodruff and his camera man will survive this terrible tragedy and will be able to tell about their experience with the troops and the Iraqis. No one man's life is more important or precious than anothers'. I can understand ABC's concerns and don't begrudge them their covering this story. But it is really a stab in the heart to our troops who fight for you, me, Woodruff, and for a people that are not even of American descent.
Get with the program America! Get off the High Horse of blame, hate, and name calling and get down to the business of becoming one again!
Ha, I even make myself laugh!
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