Day Eight?
Fox is now reporting that US military personnel are conducting "mopping up" operations in Fallujah and that the city is 'Occupied but Not Subdued'.
Has Phase II, The Ground Assault, been completed? Has Phase III, Exploitation, Reconstruction, and Installation of Government begun?
The news in the morning will give us the necessary clues . . .
posted by Chester at 11/13/2004 11:36:00 PM
1 Comments:
I quote from CNN:
"Humanitarian efforts are poised to begin in Falluja as U.S. and Iraqi forces battle what some officials say are the last remnants of insurgency in the western Iraqi city."
Note the little phrase "what some officials say"! It is literally correct. I have no doubt that some officials say that. But what subliminal message does this wording convey? That "only" some officials -- and thus not all -- say that. That it could be highly questionable, because "some officials" say it, and we should always discount what "officials" say? And it leaves open the "gottcha" report when, after major operations are over, the inevitable few "insurgents" not yet caught stage some surprise attack. Because a few isolated incidents later causes some casualties (highly likely in this environment), the report will be that the "last" remnants were not the last, and the officials referring thereunto where wrong.
There are 2 ways to report this straightforwardly, without spin: (1) Just quote the official statements of the authorities on the ground: "The commanders of this operation state that ...". (2) Report your own observations, e.g., "Reporters from CNN have observed that ...". But (2) assumes that reporters from CNN can observe anything important, and interpret it accurately. I guess that leaves (1).
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