The mainstream media officially swapped sides this month in Iraq.
It’s always been a little iffy on who the media was rooting for with the Haditha and Abu Ghraib “scandals” compared to the Al-Qaeda atrocities, but this month’s reporting put those questions to rest.
Not only did the media embed with the terrorists in Iraq this month but they also grossly misreported on the death tolls in Iraq.
Here are a few of the headlines today:
The AFP reported:
BAGHDAD (AFP)–The number of Iraqis killed in March rose to 1,082, up 50% on the February figure amid a spike in bombings and clashes between Shiite militiamen and security forces, officials said Tuesday.
Combined figures obtained by AFP from the interior, defense and health ministries showed that the total number of Iraqis killed in March was 1,082, including 925 civilians, compared with 721 dead in February.
Reuters reported that “Iraqi casualties at highest level since mid 2007.”
A total of 923 civilians died violently in March, up 31 percent from February and the deadliest month since August 2007, according to figures released by Iraq’s interior, defense and health ministries.
Hundreds died and many hundreds more were wounded in last week’s fighting, sparked by Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki’s crackdown on fighters loyal to Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.
Finally, the BBC reported “Iraqi death toll climbs sharply”
A total of 1,082 Iraqis, including 925 “non-combatant” civilians, were killed, up from 721 in February…
Although most victims appear to have been civilians, the rise in death rates among Iraqi troops and police was comparatively higher.
But, when you get down to paragraph 8 you find this out:
“The government says 641 suspected insurgents were killed.”
Did you get that?
641 of those deaths were terrorists according to the Iraqi government.
If you check out the MNF-Iraq website you get similar numbers for March.
Maybe this explains why things seem calmer in Iraq?
Rather than reporting that there were 641 terrorists or insurgents killed in March the mainstream media twists the story to make it sound like the Allies and Iraqi forces are losing.
The media has officially swapped sides in Iraq.
Sadly, this is no April Fool’s Day joke.
UPDATE: Here’s more information from a message I just received from MNF-Iraq. The US and Allied Forces not only do the best reporting on what is happening in Iraq but they don’t have any terrorist stringers on their payroll:
According to these slides, which are based on Iraqi and Coalition
reporting it appears that nearly 750 civilians were killed this past
month, NOT including insurgents. That is only through the 28th, though.I do not have confirmed enemy killed statistics for March, yet, but
initial reports indicate that it is more than 375. That adds up to
approximately 1,125 for both enemy and civilians killed, which is close
to the number you quote below.But the 1,082 isn’t based on our data.
UPDATE 2: Here is more information on the death toll from SGT Nicole Dykstra, Press Desk NCO- Communications Division:
The numbers do include bodies found in mass graves, however, it depends on when they think the bodies were killed.
For example, if they found bodies believed to be 6 months old, they will
adjust the casualty count for 6 months ago.
UPDATE 3: Babalu has a great photo on media bias.
UPDATE 3: Monkey Tennis Center also has problems with the latest reports from Iraq.
