The painful conflicts of World War II, Korea and Vietnam certainly have been brought to the forefront in the minds of the American people by daring journalists and photo-journalists risking their lives to bring us the truth about war.
Watching the graphic pictures from Vietnam brought the war home, upfront and personal. Americans became inexorably drawn nightly into the wars anguish and realism through the realm of photographs and television reflecting the true madness of the war in real time.
In those days, there were few restrictions on the journalist and media. They honored the full measure sacrifices of our sons and daughters by not showing their ashen dead faces in death. However, that is where it stopped. We were observers of the incredible tragedies of war. The astonishing reporting of the news, photos and film from the field imprinted on us the cold understanding war' starkness and futility. No one watching could miss the sordid details of inflicted suffering. Vietnam was a war seriously dividing our nation. The field photographs and cogent reporting did a great deal to inspire that division.
We are not the witnesses to the Iraq War:
In the Iraq war, we do not witness the tragedy of our dead in body bags, the walking wounded in country, the wounded in hospitals , or their aftercare in stateside rehabilitation hospitals. We are not asked to understand the details of what happens to the psyche after three or four tours in Iraq. It is only real to the families who have service members serving in Iraq that know personally the details of tragedy and fear.
Sanitizing the war cheats us of truth:
Because of the shallow media reporting, Americans do not have a deep, stinging emotional national involvement. Our people are cheated from knowing the squalid, filth of war. We do not witness the callous acts on both sides...except when Bush finds it to his advantage to pump up our righteous anger win inflammatory rhetoric. We do not see what war does to warriors and civilians on both sides of battle. Americans are cheated and indignant because we are in disgusting war most of the nation does not want.
Narrow myopic scope:
Americans cannot be allowed to see the big picture of war, but have to view a narrow myopic scope of it. Bush has ordered his field generals to keep their mouths shut, saying nothing negative to the press.. He has made sure the the press uses sanitized military information. The journalists are provided military guardians to the site of interest, and their reports are previewed and censored by their military guides to make sure no truths leak to their American audiences. Those are the military ground rules, and most of the media accedes to them, with the exception of independent journalist for other nations of the world and region.
Sanitizing the war by the media:
The press and journalists are the voice for the people, they are a portal of viewing the war by the public; they are our window of truth! The American public and the world has a right to know how horrible a war is on people and the land. They need to be told and graphically shown what is going on in battles and vicious firefights. They need to know what war is like, understand the fear and smells of the battlefield, its wounded and death's stench.
It is up to the journalist in country to bring home the wars shocking and outrageous insights. But, what happens when the journalists are prevented from allowing the citizens empathy to the hurt inside along with the pain of our troops? What happens when they are prevented for telling and showing the truth? Unfortunately, the public cannot relate to the war, become immune to its horrors, its day-to-day miseries. and the ambiance of waiting death.
There can only be a singular, succinct reason the media and journalists omit and sanitize vital information, events and squeamish images in their war coverage. Orders from the administration's highest level is not to incite the public outcry against the war. Such images conceivably could collapse the desperate control ridden Bush administration. This is censorship from the office of the president and secretary of defense, and has been occurring since the Gulf war.
The field generals break the silence code:
Only after they retire do the field commanders and generals feel safe and dare speak, provide their real assessments of the Iraq war, and it is only verbal. They are addressing Iraq mistakes, blunders and the administration's naive stupidly and insolence, the ever changing policies, and what we are doing to our sons and daughters with multiple tours of duty. They are no longer muzzled by the fear and threats of their careers,
Photos banned by Bush:
In another disservice to Americans, Bush has ordered a ban on photographing our fallen warriors caskets as they arrive at the US National Mortuary in Dover, and all military funerals at Arlington national cemetery. A few pictures have been surreptitiously taken by courageous photo-journalist and published in newspapers that consider the public has a right to see them. However, there was resentment by some media, and hard felt repercussions of government harassment.
Why give Bush a platform to lie and distort truth:
Bush can do and say anything he wants to control the creative and genuine flow of ideas to the free press. Why do they print his diatribe of lies and bullshit. Most Americans know he is not truthful, and do not trust his word. So why does the press print his lies and inflammatory rhetoric.
In doing so, Americans can see their weakness, and that they take party sides. they can see the press has lot its objectivity and have become bias. They have become unbelievable as reporters of news, they became sycophants to Bush's political and very personal war. It might be a change if the White House called a press conference and no media attended except Fox News.
Bush considers the American people gullible and like the proverbial mushrooms, keep us in the dark, give us a little water, sprinkle us with some shit and we will keep growing.
Democrats want to end the war, but do not have the numbers...yet:
To their credit, Democrats have brought up bill after bill for a vote in the Senate; to not fund the war, establishing benchmarks for Iraqi government performance, opposing the surge, and timetables to start withdrawing our troops. The Republicans have managed to thwart almost every vote on Democratic sponsored bills, and negate the vote because of the close party parity of Senate Republicans and Democrat members. The president vetoes Democrat sponsored bills he does not want. Until Democrats get the numbers to override his vetoes, their bills are in a wasteland of Republican ideology.
It will take a new Democratic president to end the Iraq war. Bush will never end the war, it is his quest and legacy, and John McCain has said he will not!
When will the free press stop being a tool of Republican administrations? When will it regain the title of "Free Press?" When will they live up to their inheritance of commitment for presenting the truth to the American people and stop sanitizing news?
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