AP Censors Iraq Military And Civilian Death Data
The number of Iraqi police and army personnel killed in August was down an incredible two thirds from July. The August total was 87, July’s was 224.
The AP saw those figures today but made the editorial decision to censor them from their wire story, for fear they would help General Petraeus and the Bush administration make the case to remain in Iraq.
So instead, the AP ran this:
By ROBERT H. REID, Associated Press Writer
“BAGHDAD (AP) - Civilian deaths rose in August to their second-highest monthly level this year, according to figures compiled Saturday by The Associated Press. That raises questions about whether U.S. strategy is working days before Congress receives landmark reports that will decide the course of the war.
U.S. military officials have insisted that the security plan launched early this year have brought a decrease in attacks on civilians and sectarian killings, especially in the Baghdad area, which was the focus of the new strategy.
The top American commander, Gen. David Petraeus, is expected to cite security improvements when he and Ambassador Ryan Crocker submit reports on progress toward stability and national reconciliation to Congress during the week of Sept. 10.
However, figures compiled by the AP from police reports nationwide show that at least 1,809 civilians were killed across the country last month compared with 1,760 in July.”
Tell me that report didn’t read like a propaganda statement.
Not only did the AP censor the stunning drop in ISF deaths, but they chose to censor the key element of the civilian death count. Depending on which body count of the Yazidi massacre they chose to incorporate into their civilian death total, there were between 250 and 500 civilians killed in an anomolous, “freak incident and success” bombing of the Yazidi sect, which comprised the highest body count of any single suicide bombing in Iraq. Now we can argue the point all day long, but this bombing succeeded against a physically remote and odd sect of Iraqis who didn’t enjoy any meaningful security forces, because they had been left out of Iraq’s sectarian gang warfare. So that bombing is hardly reflective of life in any Iraq city. That body count is not reflective of life in Al Anbar, Baghdad, Kurdistan, Basra, etc. And if you remove this freak incident from the list, then the civilian death toll for August was actually between 1, 309 and 1,559 - or a drop of about 15 to 30 percent of July’s total. In short, since the Yazidi bombing took place in the hinterlands and was not reflective of life for the average Iraqi, the death count for the average Iraqi in Iraq’s population centers, and most certainly ” in the Baghdad area” that the AP tries to imply hasn’t seen a decrease, was significantly down for August.
To refuse to even mention, let alone analyze, the impact of the Yazidi bombing on the August casualty report is an egregious act of politically motivated censorship.
And even if you kept the total of 1,809 for August, that means there was basically no increase between July and August. The increase of 49 deaths represents an increase of just over 2%. So where were the “No Increase In Civilian Deaths” or “Civilian Death Rate Remains Flat” Or “Civilian Deaths Have Leveled Off In Iraq” headlines? Censored, that’s where they were.
The AP, which knows its stories are picked up by everyone, is doing all it can to impact the September report war debate in favor of its anti-war, anti-Bush administration agenda. Associated Propaganda, more likely. They used to blame the military for playing games with body counts. Now it’s the mainstream media who are guilty.
They were at least forced to report this:
“At least 81 American service members also died in Iraq during August—an increase of two over the previous month but well below the year’s monthly high of 126 in May.”
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Joseph Goebbels would be proud and Pravda is green with envy at they way the unnamed, faceless writers at the AP can carefully craft a piece of propaganda.
Keep up the good work AP, you continue to reveal yourself for who you really are, a stinking vile anti-American piece of garbage. But don’t be mistaken, your stranglehold on the flow of information has been broken and will never return.
VIVA La INTERNET!!!!!
September 1st, 2007 at 3:03 pmmore proof of global warming,,, and they don’t tell at whose hands all the civilian deaths can be attributed.. the U.S. military combat deaths is also way down.. and not a word.. my son is amazed at the progress the iraqi people are doing and making in ramadi and again not a word.. but kieth doberman said that the busheys are trying to water down the report fm the GAO… and that report tells much of nothing anyway..
September 1st, 2007 at 3:10 pmThank you Pat! I’ve given up on the MSM for news out of Iraq. I come here first.
September 1st, 2007 at 3:12 pmPat, the AP works for our enemy, the lopsided storytelling that they have chosen comes as no surprise anymore, the only way to truly expose all of the media’s spin would be to develope a well structured analytical timeline of events that clearly exposes their abuse >>>perhaps another documentary
September 1st, 2007 at 3:12 pmcall ‘em out Pat!
We need to educate the masses for their own good.
They will suck cocks in hell for their betrayal of the truth.
September 1st, 2007 at 3:27 pm[…] AP Censors Iraq Military And Civilian Death Data […]
September 1st, 2007 at 3:29 pma couple of months back the MSM reported that U.S. deaths were double of the IA.. the IA were 40 and the U.S. were 84.. then at the bottom of the article it stated as an after thought, and noone reads the last paragraph anyway, that iraqi security forces had suffered 220 deaths.. that makes the iraqi total 3X our loses.. just more spin and SIN
September 1st, 2007 at 3:40 pmThe filthy bastards are just pathological sociopaths.
September 1st, 2007 at 3:45 pmWhen does Aiding and abetting come into play anymore.. If that hit piece wasn’t treason on paper what is?
September 1st, 2007 at 4:11 pmPropagandists or not, I got news for the main scream media, you ain’t got a monopoly on the news anymore and this ain’t 1968. Despite LMSM lies and propaganda the truth still gets out. Spin that motherfucking AP.
September 1st, 2007 at 5:04 pmGreetings:
There is an excellent website about propaganda and Goebbels. I will try to find it for everyone. There are some articles on the famous ‘retouched photos’ from earlier in the Iraq conflict. The reporter for the LA Times was fired over failing to mention he used Photoshop to combine two photos of a British soldier.
The site has provided me excellent opportunities to teach children about propaganda and Goebbels.
Tim Roesch
September 1st, 2007 at 6:02 pmCommand private major
Tent pegs for sale
Tim Roesch
We read Woods not Zinn. Thanks but no thanks.
September 1st, 2007 at 7:27 pmIt seems for some to be an average journalist shows you need very little skill, education or integrity…Its got to be one of the biggest self loathing bullshit professions bar none. Right next to paparazzi.
September 1st, 2007 at 10:41 pmCivilian deaths rose in August to their second-highest monthly level… this raises the question WHY DON’T WE HAVE MORE TROOPS THERE? HOW CAN WE BE THINKING ABOUT LEAVING?
September 2nd, 2007 at 2:47 amdeaths rose due to one attack that killed 400 or so.. the number of attacks is down and the casualties fm the attacks i believe is down..stats can be read in many different ways just depending on the spin u want to put on it.. facts should come fm the troops and not some self serving critic sitting in a booth at the mall sipping on ice tea..
September 2nd, 2007 at 5:42 amGreat, great catch Pat.
Drill. I’m going to go ahead and post this on NB open thread. I checked some other posts on NB and couldn’t find a link to this. Apologies in advance if you have already posted the link mam.
September 2nd, 2007 at 10:17 am[…] AP Censors Iraq Military And Civilian Death Data — Pat Dollard […]
September 2nd, 2007 at 1:20 pmGreetings:
It appears the website has changed. I will hunt it down. They also showed the propaganda the US dropped on Arabs and Persians during both Gulf Wars. Interesting to compare it to other forms.
Propaganda is like a handgun. There are good and bad uses for it. If you can understand the propaganda you can understand the intent of the person or persons presenting it.
Though burning AP to the ground might be fun…I think it would be better to figure out why they are doing this so that when one attacks back they can do it in a way that is effective. One who uses propaganda in a dishonest manner often gives his enemies ammunition for his own destruction.
Oh and Dan; Woods? Zinn? Inform me, oh great one. If I want to know anything about propaganda I read Dickens or Goebbels.
Tim Roesch
September 2nd, 2007 at 6:29 pmCommand Private Major
Tent pegs for sale or loan
The rpoblem with the AP, Reuters and all of the other socialist rags out there is they thrive on misery, they think the only way they can sell papers or add space is to sensationalize misery. All they care about is shock value, not truth. If they have to misrepresent anything to make it look as if the military or any good thing about America is wrong, they will. That is why they keep running the occasional peice about Darfur, and other areas that we are not in, they want to try to pressure the military into going where we have no national security concerns, so when anything bad in that area happens, they can blame the US for not preventing it.
If they and the liberal, socialist traitorous democrats bastards can get the US out of Iraq before total success, and the country turns into one major cluster f…, they figure they would have years of reporters going over to report on the tragedy there, and then they could spin that it was the fault of the US for not finishing the job.
They refuse to understand that the internet, and people like Pat, Michael Yon, Anne coulter, Michelle malkin, Rush Limbaugh, Blackfive and so many others are being successfulare because they are reporting the truth, and positive news, real news, not the drivel the MSM puts out. The MSM is the liberal Pap bag for bleeding heart white guilt losers. When people get away from that garbage, and feed on the healthy news, their outlook improves, and they see the world and this country for the wonderful potential there is.
I just hope the MSM keeps up the way they are going, because they will eventually run out of funding from scum like George Soros. It doesn’t matter how much money they have, they are losing it, and if they want to keep anything of their power base, read cash, they will cut the drain sooner or later, and retire to their corner to sulk, and allow the real news reporters to flourish even more.
September 4th, 2007 at 7:04 am