Have folks noticed that this 'delay' and closed-mouthedness is getting worse lately? We get a little notice on say a Sunday that 5 marines died today, a couple yesterday, and a couple on Friday...we don't hear from what or where precisely?
This excerpt from the W.Post, for example :
"Attacks against the coalition have definitely increased as . . . the enemy is trying to come in and reestablish themselves" in a dozen religiously divided districts in east and west Baghdad, said Lt. Col. Jonathan Withington, a spokesman for the U.S. military command in the city. "There's a lot of weapons in Baghdad," contributing to an increase in enemy attacks using small arms, he said.
Withington said he was not authorized to release the number of U.S. military personnel wounded in Baghdad or the number of attacks in the city, although the military has released such data in the past. "
The newsfolks have to go to independent analyst groups trying to track the casualties and situations?
WHY?
2006-10-08 14:40:43 · 10 answers · asked by Michelle H 2 in Politics & Government ➔ Other - Politics & Government
People, if you're commenting that it's "to tell family members first", please note the quote from the Post...they are refusing to admit the numbers of wounded and types of attacks...information they *have* given out in the past in this war as well as previous ones. Why not now? What are they hiding? This isn't strategic for planning..as Bob Woodward points out, the enemy knows how many bombs they threw, how many small arms firefights they engaged in already...
2006-10-08 15:00:20 · update #1
They are constantly keeping the truth hidden.
The statistics of dead count only those who died in battle. Those who die a few hours later in a hospital are not counted.
They want to keep the numbers as low as possible, which is why no photographs of the dead arriving back in America are allowed.
I would guess the real number is over 5000 by now. That also doesn't count the thousands who have been affected by the radiation, and die of lung cancer or one of the other 90 diseases caused by depleted uranium.
2006-10-09 03:22:28 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Its sad to see so many misinformed people here, the number of dead and wounded is delayed and reconfigured to round it down because the administration learned its lessons from the unfettered access of the press during vietnam. This sparked the anti-vietnam movement which threatened and ultimately help undermine the war, the war machine and the profits. Thats why the media is being put on a leash. Thats why you dont see what was shown and the true numbers are not being allowed to be told. We are told that the death toll of american soldiers is currently around 2,500 to 2,600. Thats total busllhit, the death toll of american dead is TEN TIMES that. Where they are legally able to draw a line is if you died right there on the spot you were counted in one count, if you died later at a battlefield med center, you were counted in a different group. If you actually made it all the way back to the states and then died of your injuries - guess what? you are not even counted. Over 26,000 US Soldiers have been killed as a direct result of combat operations in Iraq. The UN "suggests" that over 150,000 Iraqis have been killed as a direct result of combat operations in Iraq. Why? Its common knowledge that Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11. Why the killing, why are we still there? Why arent more americans vociferously mounting an open protest to this? Those are our children over there.
2006-10-08 15:19:29 · answer #2 · answered by metalsoft@sbcglobal.net 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
They notify the next of kin or the family, in person, prior to releasing the information to the media.
Wouldn't you hate to be watching the News and find out your Brother was killed. I'd much rather be told by someone from the military in person.
Also, telling where or when our boys were killed can give strategic information to the enemy. Like exactly where we have troops. CNN is blasted all over the world so the bad guys can see what happens too.
The delay is designed to protect our men in the field.
2006-10-08 14:48:01 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Casualty is generally categorised by skill of deaths brought about by skill of enemy hearth. specially situations, squaddies die of organic motives, or perhaps suicide and not blanketed interior the casualty. In some wars, casualties are additionally saved secret, for many motives. reliable occasion is Somalia, the place we in easy terms heard of the dying of 18 squaddies, back and back and extremely think of that for the duration of easy terms 18 squaddies have been killed there. inspite of the incontrovertible fact that, the statistic casualty is larger than that. From 1992-ninety 4, an entire of one hundred thirty five united statessoldiers died in Somalia, yet in easy terms 18 of them have been made universal simply by fact of a known conflict in that conflict or operation. comparable factor is going for all wars.
2016-12-13 04:34:50 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because we are at war and war situations must be censored. Can you imagine WWII if they had the media of today? If they did, Europe would be speaking German and the Europeans would have stiff right arms. The headlines for D-Day would have been "hundreds of thousands of American troops killed" or "are soldiers lives worth European freedom". The press would have pushed FDR to cut and run after D-Day to prevent German terrorist from attacking U.S. soldiers and they would have shown us the rubble left after the bombings and fighting.
2006-10-08 14:47:17 · answer #5 · answered by caballero5792 4 · 1⤊ 1⤋
The military likes to inform the family members of the soldiers so they can hear it from them and not the media.
2006-10-08 14:43:40 · answer #6 · answered by prevacidman 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Geez, why not just announce all of our plans, casualties, new weapons, tactics, ect?? Oh yes, and we need to do it right away so that we are not hiding anything!
Do you really think we did this in World War 2??
2006-10-08 14:46:00 · answer #7 · answered by missourim43 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
so they can tell the families first...how would you like to find out that a family member died in Iraq through the radio or TV??
2006-10-08 14:48:31 · answer #8 · answered by Beth 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
because there is a logical theory in the underground news that everything is planned
and their trying to hid as much as the truth as possible
and a money making scam by the US government
u dont have to believe but whatever
2006-10-08 14:45:00 · answer #9 · answered by Apocalyptic 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
bad news is bad profits for Chaney, Rumsfeld and Bush, the oil and defense industry
2006-10-08 14:45:10 · answer #10 · answered by razor 5 · 2⤊ 1⤋