Do we need the daily "blow by blow" of the Iraqi conflict?

Question

It's very depressing. Suppose Yahoo did the same daily headline with abortion, would we tolerate it? It may read something like this:

"1,122 Babies Killed Today" or this

"Abortions Hit All Time High, Over 1 Million Killed Last Year"

or this,

"Stem Cells Needed, Pregnant Women Paid $$$ To Abort, Call 1-800-WENNEEYOURBABY"

What do you think? No threats please.

Answer 1

As a member of the armed forces currently serving I don't think America needs to know what is going on 100% of the time. The media is biased so you never see the good things that are being done. Everyday it is the same story, nothing changes, so why continue to report on it. I think a general survey of the American public would prove that most Americans don't care about the war anymore. They do however care about the troops and their families. This war is costing billions of dollars to our taxpayers and this isn't even mentioning the invaluable cost of lives lost. I know restricting media is a freedom of speech issue and constitutional rights, but when is enough, enough? Reporting everything that happens just angers people.

Answer 2

I think it would be a mistake not to report the situation. Perhaps the American Public will eventually sit up and say we don't want this war and do something to stop it. Where as if you have your news sugar sweet 'Little House on the Prairie' style with just the odd grazed knee you will never know the cost in human life that toppling Saddam has brought about.

Was it about freedom?

Most of the world thinks the US got involved because of oil.

Personally I don't know and all I felt was dead scared when the talk of war and intervention started. Does that make me a coward or a pacifist?

For my part, as I keep saying, I don't understand the issues but of one thing I am certain, the politicians aren't telling us everything. ( I appreciate that to protect the military and not jeopardise intelligance gathering lots of things have to remain secret.)

No I don't think the casualties should be swept under the carpet. Those poor soldiers will have been frightened out of their wits for much of their time over there and then end up getting killed because American foreign policy dictates their presence. Now they are there they can't pull out because its a mess and getting worse.

I get your point but all the same the War should be fully reported so nobody can say they supported it because they did not know what was happening.

Answer 3

Good, complete news coverage is depressing, but is failure to inform a better alternative? For those too young to remember, the deaths in Vietnam were reported on the news each night. In both WWI and WWII, the newspapers ran daily casualty reports. I care that soldiers from my state died this morning. Your example about abortion is a point well taken, but not possible. Medical information is private by federal law, but I would not object to such news. Americans need to know these facts. I also would not object to stories that are positive instead of negative. Somewhere along the way, the media seems to have determined that stories of heroics are seldom newsworthy. None of the media is "fair and balanced." They need to forget about cramming all the world into 30 sec sound bites in a 1/2 hour (22 minutes minus commercials?) daily report.

Answer 4

FYI, we, if by "we" you mean the American public, are not getting a blow by blow of the conflict in Iraq. We're getting heavily filtered, PC highlights. I agree that abortion is America's holocaust, but I think you got a little hyperbolic there with the stem cell ad. Were a million babies really aborted in the last year?

Answer 5

If you don't care about the people being killed in Iraq, but are more concerned about abortion, you should avoid the mainstream media and get all your news from the 700 Club.

Answer 6

Well we are are getting a powder puff fluff version of the war. The men and women who are over there fighting in that hell hole are getting the blow by blow accounts every day.
You're analogy is narrow-minded and skewed, but there is a soldier facing death who is defending your right to say it.