Ten Fingers, 6 Strings: Attack on the Hotel Palestine

October 25, 2005

Attack on the Hotel Palestine

Ian Wood made this comment yesterday about the attack on the Hotal Palestine in Bagdad yesterday:

Actually, they're attacking the hotel because that's where the journalists are. They know that half this war, or more, is being waged in the American media.
By attacking the journalists' "home base," they believe that they'll produce a new wave of "Things Are Going Badly" slant from journalists who feel personally endangered and who routinely let their personal attitudes and situations color their reporting. And they're probably right.

The reporters won't see that because 1) they believe they're unbiased and 2) they suffer from the arrogance of the overeducated, which won't allow them to believe that the terrorist enemy has a grasp of media warfare.

The media already thinks that Iraq is full of idiots that are incapable of governing themselves, as even the "morons" in the flyover states can pull off democracy. If they don't think they are sophisticated enough to do that, then how can these "savages" be sophisticated enough to understand something as complex and thought provoking as journalism?

Your points 1) and 2) answer my rhetorical questions.

If it wasn't so dangerous, I'd say it could be mildly entertaining to watch the media get used like a handywipe in a peepshow. Unfortunately they are being used by a bunch of murdering, terrorist bastards, so I don't exactly find it funny.

Posted by 10 fingers 6 strings at October 25, 2005 08:37 AM | TrackBack

Comments

I recently heard a comment from Oli North that one of the main problems with the American media's recent coverage of the War On Terror (in Iraq) is that the cost of keeping journalists embedded is very high. Consequetly, not one American news company has maintained embedded journalists throughout the war. I remember the early days of the war when the coverage was good, when every news channel had their own embedded journalists, when the coverage made you feel like you were a part of what was going on over there--when it made you feel connected. It's unfortunate that the recent attack on the Hotel Palestine happened when it did as Fox News (and others, I would presume) was planning to revive their efforts at embedded journalism by sending their people into the field as early as this week. Yes, the terrorists know what they are doing. The good news is that we are going to win this war, with or without an Iraqi democracy. I, for one, hope it is with an Iraqi democracy but the media must do their part. Watch for the new reports from embedded journalists in the following weeks!

Posted by: BergBruder at October 25, 2005 07:41 PM