RealName:

To be fair though

AP refuses to call anyone a terrorist. Everyone's a militant or an activist. Shit I want to go to my homeowners association meeting with a grenade but that doesn't make me activist.

I had no idea it was so hard to be fair without being a liar!

Who knew?

Just googled "terrorist" and "Associated Press" (in Google News, no less) and got "about 7,100" hits. Naturally, one expects a portion of false positives. So, on to the quality control phase. First up was a press release, so I skipped that, and went to the first actual news story:

http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070623/NATIONWORLD/706230486/-1/LOCAL17

June 23, 2007
17 al-Qaida troops die in U.S. purge

By Lauren Frayer
Associated Press

BAQOUBA, Iraq -- Hundreds of U.S. and Iraqi troops, under cover of F-16s, fought their way into three neighborhoods of besieged Baqouba on Friday to help clear Diyala province of entrenched insurgents. To the north of the city, American helicopters killed 17 al-Qaida gunmen trying to sneak past a checkpoint.

As the mission of 10,000 U.S. soldiers to take back the volatile and dangerous province intensified in its fourth day, so have concerns about keeping al-Qaida fighters on the run. The terrorist fighters and their allies already have been run out of Fallujah and Ramadi in Anbar province, only to regroup in Diyala's capital of Baqouba and nearby districts.

So, whaddaya know? First time out, and AP does not refuse to call anyone a terrorist!

I'm Shocked! Shocked! to find RealName spreading lies about AP.

It's the same old song: why let the facts get in the way? I'm sure he'll play it again, Sam before you can say "Rumplestiltskin."

So now you don't believe our brave troops fighting the good fight in harm's way are fighting Al Quaeda theat's just typical loonie liberal "thinking" for you OF COURSE there al Qauaeda over there!!! I guess you don't believe Al Qaeda had anything to do WITH 911 EITHER!!! ZWell let me "clue you in" there's 2 big smoking holes in New York that wouyld dis agree with you ABOUT THAT!!!

Every body knows that Al Qaeda want's to kill us all and there big dress rehersel is in iraq at this point in time and ythere just gettin ready for tyhe BIG INVASION of the U.S. A aand if you think that's kidding then I have a brige in Brooklyn I'd like to sell you ha ha ha.

So why don't you stop proactively working AGAINST YOUR OWN COUNTRY OR JUST GO BACK WHERE YOU CAME FROM COMMIE!!!

This is a clash of the civilization and if you don't get that then you have NO RIGHT TO BE LIVING IBN A FREE OUNTRY!!! So shut up or ship out and dstop your whining! The teroorosts want us DEAD!!! Grow a brian and get a LIFE!!!

1) AlQaida is Sunni. Thus, if we were to ally with the Sunni faction (after invading and basically destroying their political organization) we would be allying with those who we allegedly invaded to overthrow.

We are not at war with the all the adherents of the Sunni religion. I think that is an important distinction.

It would also mean that we're taking sides in a civil war and that's a good way to really bollock things up (as if we haven't already done that).

Perhaps "ally" is too strong a term. We have to bond in some way with the Iraqis to make any progress, both Sunni and Shia. Without the help of the locals there is no chance of isolating the militants.

(2) The other problem is that our press isn't supposed to be a propaganda arm of the government. If the government were to announce that sugar no longer causes cavities, would you expect the press to pass that along with no question regarding its legitimacy?

Actually I would. The press will publish anything as long as it's sensational. Like the daily death toll, man made global warming, the Duke rape case, and CIA leaks. If you want precision, then they should use the word "militant" or something else to be more accurate about the distinction between civilians and combatants.

Nowhere can it compare to Fox News' continued use of "homicide bombers" when referring to "suicide bombers."

This was based on the short-term usage by a White House spokes-flack -- as if we might confuse suicide bombers with happy bombers. The White House may not be using the term any more, but Fox will apparently continue to do so until Karl Rove literally sends a memo telling them to stop.

I will blur 'al Quaeda' into 'al Qud'* and THEN...

We get Iran by the short hairs,

pulling it quickly out of the hat!

That!'s gotta hurt but...hell, presto ~

regime-changeo! and stuff.

Whaddya think?

[*".. a branch of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard known as Al Qud, .."

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=2875413&page=1]

Ghillie:

It didn't just start

The Duh-bya administration started this campaign a few months back - it takes a little time for these language shifts to take place, i.e. "faith-based" programs. They decided early on to set the terms of the debate on anything by couching it in the terms they want used.

General Petraeus was interviewed on All Things Considered two or three months ago and I noticed then that he talked only of "Al Quaeda" as the people we're plowing down, blowing up, maiming and torturing in Iraq. I knew then that the strategy was set to instill this concept in the American public. It's SOP.

So when are the rest of us going to rename the "surge" - which is a preposterous misnomer for our escalation of the war?

At first, when a few folks wanted to call it what it was--an escalation--they were told they were wrong, because the surge was just temporary. Only, now we're told we won't even have a first glimmer of whether it's working till September, and that these things generally take a decade or so to know for sure.

A 10-year "surge." Not like the escalations in Vietnam at all.