G'Day Whackers

One of my favourite Ozblogs, Whacking day was most complimentary in a link to this site.
I owe Tex a beverage-of-choice: not so much for the link, but for the many months of enjoyment and intellectual stimulation I've had from his site.

And Apropos of nothing whatsoever, here's a (slightly edited) post I made to a mailing list recently, on the subject of Spin and the Media:

Here's an illustrative scenario, as I see it:

Reality: 3 Iraqi teenagers in Falujah out to prove their manhood open fire
a few bursts with their AK-47s at a passing HMMV, missing completely. The
US soldiers, lacking a clear target, withold fire. One unlucky 7-year-old
a few streets away gets burnt by a spent bullet, is patched up by a US first
aid post and sent home.

As reported by....

CENTCOM: At 0150 an incident occurred at Falujah. Shots were fired, and one
Iraqi civilian was lightly wounded and evacuated to a US army hospital. There
are no other casualties reported at this time.

FOX: American forces beat off yet another attack by Saddam Loyalists today,
and although Pentagon sources refused to be drawn on enemy casualties, they
are reported to be heavy, with none of our boys wounded. Enemy bullets just
bounced off our Hummer Tanks, and American Marksmanship and laser-guided
rounds soon cut down the attackers, who broke and fled.

BBC: Are American Forces panicking? That's the question all Iraqis are asking
today, as reports of yet another massacre by out-of-control US soldiers reached
Baghdad. Several children, some as young as 18 months, are reported killed by the US
forces indiscriminate use of massive firepower, including Tanks and Helicopter
Gunships. Eyewitnesses say that the Americans may have mistaken a car backfiring
for an attack, and started spraying automatic weapons fire indiscriminately.

CNN: The Iraqi quagmire continues, with continued attacks on US forces,
escalating in violence. In the latest, as always, the victims of US retaliation
were mainly civilians, often as young as seven. Today's special report is on these,
the most innocent victims of the "War Against Terror" - the Children.

NPR : Yet another blow to the Bush administration today, as US forces came
under sustained attack for several hours. Reports of heavy civilian casualties
keep coming in, and the question is, what is our Exit Strategy now?