Posted on 11/10/2001 2:26:45 AM PST by kattracks
Edited on 05/26/2004 5:02:12 PM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
An Air Force roars over Taliban positions near Raeasht, Afghanistan, and unleashes cluster bombs (top), which turn the battlefield into a flaming hell (above).
November 10, 2001 -- WASHINGTON - Afghan opposition forces declared they broke through Taliban defenses in Mazar-e-Sharif yesterday and are close to seizing control of the strategic northern city in a major early victory for President Bush's anti-terrorism war.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
For the presstitutes, who probably gulped their own swill of the invincible, unconquerable and indomitable 'Taliban', the scene of Northern Alliance rag-tags suavely breaching supposedly impermeable enemy lines at Mazar-i-Sharif yesterday was a harrowing reality check.
To the Taliban groupies at Reuters -- this ignominous enemy mouthpiece which hustles with wanton abandon every Taliban cock and bull they stumble upon -- this simply could not be happening, their glazed eyes, welling with tears, watching as Northern Alliance fighters waltz triumphantly into the city with nary any resistance.
Psst! Psst!
Where was the fabled, mythical Taliban?
Where were these 'brave', 'fierce', 'heroic', 'gutsy', 'valiant', 'towering' 'lionhearts' the media and 'experts' had been peddling for weeks?
Where were the 'fearless', 'battlehardened' 'warriors' of the Taliban -- whom, we were told, would remain 'defiant', would never surrender territory to those 'hated' 'infidels'?
For the press, the morbid events unfurling at Mazar-i-Sharif must have felt like watching a crummy movie with a lousy plot: The bad guys are winning! The bad guys are winning!
To the media crackpots, we -- America and our allies -- are the "bad guys", of course; the Taliban, the "good guys", in accordance with an old Arab proverb: To wit, the 'enemy of my enemy is my friend'.
The torrent of absurd/inflated/exaggerated claims by the media regarding the Taliban could fill ten Congressional libraries -- wall-to-wall.
Most 'experts' never gave the Northern Alliance a snowball's chance of advancing absent massive numbers of American ground troops to lead the way.
Their 'predictions' have passed from the sublime to the preposterous.
Apparently, the empty suits at Reuters et al, in their haste to cast the enemy as unbeatable Goliaths, blithely ignored the most salient lesson from Desert Storm: Never short-sell the men and women of our military.
Doubtless, the rebels' victorious advance on Mazar-i-Sharif -- this vital northern city which opens up pivotal munitions and logistical re-supply lines -- would not have been thinkable absent the searing bombardment from the air.
As with the Gulf war, air supremency was key in dismantling the enemy's defenses, even his will to fight.
But the newsies, all wrapped up in their bleeding-heart liberal, guilt-ridden, third-world gobbledygook, wouldn't know the first thing about military doctrine or the art of modern warfare if their lives depended on it.
The Four Estate seems interminably frozen in the mindset of Vietnam. It might well be wishful thinking -- ergo, a partisan yearning to see their nemesis, President George W. Bush, colossally defeated on an issue which traditionally has played to Republican strength, or it might just be abysmal ignorance.
Or maybe both.
Either way, filling the airwaves with unbridled distortions and half-truths does the public a hideous disservice.
Item: Bob Schiffer, CBSNEWS' chief Washington correspondent and host of Face The Nation, speculated openly on the Larry King show following the President's address, that the war, by his lights, "was not going well"; that the U.S. badly miscalculated how long it would take to defeat the Taliban.
All was pure speculation. No authoritative names or sources were cited.
Yet, this worthless clap-trap is trotted out as gospel each night on the news before millions of viewers.
Thankfully, however, all of the polls suggest the public, wisely, isn't buying it.
Memo to the 'armchair' "generals" and second-guessers: With the crushing defeat of the Taliban at Mazar-i-Sharif, your credibility is now in a death spiral.
God bless our President, God bless our troops, and God bless the United States of America!
My two cents..
"JohnHuang2"
Watching the media cover this is remberassig. They are so out of their league, it's like watching a news-reader trying to explain economics. Of course, you'd have to understand it first ...
Ah, yes, the nefarious Mr. Kristol--the most visible bad prognosticator on the tube.
I wonder, too, about the media being so hell-bent on getting boots on the ground. Is it because the want the war finished sooner, or is it because they want the US to suffer casualties?
That was quite an amazing grouping of letters. I can't for the life of me figger out how you managed it!! ;)
P.S.-- love those NY Post headlines!
Saw part of a press conference w/ SecDef Rumsfeld a few nights ago. It was hard to believe how ignorant some of the questions were, and how hard some folks seemed to be trying to find some failing, anything to criticize in the US war effort. I vaguely remember some press critter harping about the Northern Alliance's human rights record, and asking how we could be allied with them. Rumsfeld calmly responded that we share a common interest with them in defeating the Taliban.
Wish I could have asked her if she honestly thought we shouldn't have teamed with Stalin to defeat Hitler. Would the world truly be a better place if she'd had it her way?
I was most pleased w/ Mr. Rumsfeld, by the way. Always feels good to watch him handle the press. Unlike most people in public life, he feels no compulsion to suck up to them.
For example: Bob Sheiffer's remberassig analysis following the President's speech was par for the course.
Indeed!
As I was reading the Post story, I thought about how pleasing it was to read a news account of the war written by people who don't despise this country and its defense interests. I appreciate kattracks posting it; it was what I needed this morning, and JH2's commentary is icing on the cake.
This war if it has any parallel is the Gulf War not Vietnam. Not in the terrian or the opposition but chain of command. The CIC has issued orders and they are being executed by those who have spent their lives getting ready to carry them out. Vietnam was was a totally different story. The CIC didn't want the SEA War Games interfering with his great socialist agenda. But he and that Kennedy holdover in the Pentagon couldn't resist tinkering. Also, they were afraid of the dragon and the bear. Unfortunately Johnson and McNamara didn't realize that China and Russia were just a couple of bullies that needed to be faced down.
If anyone is guilty of trying to fight the last war, it's the presstitutes.
God bless and keep our troops and President safe.
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