Negative Spin on the War

Rotty261

Active member
I have been seeing a lot of real negative press on the war in Iraq lately, and it also seems that some of the American public are not supporting the troops over there anymore. That is hell for morale on the guys trying to fight a war over there. I was just curious if anyone knows what could be done to get everyone back behind our troops again.

I just hate to see something like Vietnam start happening again. I just pray for the guys over there that Bush gets re-elected so they have the full support of the Commander in Chief.
 
Me too! We first need to get rid of the soldiers like Linda England, and put them into the electric chair! To show the world that we do not tolerate this kind of things in the one of the most proffessional Armies in the World! Than D. H. Rumsfeld should think alittle bit more of what's good and what's not, we must help those people over there! That's our primary mission over there! We must show them all that we are the true liberators of the country(O.K. terrrorists should be tortured for extracting infos, but what Linda and her little husband did to all the prisoners not just terrorists, and on what ways it's totaly unacceptable!) to show the world that, and we'll be back on our tracks.
 
War is Hell.. Who ever said that statement was correct.

The reason that there is such a negative spin on the War in Iraq, is because War is negative.. Your whole job as a solider is to kill people, 100% without a doubt.. And if you are not on the front lines, your job is to aid and assist people 100% to help them better kill people.

War is not pretty.....


But......... That does not give the media the right to always see the bad side of War.. There are good things in War, like the things that we have fixed and made better since we invaded.. Another thing is this: the United States is the only country in the world, who could wipe the face of the map with any enemy without even batting an eye. But we don't, and the media calls us the bad guy.. If they really would like to see how bad we can be, why don't we show them? I mean how many countries would pride themselves on rebuilding instead of taking over.

I'm just saying this: War is Hell, but some good can come of it.. they just don't want to show it.

That's my view... Take it or leave it...

Semper Fi
 
I currently have a brother in Iraq, as well as several friends, so I would love to see the war end. But, as a friend of mine once said, I would rather that the war be fought over THERE than over HERE.

You will pretty much ALWAYS see negative press...it's a maxim within journalism that "If it bleeds, it leads." One of our country's core beliefs is the concept of "Freedom of Speech" -- if the media wants to exercise that freedom to place a negative spin on the war, then it is their right to do so. Just as Uncle Sam has the freedom to express his views.

Of course, with more years in the active duty military than Sam has been alive, I find myself in disagreement with him. Please tone it down a bit, Sam...I understand what you are saying, but posts like that can be taken the wrong way.
 
I agree.
Why is that in your opinion that media are like that? i mean thats all the same here, but i know the reasons for its like this here. but why are media biased in that sense in the US too?
 
Why should we care what the media says? An ignorant man follows the publics decision, while a wise man follows his own.
 
Its like a car wreck everyone has to slow down and look while if a car is stalled everyone drives on by. Most of the time it is always bad news that will get everyones attention and hits hearts the hardest.
 
Rotty, during the years of Vietnam, the President was always in support of the troops. It was the duped public that never really got it. Of course that's not an indictment of every American just the vociferous and gullible who were taken in by the communists' propaganda machine. Once they convinced the families back home that going out and protesting in the streets would bring their boys back home sooner, well it was a piece of cake after that. it sounded good to the moms, dads, and brothers and sisters back home. What the protesters were incapable of seeing was how many more American lives were lost because the communists took strength from their protesting. They felt they could outlast the Americans' will to fight, so they continued on even when they were beaten in every major battle. Richard Nixon eventually caved into the communists inspired protests and from then on it was a lost cause for us.
I too would hate to see the same crap happening. I would hate to see American fighting forces betrayed once again.
 
Here's what I don't get: Even if I wouldn't support a war a t all, and thought that it was nothing more then mass-murder, (which I don't) I wouldn't blame the soldiers for it, they're still just doing their jobs.
And hey, the last time I checked the US was a democracy, so anybody who's against the war right now, should vote accordingly, and don't whine if it doesn't go the way they want it. Majority rules…
 
FWIW, the U.S. is not a direct democracy it is in fact a republic (small 'r'). The difference being that in a direct democracy the people vote directly on proposed laws, and government (to the extent that it exists) serves only to put their laws into action. By contrast, a republic is a representative democracy, where laws are passed not by the people, but their elected representatives.
All quibbling about definitions aside though, 1217 is right people should express their feelings in the voting booth. Everyone's got a right to believe as they wish here. They even have a right to protest. However, I believe that when such protests will endanger our fighting forces common sense should prevail and other means of expression should be used.
To me it's much the same as exercising freedom of speech. We have this freedom but it does not, however, give anyone the right to yell "fire" in a crowded theater.
 
Rotty261 said:
I have been seeing a lot of real negative press on the war in Iraq lately, and it also seems that some of the American public are not supporting the troops over there anymore. That is hell for morale on the guys trying to fight a war over there. I was just curious if anyone knows what could be done to get everyone back behind our troops again.

I just hate to see something like Vietnam start happening again. I just pray for the guys over there that Bush gets re-elected so they have the full support of the Commander in Chief.

And another thing I want to add. Remember the National song Stars 'n' Stripes:

"Its folds protect no tyrant crew;
The red and white and starry blue
Is freedom's shield and hope."

This tells everything. ;)
 
In my opinion, the negative spin in the media is a direct result of the highly liberal opinions held by those teaching in institutions of higher education across the country. As more and more young malleable minds make their way through journalism classes at American universities, the media leans farther and farther to the left. My biggest proof of this is a class I am currently enrolled in.

They are attempting to teach me (a conservative journalism major) how to cover issues in ways that do not offend anyone. We are being told that "Asian-American" is wrong, but "African-American" is somehow more continentally acceptable; that being "masculine" is degrading to women; that we must seek out someone of every race on every issue just so they are included; that even though a white guy might be the definitive authority on a minority topic, we should find a minority to talk about it so we're not perpetuating the "big responsible smart white man taking care of the poor helpless minority" "stereotype"; that even though there are more white people in the U.S., use of the term "minority" is offensive to non-whites; the term "Hispanic" is wrong; the term "Latino" is wrong; that when we MUST refer to someone's race, it is proper to use their exact nationality (i.e. Chinese-American, Mexican-American, Chilean-American). They might as well call this class “Politically Correct and Beyond.”

My point here is that the “please-everyone | offend no one” liberals have taken hold of the educational system in this country and it’s having a negative effect on the news media. In their attempt to be this great almighty Politically Correct news machine, they lose their American values. Instead of backing the soldiers and the cause we’re fighting for, they sit with the terrorists in Iraq, and watch as they shoot down American airplanes, just so they can tell the other side of the story. And don’t ask them to betray their journalistic ethics and reveal the identities and location of these terrorists so that they might be apprehended – that would amount the end of the free world. So somewhere in all of this, we cease to be Americans, and we become a country that baptizes its youth in crude oil and interfere in international affairs on a whim.

Having served in the desert, I was outraged to see the kinds of things being reported to the American public regarding our actions overseas. Only the negative spin on things, never anything positive.

Just my conservative college student 2-cents.

[end rant]
 
Iraq, you're right about the extreme effort exerted to be politically correct being the bane of journalist and the media in general. I believe that the very PC that the liberal media wears as a badge of honor has been the biggest contributor to their loss of credibility among those of us in mainstream America.
It is difficult for impartiality to survive in an academic environment. PC and liberalism act as a set of blinders resulting in nothing but self-perpetuating left wing elitists. It is no longer possible to hear fair and unbiased news stories on television. Believe it or not, there was once a time when you could hear just the facts from a TV anchor man and actually make up your own mind as to how those facts applied to you. Now a “news person” would relay that same story with the accompanying drivel about how the current administration is to blame.
You said you were in Desert Storm. Perhaps you'll appreciate this little anecdote. I was in Hollywood a couple of months ago and as I was walking along the street when I noticed a man who appeared to be hitchhiking. As I got closer, I noticed he wasn't hitchhiking, he was holding a sign that said "Homeless Gulf War Veteran - Bush Put Me Here". Even though I was with my wife, I stopped the man. I said can I ask you a couple of questions? He said sure. I said "Is that sign true? He nodded yes. I then asked him, knowing full well what the answers were "Did you get drafted?". He sort of smiled. I said "No you didn't and neither did I. We all volunteered, didn't we?" I told him that I was in that war too and I said "Look at me and look at yourself". "My car is parked in that garage over there, I'm wearing a new suit and I'm here in Hollywood on business. Guess what pal? Bush put me here too."
It was just another case of blaming a politician, the military, or just plain anyone else other than himself for anything that's not handed to him for nothing. I think it was symptomatic of the type of attitude fostered by the left wing finger pointing media. I'm sure that if there was a news crew around, that I would have been portrayed as the conservative businessman harassing the poor homeless veteran and we all know how politically incorrect that is. It must be, that what the media says.
I just love a good rant in the morning.
 
Sorry about that, same stage, different show :) It takes true objectivity and indepence of thought to see beyond the cookie cutter set of values that schools will force upon you if you let them. Keep up the good work of using your own mind to formulate your own views and I'll be looking forward to reading what you have to say in the future. Good luck with your career in journalism.
 
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