Without Bush, media lose interest in war caskets

[SamSpade]

Without Bush, media lose interest in war caskets | Washington Examiner

When the casket bearing Air Force Tech. Sgt. Phillip Myers, of Hopewell, Va., arrived at Dover the night of April 5 -- the first arrival in which press coverage was allowed -- there were representatives of 35 media outlets on hand to cover the story. Two days later, when the body of Army Spc. Israel Candelaria Mejias, of San Lorenzo, Puerto Rico, arrived, 17 media outlets were there. (All the figures here were provided by the Mortuary Affairs Operations Center.) On subsequent days in April, there were nearly a dozen press organizations on hand to cover arrivals.
Fast forward to today. On Sept. 2, when the casket bearing the body of Marine Lance Cpl. David Hall, of Elyria, Ohio, arrived at Dover, there was just one news outlet -- the Associated Press -- there to record it. The situation was pretty much the same when caskets arrived on Sept. 5, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 16, 22, 23 and 26. There has been no television coverage at all in September.

[ImnoMensa]

Originally Posted by SamSpade

Without Bush, media lose interest in war caskets | Washington Examiner

When the casket bearing Air Force Tech. Sgt. Phillip Myers, of Hopewell, Va., arrived at Dover the night of April 5 -- the first arrival in which press coverage was allowed -- there were representatives of 35 media outlets on hand to cover the story. Two days later, when the body of Army Spc. Israel Candelaria Mejias, of San Lorenzo, Puerto Rico, arrived, 17 media outlets were there. (All the figures here were provided by the Mortuary Affairs Operations Center.) On subsequent days in April, there were nearly a dozen press organizations on hand to cover arrivals.
Fast forward to today. On Sept. 2, when the casket bearing the body of Marine Lance Cpl. David Hall, of Elyria, Ohio, arrived at Dover, there was just one news outlet -- the Associated Press -- there to record it. The situation was pretty much the same when caskets arrived on Sept. 5, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 16, 22, 23 and 26. There has been no television coverage at all in September.

Yes major emphasis was placed on the body count for Mr Bush's war, but the Obama war is much diffeent. No one seems to care.

[SamSpade]

Originally Posted by ImnoMensa

Yes major emphasis was placed on the body count for Mr Bush's war, but the Obama war is much diffeent. No one seems to care.

I'm not sure if it's because:

1) The war is going so much worse since Obama took office - because beyond a shadow of a doubt, it's become worse or -
2) The press doesn't want to shed light on how bad it is right now, but was perfectly willing to do so when it made Bush look bad or -
3) SOMEONE doesn't want Afghanistan to look bad when for nearly 8 years we were told that THAT was the only war worth pursuing, and it's going bad.

I support that war, although I doubt they have a clear mission any longer.

If we hadn't gone, we'd have sent a clear message "bomb the living hell out of us, we'll just wring our hands, beat our breasts and cry about how bad we are".

[Rommey]

Originally Posted by SamSpade

I'm not sure if it's because:

1) The war is going so much worse since Obama took office - because beyond a shadow of a doubt, it's become worse or -
2) The press doesn't want to shed light on how bad it is right now, but was perfectly willing to do so when it made Bush look bad or -
3) SOMEONE doesn't want Afghanistan to look bad when for nearly 8 years we were told that THAT was the only war worth pursuing, and it's going bad.

I support that war, although I doubt they have a clear mission any longer.

If we hadn't gone, we'd have sent a clear message "bomb the living hell out of us, we'll just wring our hands, beat our breasts and cry about how bad we are".

Concerning Number 1 above: By what metrics are you making that statement?
Concerning Number 2 above: Bingo!
Concerning Number 3 above: Also Bingo! However putting off a decision of the field commander's request for more troops doesn't exactly send the message that there is a real desire to do much other than expose an undermanned force to attack.

I agree that the mission goals are getting fuzzy. The One promised his desired outcome in Feb 09:

Some 140,000 U.S. troops are currently in Iraq. The president’s plan establishes an 18-month timetable for the withdrawal of most of them, expected to start soon.
Obama also made it clear that the future of Iraq will soon be in the hands of Iraqis themselves. Not all the U.S. troops will come home — to help the Iraqis, as many as 50,000 U.S. troops will remain behind. It’s expected that some of them will still be in the line of fire, including on patrol.

Right now we are approaching the halfway point in his timeline and nary a word on this plan. Of course there was so much doublespeak about what the troop pullout would look like its hard to say by what definition The One will claim success in his pullout.

[Alexa]

Originally Posted by SamSpade

Without Bush, media lose interest in war caskets | Washington Examiner

When the casket bearing Air Force Tech. Sgt. Phillip Myers, of Hopewell, Va., arrived at Dover the night of April 5 -- the first arrival in which press coverage was allowed -- there were representatives of 35 media outlets on hand to cover the story. Two days later, when the body of Army Spc. Israel Candelaria Mejias, of San Lorenzo, Puerto Rico, arrived, 17 media outlets were there. (All the figures here were provided by the Mortuary Affairs Operations Center.) On subsequent days in April, there were nearly a dozen press organizations on hand to cover arrivals.
Fast forward to today. On Sept. 2, when the casket bearing the body of Marine Lance Cpl. David Hall, of Elyria, Ohio, arrived at Dover, there was just one news outlet -- the Associated Press -- there to record it. The situation was pretty much the same when caskets arrived on Sept. 5, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 16, 22, 23 and 26. There has been no television coverage at all in September.

During the Bush Administration, the War was in the forefront. It changed the last year he was in office. The Presidential campaign took front and center. The economic crisis was the next distraction. This all began before Obama was even elected President. I believe it reflects more on the poor job the media is doing than any conspiracy theories to bolster the sitting President.

That's not to say that I think that I believe it to be just fine that the war has not been brought to the forefront. I think it is shameful really.

We knew Afghanistan didn't have enough troops before Obama went into office. But more troops for what? The campaign was rhetoric about pulling out of Iraq, going back to Afghanistan and getting Bin Laden once and for all. But, is that really feasible? Where is he? More troops are definitely needed to get Afghanistan to some kind of level ground and plans need to be made to pull out.

I don't believe Obama really knows how to proceed. He tends to have a very slow reaction time to anything. In war it's not something that can be afforded if the troops well being is on top of the list.

A more logical plan needs to be implemented that will effectively fight the Taliban. Bombing every country they have a camp in isn't going to get the job done.

[PsyOps]

Originally Posted by SamSpade

Without Bush, media lose interest in war caskets | Washington Examiner

When the casket bearing Air Force Tech. Sgt. Phillip Myers, of Hopewell, Va., arrived at Dover the night of April 5 -- the first arrival in which press coverage was allowed -- there were representatives of 35 media outlets on hand to cover the story. Two days later, when the body of Army Spc. Israel Candelaria Mejias, of San Lorenzo, Puerto Rico, arrived, 17 media outlets were there. (All the figures here were provided by the Mortuary Affairs Operations Center.) On subsequent days in April, there were nearly a dozen press organizations on hand to cover arrivals.
Fast forward to today. On Sept. 2, when the casket bearing the body of Marine Lance Cpl. David Hall, of Elyria, Ohio, arrived at Dover, there was just one news outlet -- the Associated Press -- there to record it. The situation was pretty much the same when caskets arrived on Sept. 5, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 16, 22, 23 and 26. There has been no television coverage at all in September.

Look Sam, Obama is making very important speeches every day; sometimes several times a day. This cannot and will not be interrupted.

[SamSpade]

Originally Posted by Alexa

During the Bush Administration......

???

What does this have to do with the article? The article is entirely based on the press's nonchalance about Afghanistan war dead, when during the Bush administration they crowed about it for years.

Now, as the war actually WORSENS, they're strangely silent.

Obama can do what he likes - what I'd like to know is, why is the press suddenly so quiet?

[ImnoMensa]

Originally Posted by SamSpade

I'm not sure if it's because:

1) The war is going so much worse since Obama took office - because beyond a shadow of a doubt, it's become worse or -
2) The press doesn't want to shed light on how bad it is right now, but was perfectly willing to do so when it made Bush look bad or -
3) SOMEONE doesn't want Afghanistan to look bad when for nearly 8 years we were told that THAT was the only war worth pursuing, and it's going bad.

I support that war, although I doubt they have a clear mission any longer.

If we hadn't gone, we'd have sent a clear message "bomb the living hell out of us, we'll just wring our hands, beat our breasts and cry about how bad we are".

You mean like the message we are sending to Iran?