hmmm, sullen eyes, picture of resentment...I think the Rooters reporter had a mirror handy

Ah, Reuters...

Typical Reuters. Remember, this is a news agency that refuses to classify Palestinian Suicide Bombers as anything but "militants" and refused to call the 9/11 Hijackers terrorists.

Another has been in the news world

True that. One must consider the source when reading anything from this "news" service.

"the plains of Iraq are not yet a Vietnam-style hell for U.S. invaders."
--- give me a break

:)

The rules of CP don't permit me to editorialize in the posting itself, as I did on OTB. I was confident, with reason it appears, that the Reuters spin would be self-evident.

Jeez,
I don't expect (or want) mindless cheerleading of the coalition side, but this transparently subjective handwringing is soooo annoying!

there are no Americans anymore.
ask yourself, do you really know the truth ?
i am asking YOU, not the brainwashed moron that was grown inside you.

cue best Dr Evil voice......

"Er... riiiiiiiiight."

dev has a future with Rooters.

I wonder what the report looks like from inside the Iraqi army. They are watching coalition planes fly unchallenged in the sky. They have no mobile armor capability (it has to hide). They have no reinforcements coming into the theater. Do you think that any of them have "sullen eyes?"

More propaganda from Al Reutera.

Rooters is about as objective and unbiased as Jesse Jackson. But recently they seem to have attempted to at least give the appearance of reporting the facts. Your post seems to expose the ruse.
http://judicious-asininity.blogspot.com/

Reuters. I hate those guys!

Its Rev. Mush Mouth Jesse Jackson!

Get it right!

Reuters. It figures. I wonder if the Lance-Corporal knows how he was portrayed. If he is like any of the Marines I know (I know a good few, heck even my youngest daughter is a Junior ROTC Marine), he was probably more ticked at having to talk to a newspaper dude than "staring with sullen eyes at withered shrubs". (Note: Is that a veiled insult to Bush, I wonder...naw, couldn't be...)

My best guess is that Dev has a pair of sullen eyes and I know he has a face with a picture of resentment.

I love it when you can simply quote a Reuters story without a comment and watch the flames.

CNN was talking to a guy last night as they described their last couple of days (3rd infantry, I think)

From what he described, they were being constantly attacked by people with rifles and RPG's. For two days straight. I would think if anything they are tired and pissed. He did say something along the lines of hoping they "continued to miss" or something like that. He didn't seem too concerned about his tank dealing with the small arms fire, more that he'd accidentally walk into a bullet or something. If that makes sense (I was half asleep at the time)

I feel like the longer I'm out here, the less are my chances of staying alive.
That's how war works, Corporal.

Right here the odds are against us
Maybe where you are physically, certainly not in a theater-wide sense. In such a case, why don't you tell your commander what's wrong with your defenses and fix the problem?

we don't know the terrain
A given. But don't you have maps and satellite topography to work with? And aren't you getting better at learning the terrain?

we don't know the people
Another given.

we don't know what they got coming for us
Then either you haven't been paying attention to your intelligence briefings, the scuttlebutt around the camp, or haven't been watching the fighting unfold.

I can sympathize with the unease and worry soldiers face on the battlefield. I've never been on one myself, but the unknown is always a fearsome foe. It's disgusting Reuters spun this the way it did, but that spin assumes this 21-year-old should have a strategic and tactical mastery of the events in the country.

Must have been tough to find an E-3 with a complaint. I guess the next paragraph said he was upset that the generals didn't confer with him on how to manuver the division.

I like it when people don't agree with folks like dev then they are a "moron." I mean come one, obviously all smart people think one way and all morons think another. I wish I could go through life so assured of my intellectual superiority over others that have probably accomplished 10x's as much in life as I have sitting at home in my parents' house railing against the "man."

Especially an E-3 who's the same age as most of his sergeants.

Vlad,

Dev's post was rather moronic. It was just a vague, snide remark with no context or analysis.

"Sullen eyes, picture of resentment" How can anybody say this is news reporting and not naked editorializing?! News reporting has gone waaay beyond the "just the facts, m'am" stage.

Vlad, you must really hate it when people call Bush a moron.

One of the bright spots of the reporting in this war has been the brilliantly clarifying effect the coverage has had with regards to the so called "news agencies" around the globe. Americans are finally seeing the massive level of anti-american bias in such agencies as Reuters, the AP, UPI, BBC, as well as aljazeera, Agence France Presse, as well.

Wow, they REALLY don't like us AT ALL, and their "reports" are just thinly veiled op-ed pieces spun to be as negative as possible in every case against America.

And you thought ABC, NBC, CBS, and CNN were bad! They're kiddies in their bias against America compared to the international corps.

The world only likes America as a VICTIM (i.e. 9-11), not as an independent powerful Enforcer. It's so satanic I can't begin to describe it.

Enjoy the coverage from hell, and pull on your waders, it'll only get worse as we get closer to winning.

Ah, mitydk?

You might want to loosen your room's duct tape and plastic sheeting just a teensy bit, get a little O2 in there...

Ah, mitydk?

You might want to loosen your room's duct tape and plastic sheeting just a teensy bit, get a little O2 in there...

Charles:
"we don't know what they got coming for us"
--Then either you haven't been paying attention to your intelligence briefings, the scuttlebutt around the camp, or haven't been watching the fighting unfold.

It sounds to me like most of these guys have listened all too well to their "intelligence briefings." That's why they thought the war would be over by now.

It sounds to me like most of these guys have listened all too well to their "intelligence briefings." That's why they thought the war would be over by now. -SqueakyRat

One wouldn't think so. Intel briefings usually substantially overstate the capabilities of the enemy, in order to avoid complacency and to prevent morale breakdowns if things get a little dicier than expected. Even if the reports of this one Marine's feelings are portrayed accurately, I guarantee you he's in a tiny minority. After only a week of war, these guys are still highly motivated.

This soldier's comments don't surprise me much. In such a dangerous situation, there must be incredible frustration in not knowing the bigger picture. His training will keep him doing what needs to be done, but in the "down" time that allows him such "luxuries" as the time to speak to a reporter, it must be difficult not to get a little frustrated.