UNder an AP headline reading: At Least 80 Iraqis Killed in Post-Saddam Execution Violence …note a picture of gunmen toting weapons in an undated picture taken, apparently in Baqouba. The image of increased violence thus seared, seared, mind you… into our brains…. (With a nod to John Kerry)
….we read the actual story…
BAGHDAD AP- At least 80 Iraqis died in bombings and other attacks Saturday as they prepared to celebrate Islam’s biggest holiday, their first without Saddam Hussein.
The bombings came hours after Saddam was hanged in Baghdad for ordering the killings of 148 Shiites in the city of Dujail in 1982. Despite concerns about a spike in unrest, Saturday’s violence was not unusually high for Iraq, nor did it appear to be in retaliation for the execution.
Observe, please, the difference in impressions that are left between the headline, and the storyline buried a couple of paras down. The headline suggests and apparently wants us to believe that there is a spike in violence incidental to the hanging of Saddam Hussein.
Meantime the story line reports precisely the opposite. Note particularly the last sentence of the second paragraph.
Again, just for clarity:
Saturday’s violence was not unusually high for Iraq, nor did it appear to be in retaliation for the execution
The source?
The Associated Press. Draw your own conclusions.
Oh, just for kickers… further down in the same story, we see an interesting tidbit:
Another 31 people died and 58 were injured when a bomb planted on a minibus exploded in a fish market in a mostly Shiite town south of Baghdad, said Issa Mohammed, director of the morgue in the neighboring town of Najaf.
The man blamed for parking the vehicle in Kufa, about 100 miles south of the Iraqi capital, was cornered and killed by a mob as he walked away from the explosion, police and witnesses said.
The second paragraph here, is a mental picture that Americans need to see. It shows quite clearly that Iraqis want this bombing to end, they reject the Arabs terrorists, and what they stand for. They only need help to rid themselves of the problem.
But of course this is buried near the bottom of the AP feed. Now, why would they do that?
Tags: BitsBlog, WHAT biased press?
