Editorial: The media's continued silence on Iraq

Last week came the news of another soldier killed in the Iraq War. KFMB (video) reported:



Marcella Lee: 26-year-old Army Specialist Carl Hall III was from Harbison Canyon near Alpine, where his parents still live.  Hall was injured back in November 2011 when his convoy was hit by an IED.  Hall sustained injuries to his head and more than 40 shrapnel wounds to his leg but doctors were able to save his leg with multiple surgeries.  Hall was brought back to recover in North Caroline.  His parents say he was doing well and was able to enjoy the birth of his son.  But ended up dying due from complications related to his injuries.


Elizabeth Hall:  It was the miracle of just him being able to come home.  I was there when his son was born so he seen his son born, so he was there for that.  His son was born February 23rd so he had the four months with spirit and that was pretty much what was keeping him going.

Did you hear about the death?

We do have a free media in the US, right?

A US death from the Iraq War should be news in the United States.

There was no statement from the White House which played it as silent as the bulk of the media.

Death's are so messy and isn't it so much more fun to report on fluff?

Iraq fell of the page repeatedly last week with one exception: When a Syrian Ambassador to Iraq defected, that stayed in the news cycle for three days.

In the meantime the GAO found USAID failed it's Iraq audit, Ahmed Chalabi accused Iraqi government officials of stealing billions, it emerged that Nouri al-Maliki's close buddy Ammar al-Hakim was actually the one who'd pushed the no-confidence vote,  and Human Rights Watch issued a major report entitled [PDF format warning] "Iraq's Information Crime Law: Badly Written Provisions and Draconian Punishments Violate Due Process and Free Speech."


With all the billions the US taxpayers have poured into Iraq, you'd think the media could do some reporting.  But it appears they're as eager as the White House to vanish Iraq and pretend the illegal war never happened.

While at the same time, the same media can't stop screaming for war on Syria.  The media is a spoiled child forever demanding.  It wants a new toy!  Now!  And when it gets the new toy, it quickly breaks the new toy and then immediately starts demanding another.

If the country had a mature media, imagine how much better off we'd all be.