[Mike Irwin]

Oh wait, it was just a dead rat...

Is anyone else starting to look at the BIG headlines that we've been seeing for the last couple of weeks with a REALLY jaundiced eye and saying "yeah, really, when pigs fly..."

Headlines such as

"Saddam killed in bunker"

"Chemical weapons missiles found"

And others that scream from the headlines for about 30 seconds and then disappear, never to be heard again?

[riverdog]

I'm waiting for the soldiers and Marines in Baghdad to find the seven POWs we're still missing. That's the headline I'm waiting for. Not holding my breath tho'.

[ahadams]

riverdog - yeah especially after that report from last night that the Marines had found more bloody American fatigues in one of the enemy bases they overran...

[MBG]

I'm not sure how much of it is media exaggeration versus someone behind the scenes talking to get in good w/ the press.

If you watch the actual press briefings, Rummy, the generals, et al are usually very specific in not making those statements. I recall yesterday (two days ago?) Rummy was taking about Iraqi atrocities, and mentioned that they had been known to kill their POW’s. Next thing you hear is a reporter asking him to confirm that they killed OUR POW’s. That got the press conference on a 10 minute side track while someone reviewed exactly what he said.

The soldiers speaking at the on-the-scene shots where the 101st found the pesticides were found were very explicit that the field tests often yielded false positives. The next cut away had the anchor stating that WMD’s had been confirmed. (This was on CNN.)

It’s interesting, watching the live shot of the troops with embedded reporter, then the press conference, then the head-line news floating by. It’s like a game of operator, with multi-billion dollar communications networks. The farther from the source, the more distorted the story.

Marty