4,000 U.S. Combat Deaths, and Just a Handful of Images
The military's visual censorship in Iraq was punctured today by a story in the <em>New York Times</em>. In a courageous piece, photographer Michael Kamber penned a concise exposé not only outlining the pervasive, hypocritical and ever more manipulative censorship being practiced by the U.S. military, but also specifically detailing...
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White House Syndrome
Three weeks ago, Iraqi and American military officials had a dramatic announcement to make. They reported that the two women suicide bombers who had hit separate Baghdad pet markets within half-an-hour had Down syndrome, and that they were recruited and detonated by al Qaeda.
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Bush To WAPO: I'm Truman, You're … Eating Out Of My Hand
While corporate media was being spun this week on the evils of Iran, it was also getting played on the campaign front. This example involves a cute little post at WAPO's campaign blog, The Trail.
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Your Turn: Scotch The Notion
If Petraeus somehow did puncture the opposition's bubble and potentially forestalled a more systematic pullback, did somebody forget to tell the kid?
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Bush Hype And The Loss Of Sheikh
My question is, did George Bush effectively "off" an ally -- and even undermine his Anbar strategy -- for the sake of the "surge sale" and a single photo-op?
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Jim, Bring Back The Boots
The latest legislative strategy on the part of the Dems might look like "half a loaf" to the roots, but it represents a terrific challenge to the Administration's dominance over the war narrative. But beyond that, it offers all kinds of visual and symbolic opportunities if the Democrats were...
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September 11, 2007
Photographer Alan Chin, who captured the WTC attack six years ago, returned again yesterday to observe the mood around the Ground Zero site.
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Face It, Iraq Was All About 9/11
I had a little piece at C&L about two weeks ago speculating the Democratic Leadership would certainly be smart enough not to let the Administration have Petraeus testify on 9/11 and thereby pull off a fabulous opportunity to link the two together.... It's about how we went into Iraq...
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From The "While Petraeus Testifies" Department: Been There, Done That
So much of politics is about how you use pictures. Now, if we could only figure out how to put them together half as well as they do.... LBJ and General William Westmoreland in Cam Ranh Bay, Vietnam, December 23, 1967. Bush and Petraeus, et. al. in Anbar Province,...
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When You Stand On The Ground Here In Anbar
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/03/AR2007090300463.html "The president heard about this idea and instantly took to it and that's why we're doing it," Hadley said.
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Wallpaper Roll Out: The Magic Kingdom
I don't know why more isn't made of the Administration's tactic of spiriting away -- in effect, kidnapping -- the traveling press on these thoroughly-scripted Iraq dog-and-camel shows.
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For The Love Of Baquba
Did you notice the lovely mini-push last week to establish that Iraq was on the upswing?
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There Are Shootings And There Are Shootings: The Scene From Kandahar
In giving us a snapshot of the snapshot, and "the news" of its documentation, what it describes is not a strategic achievement on the military playing field so much as a goal scored in the perceptual war. yesterday , acknowledging that we already know, One assumption the military makes...
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Iwo Jima, Kansas
This color shot -- photographed yesterday in Greensburg, Kansas -- is one of the more editorially-deceptive newswire photos I've seen in a while. In the photo, Kansas National Guardsman and postal workers raise an American flag over a U.S. Post Office destroyed by Friday's killer tornado.
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In Reality, Condi Gives Herself The Finger
The image of Rice facing the video, and her own words, marks a turning point in the death of this Administration. The pathetic, if unique opportunity, is that, after years of lying to our faces, we get to observe them witnessing it as well.
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Prince Harry Of Mesopotamia
And ta-da! It's official. After agonizing for weeks over whether tank commander Prince Harry should be allowed to serve as a high-asset celebrity promotional vehicle (and prime IED target) soldier in Iraq, the military brass gives thumbs up!
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Tenet and Cheney … And Bush, Oh My! (Or: The Shot That Just Keeps Giving)
Second, it provides a reality check (I believe) on the version of the picture the NYT re-published yesterday (in cropped form) accompanying its article/review of George Tenet's new book -- in which Tenet attacks Dick Cheney for setting him up as the Administration's Iraq intelligence fall guy.... Because Tenet...
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Bush At Virginia Tech: We Get That You Get It
What are those tell tale signs letting you know that, in the midst of a tragedy, the Photo Op White House is thinking more about PR, and "undoing" Katrina, than about simple aid and comfort?
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