January 31, 2006
"This Makes It Real"
ABC's Bob Woodruff was wounded in Iraq covering the Iraqi forces. He and his cameraman suffered serious but not fatal wounds and are being treated in Germany.
That is the story so far, but the blow-dried talking heads want to make this into a cause célèbre. On ABC's "Good Morning America," Diane Sawyer, Elizabeth Vargas and ABC News President David Westin talked about Woodruff's injuries:
SAWYER: "To that point, being in the Iraqi vehicle was part of the story. The story right now is the Iraqi troops traveling with the American troops."VARGAS: Are they prepared enough to take over the security of Iraq so that American forces can come home? That is the big single issue in Iraq right now, and I covered the story when I was there, Bob was out covering the story. You can't assess their readiness unless you're traveling with them and observing them do their job.
WESTIN: My initial reaction is we've all talked about this as a very real possibility, but this makes it real. I mean, we've talked about it, we knew someone was going to get hurt. We discussed what can we do to try to minimize that risk, how cautious can we be. But now it's really one of us, and two of us, actually. What choice do we have? As long as the United States is over there, and our men and women are over there and they're in harm's way, this is a story we have to...[emphasis added]
Excuse me? The wounding of an American newsman makes it real? So much for the two thousand plus American troops who have given their lives, so much for the thousands of Iraqi's murdered by Al Qaeda and their fellow travelors. That wasn't "REAL." But this is!
Idiots!
Posted by GM Roper at January 31, 2006 07:35 AM | TrackBackWestin simply stated the obvious truth. Most journalists are not aware of/not willing to admit the personal danger that they are in when they are embedded in a military unit in Iraq. But it's something they can't deny now and so in that sense, yes, it's become more 'REAL' to those who are in Iraq covering the war. I don't think Westin was talking about the reality of war in the context of professional soldiers at all. Why you've chose to muddle the two together makes me wonder...
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Posted by E. Nonee Moose at January 31, 2006 09:00 AM
Moose,,,,,,
Don't agree with you! To the talking heads nothing is ever real unless it personally happens to them.....as GM says....IDIOTS !
Posted by L.B. at January 31, 2006 02:43 PM
Moose, I would like to give them the benefit of the doubt. Whenever things are happening to Other People, who are somehow not in your category, it does seem less real.
But they've had plenty of time to overcome this lack of understanding. They've been seeing those Other People get killed a lot, and at some point you have to put yourself in their shoes. I have four sons, none in the military, though one is still considering it. I have thought a lot about what it would mean to have one of them in a war zone.
Would it seem "more real" to me if one of their friends (or mine) were killed? Probably somewhat -- but not so much that I'd be thinking "This makes it real."
Posted by Assistant Village Idiot at January 31, 2006 07:34 PM
I thought the key idea was found here:
"But now it's really one of us, and two of us, actually."
For the rest of America all those men and women over there in uniform ARE really one of us. They're our freinds , our families, our coworkers. For the rest of us, the fact that those are Americans over there is real enough.
Posted by B's Freak at February 1, 2006 07:03 AM
The wounding of an American newsman makes it real? So much for the two thousand plus American troops who have given their lives, so much for the thousands of Iraqi's murdered by Al Qaeda and their fellow travelors. That wasn't "REAL." But this is!
Because 2000 times zero (as in common rabble) is still zero.
And one or two times infinity (as in your betters) is infinity.
Posted by Ken at February 1, 2006 11:29 AM
A couple of thoughts on this:
First, we can't complain to loudly about all this, at least this guy was outside the wire. At least he was on the street and not hunkered down in some green zone bar.
next, we are getting a glimpse of the mindset of the big time talking heads. it's all about them. It's not about the troops, or the audience or anything else, it's about them.
what else could you possibly expect from a bunch of pampered millionaires?
Posted by skip at February 1, 2006 02:06 PM
Moose, look at it this way (or not) they have been expounding for how long now on the losses in war and how it has devastated so many? The horror! The horror!
But now it's "real"? Granted, maybe just a poor choice of words, but telling, all the same.
Posted by Oyster at February 1, 2006 02:49 PM
Not just any American newsman. It has to be a highly-paid lots-of-camera time newsman. Remember, if you're not a tv journalist, you don't really count. Ugh.
Posted by Mavis Beacon at February 1, 2006 06:33 PM
I have old high-school friends, neighbors and family-friends who over the past four years have served in the Middle East. Some are still there and some have already made it back home safe. No one that I know personally has been killed or even injured in the line of duty but if that ever happens, believe me, the war will feel more 'REAL' to me as well.
Posted by E. Nonee Moose at February 2, 2006 09:08 AM
what else could you possibly expect from a bunch of pampered millionaires?
Or a bunch of five-year-olds who have never in their lives heard the word "NO".
Posted by Ken at February 7, 2006 06:01 PM
