I expect the usual slant in its reporting of hard news. The AP manipulates it all the time. Nothing new about that.
However, I find this headline to be particularly offensive, even considering the source, the liberal hacks at AP.
From the Associated Press:
Eight American soldiers were killed in roadside bombings and a helicopter crash in a restive province north of Baghdad, the U.S. military reported Tuesday, making May the deadliest month of the year for U.S. troops in Iraq.
...The Americans — all from Task Force Lightning — were killed Monday in Diyala as the United States commemorated Memorial Day, bringing the number of American forces killed this month to at least 110, according to an Associated Press count assembled from U.S. military statements.
In statements issued Tuesday by the public affairs office of the Multi-National Corps-Iraq office at Camp Victory at Baghdad Airport, the military said six of the soldiers died in explosions near their vehicles and two others were killed in the helicopter crash. The statements did not say if the helicopter was shot down or suffered mechanical problems.
Eight American soldiers lost their lives yesterday.
They join over 3,400 others.
The fact that the eight were killed on Memorial Day shouldn't be exploited.
These men, these precious lives, aren't political props.
They deserve far more respect than that.
Stop the presses!
As I was writing this, the headline has changed.
BAGHDAD -- Ten American soldiers were killed in roadside bombings and a helicopter crash on Memorial Day, the military reported Tuesday, making May the deadliest month of the year for U.S. troops in Iraq.
...The American deaths raised the number of U.S. forces killed this month to at least 112, according to an Associated Press count assembled from U.S. military statements.
The Americans — all from Task Force Lightning — were killed Monday in Diyala as the United States commemorated Memorial Day, bringing the number of American forces killed this month to at least 110, according to an Associated Press count assembled from U.S. military statements.
In statements issued Tuesday by the public affairs office of the Multi-National Corps-Iraq office at Camp Victory at Baghdad Airport, the military said six of the soldiers died in explosions near their vehicles and two others were killed in the helicopter crash. The statements did not say if the helicopter was shot down or suffered mechanical problems.
...On Monday, 36 people were killed across Baghdad in a wave of attacks, according to an AP tabulation of reports from police officials who said they could lose their jobs if they provided the information. Another 33 bullet-riddled bodies were found dead, tortured and abandoned in different parts of the capital, the apparent victims of ongoing sectarian violence, said an official in an Iraqi ministry who has access to daily reports. The official said he would be dismissed if his superiors knew he was releasing the information to Western media outlets.
Not only does the AP drool over the Memorial Day deaths of Americans, it ends the agenda-article by stating that death tolls of violence in Iraq are being withheld from the Western media.
I suppose it's all part of the "Bush lied" Iraq policy, right?
I can't help but wonder if AP keep a tabulation of deaths during World War II.
How were the deaths reported then, military and civilian?
How many WWII Memorial Day deaths were there in 1942 or 1943 or 1944 or 1945?
Are Memorial Day deaths worse than other deaths?
I don't think so.
The AP does.
It's pure exploitation and disgraceful.
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