Green Energy
The most important prerequisite of a successful terror campaign is effective mass media communications. Because the goal of a terror campaign is to instill terror in the populace, a terror campaign without mass media coverage is like a tree falling in the woods with no one to hear it.
Here, David Warren explains how the MSM works for guys like Bin Laden and Zarqawi:
So much of the credit for his (Zarqawi's) murderous successes, and those of other terrorists like him, must be given to the mainstream media -- both East and West. Journalists assiduously advance the terrorist cause, by reporting almost exclusively on allied setbacks and mistakes, and by their ceaseless improvisation of destructive criticism against “Bush” and other Western leaders and allies. Heroic, and largely successful reconstruction efforts in Iraq have been ignored; instead we have an endless spool of meticulously-reported terror hits.
The Western media attention to, and celebration of, such unstable characters as Cindy Sheehan and Michael Berg, make their alliances obvious. The New York Times has been the bellwether for this. Almost every news item touching Iraq is spun to maximize its demoralizing effect on the allied war effort. And across America itself, editors look to the Times nightly front-page line-up for clues on how to slant their own coverage.
To an enemy who depends utterly on morale, in the absence of significant military abilities -- who has only such weaponry as he can rig or steal, and only such soldiers as he can recruit in secret; who has no secure territory to which he can retreat and regroup -- this constant and reliable support from the media is indispensable. Without it, the “resistance” in Iraq would have collapsed quickly, saving ten-thousands of lives; and the Afghan “resistance” would be in greater disarray (though it has the benefit of secure pasturage in remote tribal mountain fastnesses).
The American military spends billions of dollars developing effective systems for its troops to communicate with each other, and with the larger world.
The American Mainstream Media gives the terrorists their communications systems for free.
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The hit on Zarqawi had the side effect of landing us an avalanche of fresh information on the whereabouts of other terrorists: U.S. troops conducted nearly 40 raids Friday in Iraq, taking advantage of information gleaned from searches following Abu Musab...
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Green Energy
Successful Terrorism Brought To You By The Mainstream Media
The most important prerequisite of a successful terror campaign is effective mass media communications. Because the goal of a terror campaign is to instill terror in the populace, a terror campaign without mass media coverage is like a tree falling in the woods with no one to hear it.
Here, David Warren explains how the MSM works for guys like Bin Laden and Zarqawi:
So much of the credit for his (Zarqawi's) murderous successes, and those of other terrorists like him, must be given to the mainstream media -- both East and West. Journalists assiduously advance the terrorist cause, by reporting almost exclusively on allied setbacks and mistakes, and by their ceaseless improvisation of destructive criticism against “Bush” and other Western leaders and allies. Heroic, and largely successful reconstruction efforts in Iraq have been ignored; instead we have an endless spool of meticulously-reported terror hits.
The Western media attention to, and celebration of, such unstable characters as Cindy Sheehan and Michael Berg, make their alliances obvious. The New York Times has been the bellwether for this. Almost every news item touching Iraq is spun to maximize its demoralizing effect on the allied war effort. And across America itself, editors look to the Times nightly front-page line-up for clues on how to slant their own coverage.
To an enemy who depends utterly on morale, in the absence of significant military abilities -- who has only such weaponry as he can rig or steal, and only such soldiers as he can recruit in secret; who has no secure territory to which he can retreat and regroup -- this constant and reliable support from the media is indispensable. Without it, the “resistance” in Iraq would have collapsed quickly, saving ten-thousands of lives; and the Afghan “resistance” would be in greater disarray (though it has the benefit of secure pasturage in remote tribal mountain fastnesses).
The American military spends billions of dollars developing effective systems for its troops to communicate with each other, and with the larger world.
The American Mainstream Media gives the terrorists their communications systems for free.
- Muslim World Afraid Of Sarah Palin
Better than all 72 Virgins combined Naturally, they're pretty much afraid of all women, but Palin really makes them shiver in their sandals. From Gateway Pundit: Iranian and Middle East leaders are very fond of Barack Obama but for some strange...
- Joy In Gaza
(With a hat-tip to Michael for the cited news article and photo) Suppose the photo below had shown the reaction to the shootings at Virginia Tech or at Northern Illinois University. Would there be outrage at such a reaction? From this source: Gaza: Thousands...
- Us Troops Conducted 40 More Counter-terrorism Raids Last Night In Iraq
The hit on Zarqawi had the side effect of landing us an avalanche of fresh information on the whereabouts of other terrorists: U.S. troops conducted nearly 40 raids Friday in Iraq, taking advantage of information gleaned from searches following Abu Musab...
- Zarqawi: Terror Tool Of Tehran
From Michael Ledeen in National Review: I first noticed (Zarqawi) some years ago, reading the German and Italian press. Several terrorist cells in those countries had been rounded up, and court documents showed that in both countries the network had...
- Iraq Civil War Watch
Remember a couple months back when all the major American Mainstream Media outlets ran headlines for a week or two straight about how Iraq was descending into a Civil War. What the hell ever happened to that? I'm quite sure there will be no apology...