Wondering what happened to all those "embedded" reporters
and their "live reports from the field"? The US military, well aware that
their failure to achieve any significant military success was becoming far
too apparent on US TV screens in the opening days of the war, has shut down
all "live" coverage.
In fact, the US military has been heavily censoring news reports from the
field since at least 22 March, nearly a week ago.
On 23 March, www.iraqwar.ru reported the following:
"Work is paralyzed at the coalition press-center in Kuwait. Journalists are
not able to get any information except for the hourly press communique from
the command. A variety of reasons are cited by the military to reduce the
number of trips into the combat zone for the journalists. All reports coming
from the journalists attached to the coalition units are now being strictly
censored by the military. All live broadcasts, as those seen during the
first day of the war, are now strictly prohibited by a special order from
the coalition command. The required time delay between the time news video
footage was shot and the time it can be broadcast has been increased to a
minimum of 4 hours."
("War in Iraq - Situation in Southern Iraq", 23 March 2003, www.iraqwar.ru)
I have to say that, since the live, televised assault on a complex of
farmhouses by US Marines supported by tanks and aircraft earlier this week,
I have seen almost nothing at all from the reporters "enbedded" [my term]
with the troops in the field.
The actual situation in Iraq is going almost totally unreported by the
reporters in the field, who are uniquely capable of testifying about it. For
example: the FACT that the very US soldiers who have made the most progress
towards Baghdad ARE NOT BEING FED!! They are living on just ONE meal a day!
The harassing activity by Iraqi forces along the entire length of the supply
line leading from Kuwait is proving to be quite effective in cutting off
vitally needed supplies for the troops at the front. It is a well-worn
cliche of military science that "an army fights on its stomach", i.e.,
sufficient supplies of edible and nutritious food must be supplied to the
soldiers, or morale problems, sickness and an ensuing loss of military
effectiveness will occur. Read this report from www.iraqwar.ru:
"Throughout the war delivery of food, ammunition and fuel remains a headache
for the US commanders.
Among the US soldiers there has been a wide-scale discontent with the
quality of the new combat rations. Servicemen are openly calling these
rations "shitty." Many soldier just take the biscuits and the sweets and
discard the rest of the ration. Commanders of the combat units are demanding
from the coalition command to immediately provide the troops with hot food
and to review the entire contents of the combat ration."
("War in Iraq - A Week of War", 28 Mar 2003, www.iraqwar.ru).
Tonight, this discontent with food supplies among the US forces began to
squeak through the censorship. On CBS Radio News, one of the "enbedded"
reporters (I did not catch his name) reported that the unit he's with has
been living on just ONE "MRE" ["Meals Ready to Eat", the standard ration for
troops in the field] a DAY! The reporter complained that they desperately
needed more food, that they have been working very hard for long hours and
that "[he]couldn't even live on just one meal a day", even though he hardly
does a damned thing!
Realise that these troops are about to begin major land battles against a
determined and heroic (and probably much better-fed) defending Iraqi army
and you can clearly see that there is a very real possibility that a
significant military disaster for the US is in the works, (albeit one still
most likely of a temporary nature...but we can hope for something more,
can't we?) And the US news media just keeps on babbling about the great
spirit and morale of the US troops!
Here's another bit of testimony from a wounded soldier recuperating in
Germany:
"It should be noted [...] that the way the war is being fought did create a
certain sense of disappointment in most of the troops. Many are feeling that
they've been lied to and are openly talking about the stupidity of the high
command and its gross miscalculations. 'Those star-covered Pentagon idiots
promised us a victory march and flowers on the armor. What we got instead
were those damned fanatics fighting for every dune and the sand squeaking in
your ass!' said one of the wounded recuperating at a hospital in Rammstein.
[ Reverse translation from Russian ]"
("War in Iraq - A Week of War", www.iraqwar.ru, 28 Mar 03)
Another area of major lying by the Pentagon and the Secretary of Defense is
on the subject of the actual numbers of US killed and wounded. In today's
press conference at the Pentagon, the arrogant pig Secretary of Defense
Donald "Rummy" Rumsfeld claimed that the total numbers of US killed and
wounded were 28 and 40, respectively. A reporter asked Rumsfeld about the
accuracy of these numbers, noting that it is normally the case that the
ratio of wounded to killed is usually many times higher, at least 3 to 1 all
the way to 10 to 1, sometimes more. Rumsfeld jumped down the reporter's
throat, defended the accuracy of the Pentagon's numbers, and asserted that
the US military "never has and never will" lie about how many US soldiers
are killed in battle! Rumsfeld practically equated the reporter's
insinuation that the Pentagon might be lying about these figures with
treason, or giving aid and comfort to the enemy! And the reporter, whose
question was eminently reasonable and justifiable from every standpoint
military and historical, just sat there meekly and allowed himself to be
publicly dope-slapped by that lying sack of shit Rumsfeld, who couldn't tell
the truth if his tongue was on fire and the truth was the only thing that
could put it out!
Here's www.iraqwar.ru again, giving *their* estimate of "coalition"
casualties just in the past 48 hours:
"According to verified information, during the past 48 hours of the Iraqi
counterattacks the coalition forces sustained the following losses: up to 30
killed, over 110 wounded and 20 missing in action; up to 30 combat vehicles
lost or disabled, including at least 8 tanks and 2 self-propelled artillery
systems, 2 helicopters and 2 unmanned aerial vehicles were lost in combat.
Iraqi losses are around 300 killed, up to 800 wounded, 200 captured and up
to 100 combat vehicles 25 of which were tanks. Most of the [ Iraqi ] losses
were sustained due to the artillery fire and aerial bombardment that resumed
by the evening of March 27."
I find their assessments to be extremely reliable and reasonably cautious
and sober. So, this well-informed website has coalition casualty figures
(just for the past 48 hours!) well above the figures given as "god's truth"
by that liar Rumsfeld for the total US casualties in the entire war so far.
I should add that respected commentators assert that the rate of Iraqi
losses among their own military forces, regular and irregular, are
definitely not unsustainable. The Iraqis have done a fine job of protecting
their soldiers from the aerial bombardment of the "coalition".
The US news media, if it actually *was* doing the job that the liberals and
reformists *claim* to be the job of the bourgeois press (to find out the
truth) would be absolutely furious at the Pentagon and the White House for
so obviously lying to them and the US working class, and for having
essentially kidnapped all their reporters in the field! But they aren't
furious...they are serenely regurgitating the lies. That's because the US
news media is NOT a vehicle for finding out the truth, but is the
semi-official mouthpiece of the (only slightly politically fractured)
capitalist class of the US, who are almost entirely united behind this
imperialist war.
Noam Chomsky, Edward S. Herman et al pretend to be revealing the truth when
they state their banal "exposes" of the fact, long ago understood by
Marxists, that the press (ohmigod!) is actually controlled by big business!
Chomsky and Herman want to put the capitalist media genie back in the bottle
by breaking up the "media monopoly" of the capitalist class. But nothing
short of workers revolution will wrest the press from the hands of the
capitalist class.
Still, the evidence of just how slavish the US press actually is to their
capitalist masters, an abjectness which wartime brings into acute focus, is
nearly unbelievable to see. George Bush gave a nationally televised photo op
today, surrounded by a pack of middle-aged and elderly WWII, Korean
"Conflict" and Vietnam Vets, who clapped more giddily at every successive
asinine statement made by Bush...the whole scene reminded me of a miniature
version of a rally at Nuremburg. Read the text of Bush's speech if you can
find it. He could hardly finish a sentence of it without being interrupted
by boisterous applause from that Greek chorus of veterans. And what was he
saying? Gems like this: By waging the war, "The US and Britain are carrying
out the policy of the UN." [Thunderous Applause]
Goebbels would be proud of these "big liars" Bush, Rumsfeld, the hideous Ari
Fleischer, and Gen. Tommy Franks (who is probably just a couple more fuckups
away from an early "forced retirement")!
And what does the US news media have to say about this supremely idiotic
speech of Bush? They ignored it on CBS for the most part, showing not a
single sound bite, but dug out some banal remark that, taken out of context,
made some semblance of sense.
The Polls: Pure Disinformation
All day today the news programs I saw (CBS, ABC, Fox News, and Mc Neil News
Hour) all reported that 78% of those polled support the war! WHO are they
polling? They're certainly not conducting their polls in major US cities
like New York City or the San Francisco Bay area, where at LEAST 35% and
perhaps as much as 60% of the working people *must* be against the war,
judging by the enormous size of the antiwar demonstrations that have been
repeatedly held there!
It has long been a "rule of thumb" that every single person who actually
takes part in a demonstration represents perhaps 10 more who agree with him.
So, in NY, when 500,000 people demonstrate, that means that roughly 5
million people are opposed to the war. Let's play with these numbers a bit.
Let's assume that all the 500,000 at the first demo were voting age.
According to the US Census Bureau, the total voting age population of the
states of NY, Connecticut and New Jersey are 13,805,000 2,499,000 and
6,245,000 respectively. Add those numbers and you get 22,549,000 voting-age
people in the three states. That means that the 500,000 at the demo
represent fully 22% of the voting age population of those three states. That
perfectly fits the poll numbers. But, of course, the majority, the vast
majority of the attendees of the big demo on March 15 were New York City
residents. And there are 8,008,278 people of *all ages* estimated to live in
New York City itself. (Census Bureau, 2000 estimate). If you assume that
100,000 of the attendees to that demo were from out of state, then the
remaining 400,000 would represent *politically* roughly 4,000,000 people, or
well over 50% of the voting-age population of New York City. Does it need
to be pointed out that, while the opinions of the relatively politically
backward rural population cannot be ignored, the opinions of the working
class in the major cities of the US are strategically vital to the
operations of the entire world capitalist system?
These polls being touted by the pro-war capitalist media are heavily
weighted, I'm guessing, towards the rural areas of the US, which are much
more conservative than the cities; and they are certainly not interviewing
minority workers at all, who make up 40% of the population, and who are
actually in the majority in many key US cities. These polls are as much a
part of the disinformation campaign being waged against the American public
as the military's own official disinformation campaign.
Tonight, on the news here in Chicago, I saw an interview being conducted
with an Iraqi exile living in the US who has been tapped by the Pentagon to
be one of the Quislings in the puppet occupation government of Iraq after
the war ends. Now get ready for this: The new military government of Iraq
plans to offer as a sop to the Iraqi people, in order to win them over to
"democracy", UNIVERSAL, FREE HEALTH CARE! Isn't that priceless?
The war is making it crystal clear that the US ruling class, its servile
news organizations and the so-called "representatives of the people" in the
Democratic and Republican parties are conspiring every day against the
working people of the US to keep us misinformed about matters of vital
importance to all of the working class.
The entire US government is a standing, mortal threat to the lives of all
working people, inside the US and out. It is the duty of the US working
class to put an end to this savage rule of the US bourgeoisie and its hired
murderers who have all the workers of the world, our brothers and sisters
(and ourselves, ultimately!) in the sights of their guns.
We desperately need to build a revolutionary, socialist (that means
Trotskyist) workers party right now, that can organize, not impotent peace
crawls, but militant working-class actions like work stoppages and strikes
to bring the US war machine to a grinding halt! It is up to us! Look at
these bloodsuckers in Washington, in the twin parties of the capitalist
class; do you see any representatives of the workers among them? Do you see
any hope that there will arise among THEM someone who will fight for OUR
interests? NO! It is clearly up to us!
Varlet
Break with the Democrats and Republicans; Build A Revolutionary Workers
Party to Lead the Fight for a Workers Government!
Defend Iraq! Down With US Imperialism!
PS: As if things couldn't become worse for the US, it was admitted by
Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld himself that Iran and Syria, officially or
not, may be conduits of troops and weapons, some of the latter being
relatively high-tech, being sent to the aid of the Iraqis! No wonder the US
is sending 100,000 more troops to Iraq! And those numbers of additional
troops have undergone major revisions in the past 24 hours. Thursday
afternoon, the figure being bandied around was just 30,000. By evening, it
was 50,000. Today, 100,000! The US has a potential tiger by the tail...I'm
reminded of the chutzpah of the French military in 1870. There is, indeed, a
very real, and increasing, possibility that the US and their "coalition"
partner Great Britain may be headed for one of those world-historical
military debacles that will leave future historians scratching their heads
in wonder (if, indeed, the madmen in Washington and London don't wind up
using the bomb as their last-ditch "exit strategy", leaving us with neither
future historians nor heads to scratch).
