SPIEGEL ONLINE Presents Terrorists Side of the Story as Fact

(By Ray D.)

In the most recent US airstrike on Fallujah which targeted a terrorist safe house and killed 14, sources within the terrorist run city claimed that, in fact, a wedding party was struck. And that is exactly how SPIEGEL ONLINE is running the story, essentially favoring the version of the terrorists over that of the United States.

The headline runs: "Bloodbath at Iraqi Wedding" and the opening paragraph in bold print reads:

"An American bomb killed at least 13 and wounded a further 17 people in Fallujah. The US armed forces attacked a wedding party. Among the dead is also the groom."

The story goes on to detail how the neighbor of the victim claimed that he had just moved to that part of the city to avoid the constant US bombing. (Hmmm...I wonder why). SPON quotes the neighbor as saying the Americans make "no distinction between attacking those who are armed and civilians." Through presentation and placement they give his account a higher degree of credibility than the US version which is presented later.

DER SPIEGEL: A Long, Proud Tradition of America Bashing

The US military's version of the story is given second priority and presented in a manner that reduces its believability. SPON labels American strikes "so-called" precision attacks and places quotes conspicuously around "reliable intelligence information" to diminish the credibility of US sources. In fact, those readers who only read the headline and the summary paragraph (which is often the case) will fully believe that the US intentionally attacked a wedding party full of civilians. Is it any wonder that more and more Germans view the US as criminal with this type of outrageous bias in the media?

How in the world does SPIEGEL even know that the accounts coming from within a terrorist run city are halfway credible and not entirely fabricated? And yet we are presented with such accounts as if they were fact and as if they were more believable than US accounts. If that isn't one-sided, unprofessional hack journalism then I don't know what is...

Note: I just noticed that other media sources (CNN television) are also reporting on this story the same way...how do any of them know that the information they are getting from inside Fallujah (again a terrorist run city) is reliable at all? And I'm sure the fact that we have a presidential debate tonight and an imminent election has absolutely nothing to do with this sort of flimsy reporting. And speaking of flimsy, biased reporting: Why won't the mainstream media report what Paul Bremer really said about Iraq?!

Comments

[helian]

Various news excerpts on the terrorist’s latest victim.

“’Tony Blair is lying. He doesn't care about me,’ Ken Bigley, 62, said in the video appeal shown on al-Jazeera television on Wednesday. ‘My life is cheap. He doesn't care about me.’ Looking unwell and distraught he called on Mr Blair to meet the demands of his kidnappers to free female prisoners in Iraq and said his captors did not want to kill him.”

“To the agony of his family, video footage of a distressed-looking Bigley was released last week picturing him chained and squatting in a cage. He bitterly chided British Prime Minister Tony Blair for not negotiating with his captors.”

“Ken Bigley's family has brushed aside the Foreign Office and criticised Tony Blair as they seek to save his life. “

“A few hours later Philip Bigley took his advice. He invited two television networks into the terrace house in the Liverpool suburb of Walton where the family was gathered. In a live statement, he criticised Tony Blair for attending the launch of a new tilting train at Euston railway station instead of concentrating on securing the release of his brother.”

“’The most helpful people have been al-Jazeera (television). They have somehow, with their contacts, got me indirect access to the terrorists. The statements I make through them reach the insurgents in half an hour. All I have had from al-Jazeera is support.’”

“Mr Bigley believes it was the family's decision to wrest control from the Foreign Office that secured his brother an extension of the deadline for his execution. He blames the Americans for sabotaging that, by refusing to release the two female Iraqi prisoners, whose liberty had already been approved by an Iraqi judge before Mr Bigley was taken hostage.”

“Bigley, dressed in an orange jumpsuit and seated in front of a black banner, entreated Blair to ‘please, please, release the female prisoners that are held in Iraqi prisons. Please help them. I need you to help me, Mr. Blair, because you are the only person now on God's Earth that I can speak to. Please, please help me see my wife, who cannot go on without me.’”

and, finally,

“’We can confirm that the family has now received absolute proof that Ken Bigley has been executed,’ Phil Bigley said in a televised statement Friday.”

What can you say about someone who licks the hands of his executioners, does everything in his power to serve their cause and to hurt and demoralize the people who are fighting them, and is then butchered by them like a pig? Blame Bush and Blair, right? No doubt we should feel sympathy for him. The coward dies a thousand deaths, the hero dies but once.

[gary]

I hate to say this, but it's time to give up on SPON, Spiegel and the rest of the German mass media. They are irredeemably corrupt, incompetent and venal. Their dishonesty and lack of professionalism are not evident to them.

Germany, like the rest of Old Europe, needs vibrant alternatives, beyond a few bloggers, to challenge its MSM. I don't see that happening, but I do see Americans responding to the rabid anti-Americanism with their wallets.

Message to SPON: Germany has nothing we need.

@gary
usa has nothing WE need

[Jhn'1]

What was even more reprehensible was the refusal to add the later facts.
Reputedly an extremely odd time of day for weddings (IIRC 2:45 on a Thursday)
Corpses delivered to a hospital 250km distant, while a hospital 50km away had nothing to do with anyone injured (supposedly)
injured/fatal ratio extremely out of whack for the attack and munitions used (normal ratios would have 80-100 injured to that # of fatalities, and all the closer hospitals supposedly had none, see where the dead bodies went, and IIRC 3 injured went with on the extra 3 hour trip)
dead bodies were delivered in a flatbed truck with the bottom comprising properly prepared males of military age, and the female and children just thrown on top (unshrouded and unprepared, and one account had a later time of death than the military age males underneath)

[Gabi]

gary, it is not only Germany and Old Europe, as you said, it is also the Democratic Party in the USA:

"Herausforderer Kerry bezeichnete Bush und Vizepräsident Dick Cheney als "wohl die beiden letzten Menschen auf dem Planeten, die der Wahrheit über den Irak nicht ins Gesicht schauen wollen".

Der Chef der etwa 1700 Waffensucher im Irak, Charles Duelfer, hatte in seinem am Mittwoch dem Senat vorgestellten Bericht festgestellt, daß der Irak zwar nicht über das angenommene Arsenal an Massenvernichtungswaffen verfügte, Saddam Hussein aber die Absicht gehabt habe, nach der erhofften Aufhebung der UN-Sanktionen das verbotene Waffenprogramm wiederaufzunehmen. Zudem machte der Bericht deutlich, daß Saddam seit 1999 trotz der Sanktionen sein Arsenal konventioneller Waffen mittels Korruption und dank eines unübersichtlichen Netzes von Firmen systematisch vergrößerte."

http://www.faz.net/s/Rub28FC768942F34C5B8297CC6E16FFC8B4/Doc~E6272DE6B77444217834F1DD31CD62390~ATpl~Ecommon~Scontent.html

So it is almost half of the USA who has the same opinion as German media and most of the Germans. The difference is, that we in Germany have only this Kerry-opinion in our media while the USA has both opinions (Bush and Kerry) represented.

Does Kerry really not understand that the real thread was Saddam Hussein without UN-sanctions and the possibility to work together with terrorists. The real problem is the proliferation. A weak Saddam Hussein could be stopped easily but how to stop Saddam Hussein some years later when he would have continued his programs? What then?

[Ambrose Wolfinger]

@ Gabi,

What Sen. Kerry really believes about Iraq and the war on Islamic fascism is unknown to everyone, including most of all Sen. Kerry. Sen. Kerry's behavior his entire life shows he is an opportunist who will say and do anything to achieve his objective of the moment. I believe in German you would describe him as "ein kalkulierender Mann".

[Gabi]

Does Kerry and all these other people really believe their lies?

Another liar in TAZ:

"irak-waffenbericht
Späte Genugtuung für Hans Blix
Der Bericht des US-Waffeninspekteurs Charles Duelfer belegt es endgültig: Die Hauptrechtfertigung der Regierungen Bush und Blair für den Krieg gegen den Irak beruhte nicht etwa auf Fehleinschätzungen von Geheimdiensten. Sie war von Anfang an eine bewusste Lüge.

KOMMENTAR
VON ANDREAS ZUMACH"

I don't understand it. Why does this man believe, it was a lie? Eine Lüge. Doppeltgemoppelt, denn es gibt keine unbewußten Lügen, Andreas Zumach.

Duelfers Bericht ist eben NICHT eine Bestätigung der Einschätzung von Blix, sondern genau das Gegenteil: Er sagt ausdrücklich, Saddam Hussein war eine große Gefahr, die gestoppt werden mußte.

Kann Zumach nicht lesen, oder lügt er vielleicht einfach und auch noch ganz "bewußt"? Keine Ahnung, aber mir hängt der Lügenvorf aus dem Munde der Lügner zum Halse raus.

Why won't the mainstream media report what Paul Bremer really said about Iraq?!

As a matter of fact SPON ran with the original as a part of their cooperation with the NYT. I learned that to my astonishment at the Belmont Club, I was unaware wretchard is a SPON reader.

No big story of course, but I doubt it will be a big story at the times either. It will beconsidered more like a retraction, I guess, i.e. ignored as good as possible.

And the harm for the Bush administration is already done, Bremer must have been quite naive, when he could be surprised by the liberal medias reaction to his unmindful remarks.

They have zero interest in the real situation in Iraq and are just greedy for everything that could possibly harm the president.

[Ray D.]

@ anonymous:

I think you are right, it is no coincidence that this is happening during an election. I recently talked to an American newspaperman and journalism professor at a major US state university. He openly admitted that the vast majority in the mainstream US media are Democrats.

---Ray D.

Maybe he wanted to have a permanent source? Does SPON make their articles liable to pay after a while as the NYT does?

He sure has people that provide him with material, so we don't have to get used to the though that wretchard actually wastes his time with SPON.

oh, now that I checked it, thx for the tool niko.

Another theory: maybe SPON is faster with their releases of articles and wretchard in Australia indeed checks Spon as a NYT outlet.

[Jabba the Tutt]

Gary: "I hate to say this, but it's time to give up on SPON, Spiegel and the rest of the German mass media. They are irredeemably corrupt, incompetent and venal. Their dishonesty and lack of professionalism are not evident to them."

I see this as a market opportunity. A 'Fair and Balanced' network would do great in Germany.

[gnadenlos]

@nico
"Speaking of terrorism, German tv channel 'Pro Sieben' will air Fahrenheit 9/11 on November 1st"

So showing this movie on german tv is already terrorism for you? and what has the german media at all to do with the american elections? how many americans can or do watch german tv or read german newspapers? 0,1%? - psycho!

@Niko
"Go learn some English, gnadenlos"

No thanks i rather learn french, russian and chinese

[Downer]

Pro 7 hat das ja damit begründet, dass die Ausstrahlung dieser überaus objektiven und nüchternen Dokumentation von hohem Wert und unverzichtbar ist, um die Präsidentschaftswahlen zu verstehen - und von daher möglichst vorher gesendet werden sollte, damit schließlich Millionen Deutsche etwas davon haben.

Wohl allerdings weniger dazu, als vielmehr, um antiamerikanische Ressentiments zu bestätigen. Aber wie auch immer: Der Film alleine offenbart nichts, aber die Leute, die diesen Film betrachten, ihn loben, daraus ihre politische Meinung bilden, sie sind es, auf die das Blickfeld gerichtet werden sollte.