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There's nothing like a slanderous propaganda piece to get the natives all riled up. What this report is doing is not opinion but a deliberate distortion of the facts (ala Michael Moore). To say or imply that American soldiers torture and murder virtually without consequence while the US media turns a blind eye to it all is an outright falsehood.
The ROE (Rules of Engagement) for the military in Iraq are well known by both the troops and the media. For example, if a soldier is riding in a vehicle down the streets of Ramadi and is fired upon, he cannot return fire unless he sees where the fire is coming from and returning fire will not hit civilians. If he returned fire without a clear idea of the target location he will have to do "paperwork" at the minimum or worse, be disciplined. It may seem idiotic, but those are the rules. I wouldn't have believed myself expect for the fact that my son was there and that was what he experienced.
Besides, every known case of murder, manslaughter or accidental death has been prosecuted by the military (just like Maynulet was).
Posted by: Don Miguel | August 28, 2005 at 07:51 PM
Still noone got any clue why they would tweak the facts like this.
I mean they need to have some kind of reason for doing it - this cant be simply explained by some mistakes that have been made during producing the clip.
But i doubt this has reached many viewers anyway, since iraq is in the media for years now and public interest fades away..
Posted by: Zyme | August 28, 2005 at 10:20 PM
@ Zyme:
I can only think of this: It is about ideology and hate at its very core. Unfortunately I have to disagree with you on the viewer numbers. It probably reached millions. Thousands of times more than get to see our opposing viewpoint.
Posted by: RayD | August 28, 2005 at 11:59 PM
Here are the viewer numbers from the official ARD-homepage
http://www.ard.de/intern/basisdaten/fernsehnutzung/zuschauer_20und_20marktanteile_20von_20informati/-/id=55070/mi42z5/index.html
Panorama 2002: 3,24 2003: 3,59 (in millions)
I think it's reasonable to assume that about 3 mio people saw that show.
Posted by: David J. | August 29, 2005 at 11:19 AM
@ David / Ray
Was it the broadcast on august 25th ?
If so, here you go
http://quoten.daserste.de/quoten.asp?date=25.08.2005&x=12&y=9
PANORAMA 2,94 Mio Viewers -> 11,0 %
Thats indeed more than i expected.
Posted by: Zyme | August 29, 2005 at 07:24 PM
Yes, it was the one on august 25th. Thanks.
Posted by: David J. | August 29, 2005 at 07:59 PM
Guess what? The German media is blaming George Bush for Hurricane Katrina. Seriously!
http://service.spiegel.de/cache/international/0,1518,372179,00.html
Let's say Bush signed Kyoto. Would it have made any difference? Nope!
Stupid media hacks. They are disgusting opportunist scumbags.
Posted by: LouMinatti | August 30, 2005 at 10:44 PM