Thursday, June 09, 2005
Sowell Puts Our Actions Into Historical Perspective
Looking back - The Washington Times: Commentary - June 09, 2005: "During World War II, German soldiers who were captured not wearing the uniform of their own army were simply lined up against a wall and shot dead by American troops.
This was not a scandal. Far from being covered up by the military, movies were taken of the executions and have since been shown on the History Channel. ... If American troops kill 100 terrorists in battle and lose 10 of their own men doing so, the only headline will be: "Ten more Americans killed in Iraq today."
Sowell does a good job showing us how we have progressed. That was not his intent, but it reminds me how much more civilized we are because of the public conversations that have resulted in better treatment of our enemy. Once again, I repeat, we need both sides.
He also says that we need to expect and demand of our media that they cover both the dead as well as the heroes that save lives in these wars. I would prefer it as well, but we have a very free media that can pick and choose how it portrays things. What we really want is not for them to change how they cover the wars, etc., but, rather for the market to shun the media that does not represent their interests. We are starting to see that. Circulation numbers are sliding for print journalism. TV ratings are sliding for both morning and evening news. If we continue to point out where certain parts of the media have gotten it wrong, right or left, we can be relatively assured that those outlets will pay the price.
Thank goodness we won't see how future generations see our petty back and forth. What we can be proud of, however, is that we know they will see the open discourse and brave leadership that freed millions of people. I am proud of that.
This was not a scandal. Far from being covered up by the military, movies were taken of the executions and have since been shown on the History Channel. ... If American troops kill 100 terrorists in battle and lose 10 of their own men doing so, the only headline will be: "Ten more Americans killed in Iraq today."
Sowell does a good job showing us how we have progressed. That was not his intent, but it reminds me how much more civilized we are because of the public conversations that have resulted in better treatment of our enemy. Once again, I repeat, we need both sides.
He also says that we need to expect and demand of our media that they cover both the dead as well as the heroes that save lives in these wars. I would prefer it as well, but we have a very free media that can pick and choose how it portrays things. What we really want is not for them to change how they cover the wars, etc., but, rather for the market to shun the media that does not represent their interests. We are starting to see that. Circulation numbers are sliding for print journalism. TV ratings are sliding for both morning and evening news. If we continue to point out where certain parts of the media have gotten it wrong, right or left, we can be relatively assured that those outlets will pay the price.
Thank goodness we won't see how future generations see our petty back and forth. What we can be proud of, however, is that we know they will see the open discourse and brave leadership that freed millions of people. I am proud of that.
