I know you will be suprised to hear this, but the news media is still distorting, slanting, and lying in its reports about anything having to do with the Bush administration. Here are some of our latest examples.
ABC NEWS
In an online report on wounded veterans, ABC News reported [August 24, 2005] that 68,000 American soldiers in Iraq have sustained injuries serious enough to keep them from returning to duty. That, of course, is nearly five times the total number wounded in Iraq.
When a Department of Veterans' Affairs spokesman called ABC to say the correct number of wounded unable to return to duty was fewer than 7,000, he was told that network policy prevented him from speaking to anyone involved with the story.
THE NEW YORK TIMES
Col. Thomas Spoehr, the Army's Director of Materiel, recently told The New York Times that the Pentagon is providing troops in Iraq with enhanced body armor that can stop special armor-piercing rounds — even though there's no evidence insurgents in Iraq are using such rounds. Spoehr said the new vests were being delivered to troops faster than ever before.
What did The Times report? An August 14th article begins: "The Pentagon is struggling to replace body armor that is failing to protect American troops from the most lethal attacks of insurgents," adding ". . . tens of thousands of soldiers are still without the stronger protection because of a string of delays in the Pentagon's procurement system."
WASHINGTON POST
The Army's Chief of Staff, General Peter Schoomaker, told reporters that while the Army will probably fall short of its goal of 80,000 new recruits this year, those losses are being offset by soldiers already in Iraq re-enlisting in record numbers.
But The Washington Post ran the story under the headline, "Army Likely to Meet August's, But Not Year's, Recruiting Goal." The Post didn't even mention the unprecedented retention rates. . . until the seventh paragraph.
THE NEW YORK TIMES
The New York Times reported, "[President] Bush has been careful not to go on a direct attack against her [Cindy Sheehan] . . . Still, he said last week that protesters like her were weakening the United States and emboldening terrorists."
The president said no such thing. What he really said last week was that an immediate withdrawal from Iraq, which some protesters have called for, would weaken the United States and embolden terrorists. He did not accuse protesters of weakening the country.