Wednesday, April 06, 2005

Media Disinfo as Afghan Chopper Crash Kills 18

Looks like the standard game is being played with casualty reports from today's Chinook chopper crash in Afghanistan.

The basic ploy is always the same: report a low casualty figure and/or a possible 'accidental' cause for any incident involving loss of life.

By the time the real news comes out many media outlets will have already run with the initial low casualty report and thus casualty perception among the public is minimized.

Here's what just happened:
Kabul: A US military CH-47 Chinook helicopter crashed on Wednesday after hitting bad weather in southeastern Afghanistan, killing everyone on board, the US military said.

'Initial reports indicate that the cause of the crash was severe weather.' 'There were a number of people on board. We believe that there are no survivors,' US military spokeswoman Lieutenant Cindy Moore told AFP, adding that she was unable to give a precise number."

However two high-ranking Afghan security officials, both speaking on condition of anonymity, said nine people were killed in the crash in Ghazni province. [AFP]
Reuters dutifully runs the lowest figure possible -wheeling out an Afghan bureaucrat to report:
At least two U.S. servicemen were killed in Afghanistan on Wednesday when a U.S. military helicopter crashed, a provincial governor said. [Reuters]
The US Department of Defense admits that 9 'people' are dead -but puts the number of crew aboard at only 4:
Nine people are confirmed dead in the crash today of a coalition CH-47 Chinook helicopter in Afghanistan, Combined Forces Command Afghanistan officials reported. News reports quoted American military sources as saying at least four crewmembers were aboard. [DefenseLink]
Finally, this VOA News report is headlined: '9 US Soldiers Killed in Afghan Helicopter Crash' -but the text of the story still only says:
The U.S. military says one of its helicopters has crashed in southeastern Afghanistan, killing nine people on board, including four American crew members.
STOP PRESS:
The death toll is now reported to be 16 (actually 18) in the crash:
A U.S. military helicopter smashed into a flat desert in southeastern Afghanistan on Wednesday, killing the four American crew and at least 12 others, officials said. An Afghan police official said most of the dead appeared to be American. However, the U.S. military provided no details of the passengers’ identity. Two more people were listed as missing. [Army Times]
STOP STOP PRESS:
How's this for evidence of deliberate deception?
We are finally there:
A U.S. military statement issued in the Afghan capital, Kabul, said : "Eighteen people, including crew members and passengers, were listed on the flight manifest; two remain unaccounted for," the statement said. [UPI]
It was a long way from 2 killed --to 18 killed.
But the math was much easier than they made it look:

1. Nobody could have survived that crash (as photos of the scene show).
2. There were 18 on the manifest.

So at a minimum, the media should have been reporting:
"Up to 18 Feared Dead in Afghan Copter Crash."

Instead we got this farce of trickled casualties.: Total Dead: 2 4 9 13 16 18.

And you never realized that the United States is the only superpower which fights with invisible soldiers.

When they're dead, that is.

5 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

So who were these 'others' on board? Maybe they were tourists looking at the countryside in spring.

2:05 pm  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Latin american's soldiers awaiting their greencards don't count in Iraq, neither to fully US trained american mercenaries working as substitute special forces. Also not counted are people who are injured and die on route to the hospital. Maybe the same goes in Afghanistan.

Perhaps if they sub-contracted their pilots they could get the death toll down to zero. Or how about strapping the living bodies of Iraqi police to the bottom of the aircraft so they could be used like an airbag in the event of a crash... should fit well within Rumsfeld's policies.

11:16 am  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

IN BOXING IF YOU HAVE A CHAMP THAT'S 30 AND 0.THE QUESTION MOST ASKED IS WHOM HAVE HE FOUGHT?.IF HE HAVE BECOME CHAMP FIGHTING LITTLE UNKNOWN FIGHTERS AND NOT THE TOP CONTENDERS,THEN IN MOST CIRCLES HE IS CONSIDERED A PAPER CHAMP AND NOT A TRUE CHAMP.NOW WHAT GREAT NATIONS OR COUNTRIES HAVE THE US MILITARY FOUGHT AND WON TO ACHEIVE THE SUPER POWER STATUS?.OH YES THEY HAVE THE BEST WEAPONRY ON EARTH BUT HAVEN'NT TAKEN FALLUJAH YET.DIVIDE AND CONQUER IS THE STRATAEGY USED WITHIN AMERICA AS WELL AS AGAINST IT'S ENEMIES ABROAD.LIKE CALLING FOR THE RESISTANCE WITHIN IRAN TO RISE UP AGAINST THE MULLAHS,A SIMULAR TRICK THAT WAS TRIED ON THE SHIAS IN IRAQ THAT RESULTED IN THOUSANDS BEING KILLED.IT SEEM'S THAT ELEMENTS IN THE LEADERSHIP OF THE SHIAS IN IRAQ HAVE STILL NOT GOTTEN THE REAL PICTURE OF WHAT IS TAKING PLACE NOW.AMERICA DO'NOT WANT ANYTHING THAT REMOTELY RESEMBLE ISLAM OR ANY OTHER RELEGION IN IRAQ. THE NEW WORLD ORDER OF THE ILLUMINATI IS TO LAY THE FOUNDATION FOR THE LUIFERION LAWS OF RULE AND MASTERY OF THE POPULATIONS OF THE EARTH.THE LEADERSHIP OF THE SHIA NEED'S TO ASK THEMSELVES A QUESTION. HOW CAN SOMEONE LOVE YOU ARE EVEN RESPECT YOU BUT NOT YOUR KIND?.THE WHOLE OF THE MIDDLE EAST IS ON THE SAME PATH AS THE AMERICA INDIAN TRIBES IF THEY DON'T WAKE UP.THE SETTLERS CAME TO AMERICA AND MADE FRIENDS WITH SOME TRIBES AND FOUGHT WITH THE HELP OF THE FRIENDLY TRIBES AGAINST THE ENEMY TRIBES.AFTER THEY WON AGAINST THE ENEMY TRIBES THEY THEN DESTROYED THE TRIBES THAT HELP THEM. USING MONEY BUY OUTS,PROMISES OF POSITIONS IN GOVERNMENT AND BUSINESS,BRIBERY,LIES,MURDER ETC,ETC THE US GOVERNMENT WAS SUCCESSFUL IN DESTROYING THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT IN AMERICA AND IT'S LEADERSHIP AS WELL AS ALL THE OTHER REBELLIONS THAT HAVE TAKEN PLACE IN AMERICA.THEREFORE I BEG YOU IN THE MIDDLE EAST THAT YOU BECOME NOT VICTUMS OF THE SAME AS WE BE SHIA,SUNNI,KURDISH AND SO ON BUT BE MUSLIMS FIRST IN BLOOD FAITH AND STAND TOGETHER.CHALLENGE THE DEVILS IN THIS MANNER AND THEY WILL FLEE FROM YOU.SO WHOM IS THE BETTER THE MAN WHO HAS THE FASTIEST CAR OR THE ONE WHO IS THE BETTER DRIVER?.

12:57 pm  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

There was also the Airplane crash in Februray which "claimed over 100 lives", rescuers managed to find the black boxes but didnt find any of the bodies on a frozen mpountain. Only yesterday it was revealed that the black boxes were "empty". There was no data on them. Just like there was no US on board :S

4:09 pm  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Ah well..

Follow the white rabbit.. Where does the money go ?
What's there in Afghanistan, except the oil and gas pipes to china ?

Get real.. A kidney CIA sponsored patient still alive there ? Better phone Shrubbies friends. Must be to give the CIA sponsored taliban their monthly wages in white powder ...

9:50 pm  

Post a Comment

<< Home