Monday, May 05, 2008

The Truth in Sadr City

This is the title of the article from the A.P at the Houston Chronicle:

Militiamen ambush drives back US patrol in Sadr City

The story reports:

"The U.S. military said 28 militiamen were killed as the U.S. patrol pulled back."

Not exactly.

Bill Roggio at The long War Journal gives us the important details. The title of his article?

US troops kill 28 Mahdi fighters during Sadr City ambush

His story reports:

"...a US soldier was wounded by gunfire and US forces began to evacuate the soldier, Lieutenant Colonel Steven Stover, the chief Public Affairs Officer for Multinational Division Baghdad said. “The fire came from the portion of Sadr City we are not in – the northern neighborhoods – and militants fired at our patrol in the southern neighborhoods,” Stover said in an email to The Long War Journal.

During the evacuation, Mahdi Army fighters triggered three roadside bombs and fired rocket-propelled grenades and machine guns at the US patrol. Five more soldiers were wounded in the attacks and two vehicles were damaged. None of the soldiers' injuries are reported as life-threatening.

In other words the title of the A.P. piece is completely wrong. The ambush did not "drive back" the US patrol. The ambush occurred while our forces were evacuating a wounded soldier. The US patrol counterattacked and killed 28 of Sadr's militiamen.

I wonder why it is necessary to title pieces that put our soldier's in the worst possible light?

Thanks to Joe Sixpack