Spin, Baby, Spin

On CNN.com, it was reported that an airstrike on al Qaeda killed seven children. My heart goes out to the parents and relatives of those children. The interesting thing to me, however, was in the way the story was reported. I am recently increasingly aware of journalist manipulation- the skillful way they interpret and communicate the facts as to influence the readers opinion, instead of allowing it to form naturally- also known as putting their spin on it. It's subtle. Almost invisible to the untrained reader. It comes across with ease and little effort and manipulates the masses- similar to the way a small rudder controls a large boat. Look at the story and see what I mean.

"Credible intelligence named the compound, which contained a mosque and a madrassa, as a suspected safehouse for al Qaeda fighters," the statement said. "Coalition forces confirmed the presence of nefarious activity occurring at the site before getting approval to conduct an airstrike on the location."

Nefarious- extremely wicked or villainous.
What activities took place? Were they wicked, or illegal? And wicked like planning attacks, or smoking weed? I guess we have to assume they were planning attacks, and not just people who didn't like Americans and had a gun in their presence. But I could just be naive. Lets read on.
The military said that residents later confirmed that al Qaeda fighters had been present in the compound in Paktika province's Zarghun Shahr district all day Sunday.
All day Sunday, huh? Didn't you say it was a mosque? Lets assume it still a safehouse, and not just them going to church. But I digress...
"This is another example of al Qaeda using the protective status of a mosque, as well as innocent civilians, to shield themselves," Maj. Belcher said. "We are saddened by the innocent lives that were lost as a result of militants' cowardice."
Whoa, did you see that? It happened so fast that most people miss it. They shifted the responsibility of the death of seven children from the people who ordered and executed the strike to the "militants" and their cowardice. So in one swift motion, the blood of seven children lies on the heads of al Queda cowards. Smooth. Damn that al Queda! War support just went up one point.
Look, I understand that in every war there will be some civilian casualties, but there is another war constantly being fought right alongside Iraq. Its the psychological war being waged against the American public by the powers that be. War is hard enough without the people supporting you, so instead of just stating the facts, ALL mainstream media does as they are told, and manipulates what is told and how its told minimize the natural reaction of human empathy. Instead of saying "US bombs mosque, Seven children die", they say "Al Queda uses children as human shields", drumming up support for an increasingly unpopular war. Obviously, I would like nothing more than to end this pointless war, but even the supporters should stop and think about the reality of the situation: War is Hell. The logic of our current leaders doesn't add up to me. We gotta go to war for peace? In the words of Sho Nuff, the Shogun of Harlem- "Nigga, please!"