AP’s propaganda piece on SEAL trial
On Thursday, the Associated (with Terrorists) Press published an article on a military jury finding Navy SEAL Petty Officer Julio Huertas not guilty of covering up an alleged detainee beating.
But the AP just couldn’t help but turn a story where justice prevailed into a propaganda piece attacking the U.S. military. Kay Day at The US Report writes:
Things were going pretty good until I got to this part: “The case has drawn fire from at least 20 members of Congress and other Americans who see it as coddling terrorists to overcompensate for the notorious Abu Ghraib prison scandal. Thursday’s verdict was met by anger and sad shrugs from Iraqis who said they no longer expect to see U.S. troops held accountable for atrocities or other abuses.”
At least 20 members of Congress? Try at least 40 members, and just for fun, add in the fact they are Republicans who supported the SEALs based on evidence compiled by Rep. Dan Burton (R-Ind.). I know that puts a small grimace on most wire service writers’ faces, but it’s a fact and journalists love facts, right?
Day continues (emphasis mine):
And naturally this social justice loving AP writer had to bring up Abu Ghraib—the word ‘notorious’ does seem a bit ‘overkillish’ to me, however. The very name of the place connotes ‘notorious.’ But to compare [Abu Ghraib with] an alleged punch to a detainee who suffered no real injury and whose story … changed with the wind is akin to comparing a firm handshake to a punch thrown by the great Muhammad Ali.
The AP writes, “In his closing argument, [the prosecutor, Navy Lt. Cmdr. Jason Grover] pleaded with the jury to hold Huertas responsible as an example of ‘why we’re better than the terrorists.'”
To hell with justice – let’s show the Iraqis that we will do whatever it takes to please them! The trouble with that logic is the Obama administration has turned placating other nations and our enemies into our foreign policy platform, and it clearly doesn’t work.
Sidenote to Grover and the AP: There’s a thing called justice. That’s one key asset that makes us better than the terrorists.
Then there’s this thing called a jury trial which should never have happened in the first place.
Then there’s another thing called a head. The so-called detainee still has his on top of his body. I’d say that’s the biggest thing making us better than the terrorists.
And why does this lawyer – who happens to be in the Navy – think we need to prove to the Iraqis that we are better than the terrorists? Justice aside – who dethroned their tyrannical government, allowing a democracy to take its place – al Qaeda or the United States? Who destroys infrastructure and terrorizes the population, and who repairs and builds infrastructure and protects the population? Perhaps Lt. Cmdr. Grover should refresh his memory. Or perhaps he is just following orders. Who knows any more?
While trying to paint the alleged crime as revenge for the 2004 grisly massacre of four Blackwater security contractors- of which the alleged victim is believed to have been the mastermind – the AP mistakenly claimed that at least two of the slain Americans were SEALs. In fact, three of the four were former Army. Only one was a SEAL. It’s pretty bad when a blog has more accurate reporting than the AP.
But the real kicker is what the news service wrote next: “‘These trials are just propaganda for their justice and democracy,’ sneered Abdul-Rahman Najim al-Mashhadani, head of the Iraqi human rights group Hammurabi.'”
Time magazine reported that Hammurabi was linked to the (George Soros-linked) Human Rights Watch. When Time used Hammurabi statements during a story on Haditha, they issued a retraction. In closing, here’s what Day had to say:
I’d like to congratulate the AP for continuing a level of reportage I’ve come to expect from an organization that runs content from partisan non-profit organizations without disclosing it to the reader. You did the usual sorry job on informing the reader and you managed to once again slap the very men and women that keep this country free enough for you to write your garbage.
If you would like to let the AP what you think of what they consider “journalism,” their phone number is 212-621-1500, and their email address is info@ap.org