Just On The Other Side

From The Globe and Mail:

Iraqis dance around victim's body
'Down with USA' Baghdad bomb another blow to reconstruction

By ORLY HALPERN
Special to The Globe and Mail
Tuesday, June 15, 2004 - Page A1

BAGHDAD -- Baghdad's second major car bombing in 24 hours killed at least 13 people yesterday, including five foreigners working to rebuild critical power plants -- the latest blow to U.S. reconstruction efforts just two weeks before sovereignty is handed back to Iraqis.

Of course, having Arabs dancing around the bodies of their victims is nothing new, but it never seems to get reported unless it can somehow be spun into a broader defeat for America and her allies.

Think I'm reading too much into it? Read a little further:

While the insurgent attacks set back reconstruction efforts, Iraqis hold the Americans responsible for the lack of improvement.

Not "some Iraqis". Not even "many Iraqis". All twenty-some million of them, one assumes.

And here's the Arizona Republic:

Arizona Republic - 10 minutes ago
BAGHDAD - Iraqi insurgents struck at the heart of downtown Baghdad on Monday, setting off a huge bomb as a Western convoy passed, an attack that killed at least 13 people, wounded dozens and triggered a firestorm of rage against America's presence.

Ah, the good old firestorm of rage! Nothing quite like it for cleaning up after the party.

Google News is a wonderful tool for finding examples of outrageous bias in the media. Of course, all it's doing is throwing up articles at random from a broad spectrum of the media - but that's all it takes.

For example:

President Mohammad Khatami has warned Europe's three big powers [Three big powers? That would be, uh, Britain, okay, I guess they can be counted as part of Europe, and then there's... Um....] that Iran's future cooperation with UN nuclear inspectors may be at risk if criticism of Tehran's nuclear program persists, newspapers said on Tuesday.

You can tell it's Reuters, because they said that with a straight face.

Iran: If you don't stop criticising us, we'll stop co-operating!
World: But you aren't co-operating now.
Iran: Right, that's it! Down tools! Everybody out!!

Reuters, Tuesday: Terrorists around the world walked off the job today in a protest against unfair treatment, demanding better working conditions and free dental care.

(Though there remains the question of why Reuters is reporting what the newspapers reported. Slow day down the salt mines?)

Heck, even Xinhua is less biased, and they're a mouthpiece of the Evil Chicoms™:

Car bomb explodes near Jewish settlement in Gaza

GAZA, June 15 (Xinhuanet) -- A car bomb exploded on Tuesday near the Jewish settlement of Netzarim in the Gaza Strip as a Palestinian militant drove his explosive-laden car and tried to approach one of the lookout posts, Palestinian witnesses and sources said.

The militant, whose identity was not known, was killed after his car was showered by the gunfire of the Israeli troops stationed on the outskirts of the settlement, Palestinian security sources said.

Palestinian witnesses said that as soon as the car approached the post, soldiers rained the explosive-laden car with gunshots until it blew up. The militant in the car was killed as flames and black smoke were seen coming out from the vehicle, they said.

Well, apart from the near-universal use of the euphemism "militant" and the "showers" and "rain" of gunfire from the Israelis, it's pretty straightforward: Terrorist tries to blow up checkpoint; IDF, not being stupid, fire on car; bomb blows up killing zero infidels, no virgins for you.

Mind you, The Australian - possibly Australia's least worst paper - actually manages to report the news on the same incident:

Car explodes near Israeli troops
From correspondents in Gaza
June 15, 2004

A VEHICLE blew up near Israeli troops in the Gaza Strip today after soldiers fired on it, the army said.

There were no reports of Israeli or Palestinian casualties.

The vehicle apparently was rigged with explosives, the army said. Palestinian witnesses said no one was inside when it blew up.

The blast went off on a road closed to Palestinian traffic. Black smoke was seen in the area, and Palestinian witnesses said they heard gunfire.

Light on detail, perhaps, but pretty light on the bias too.

Is it so hard? Really, is it so hard? You report the facts. If all you have is statements from opposing parties, you report the statements with attribution. He said. She said. This is third-grade composition class stuff; surely at least some journalism graduates know how to do this.

Or maybe their writing skills were all consumed by the firestorm of rage.

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