Posted by
"Happy" Jake Greene on Wednesday, December 03, 2008 2:59:09 PM
Much ado is made of media bias in the reporting of the Iraq War. The national media, being made up primarily of the political, anti-war Left, has a predisposition to opposing war in general, and war where the US strives to win in particular. Many of these people consider themselves “Citizens of the World” (a term I detest) and place their ideology (that evil dictators and people who desire the destruction of our way of life are the moral equivalent to those who support American independence and freedom) above loyalty to the country that pays them.
This has not always been the case. The American media has not always maintained a defeatist, anti-American attitude in war. That attitude is reflected in the articles that are printed. The constant reporting of body counts is coupled with the over-reporting of any failures and the downplaying of any successes to paint a bleak picture of what has been a mostly successful campaign. This reporting style was not used during, for example, World War II. A sample headline from The New York Times on February 25, 1945 (toward the beginning of the battle of Iwo Jima) reads as follows:
Americans Drive Four Miles Beyond the Roer;
Our Carrier Aircraft Slash at Tokyo Again;
Marines Win Half of Iwo’s Central Airfield
Another headline from the battle of Midway as shown in The State (Columbia, SC) reads:
Pacific Battle Concluded
Japanese Reported Withdrawing
These are generally pro-US headlines that report the facts of the war. Casualties and other details are left to the story.
Based on the coverage of the current war in Iraq (particularly the penchant for leading every story with the American casualty figures for the engagement), this is how I expect some major events of World War II might have been handled if the Press in the 1940s treated it as they treat war now. (To avoid confusion the dates are the date of the event, not necessarily the headline. All these headlines I expect would be front-page (A-1), top-billing headlines except as noted.)
9/30/38 – England, France, Italy, Germany Sign Peace Accord: Chamberlain, Daladier hailed as “Heroes of Peace”; Sudetenland ceded to Germany
9/1/39 – Germans Invade Poland: German forces to liberate Polish occupied German territory
5/10/40 – (P. A-1) Chamberlain Resigns!: Hawk Churchill becomes British PM
5/10/40 – (P. A-15) German Troops Enter France: Germans to re-take territories in Alsace and Loraine
7/10/40 – Pétain Chosen Chief of French State: France to seek peace with Germany
7/25/40 – Pétain Signs Peace Accord with Hitler
12/7/41 – Japanese Navy Bombs Pear Harbor: Germany, France, Italy urge negotiations
4/18/42 – “Doolittle Raid” Does Little: 11 Airmen Dead, 16 Planes Lost in Ill-Advised Bombing Campaign
5/6/42 – JAPANESE TAKE PHILIPINES: Macarthur surrenders; 12K captured
5/8/42 – 543 Sailors killed in Coral Sea: Lexington, 2 other ships lost, Yorktown damaged by Japanese planes
5/15/42 – Women Allowed in Army: Scourge of oppression lifted as Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps stands up
6/7/42 – 307 US Sailors Killed at Midway: Yorktown and Hammann lost in Japanese Assault
12/1/42 – Gasoline Supplies Low: Government to institute rationing
2/9/43 – 7100 Dead at Guadalcanal Since August: 29 ships lost. Commanders insist “it was a victory”
2/25/43 – American Troops Flee Tunisia: 10K Allies killed at Kasserine Pass
3/4/43 – 5 US Planes lost at Bismarck Sea: Commanders claim “decisive victory”
3/17/43 – Atlantic Convoy Losses Mount: Hundreds of ships destroyed to date by German U-Boats
5/24/43 – Mengele Appointed Head Doc at Auschwitz: Says planned experiments will cure hundreds of diseases
8/1/43 – 440 Airmen Killed over Ploesti: 53 planes lost in unsuccessful raid
8/2/43 – Kennedy Son Saves Self, 10 Others after PT Boat Sunk
9/8/43 – Eisenhower Announces “Mission Accomplished” in Italy: Germany, Japan still a threat
11/23/43 – 1700 Americans Killed on Tarawa: Commanders say island “successfully taken”
6/6/44 – Over 2000 Allies Killed in Normandy Invasion: Long road ahead for US, Allied troops.
7/9/44 – 3000 Americans Killed in Bloody Three Weeks on Saipan: 5000 Japanese civilians dead in invasion US commanders call “successful”
8/25/44 – 37,000 Allies Killed in Europe Since June Invasion
10/26/44 – 1500 Killed in Leyte Gulf: 5 ships lost in what commanders call “decisive victory”
12/24/44 – 800 Killed as Transport Ship Sunk: Belgian ship Leopoldville sunk off France; most dead are Americans
2/14/45 – Prague Destroyed by US Bombs: Nearly 1000 Civilians killed; Commanders claim “navigational error”
3/3/45 – 100K Filipinos Dead as US Troops Invade Manila
3/26/45 – 7000 Dead in Last Month at Iwo Jima: Commanders report victory
5/2/45 – Soviets Capture Berlin, Hitler Found Dead: Was American invasion of Europe Necessary?
6/23/45 – 12,000+ Killed in Okinawa since March: US Commanders claim situation “under control”
8/2/45 –France left out of Potsdam Meeting: Truman, Churchill, Stalin Conclude conference; Germany to be divided; unconditional surrender demanded of Japan
8/6/45 – 66,000 Civilians Killed by US Atom Bomb: City of Hiroshima practically destroyed
8/8/45 – Search for Indianapolis Survivors Called Off: 200 presumed dead in sinking; 600 eaten by sharks; captain, 300 others survive
8/9/45 – Nagasaki Destroyed by Atom Bomb: 40,000 civilians massacred
9/2/45 – (P. A-1) Ho Chi Minh Campaigns for Viet Nam Independence from France
9/2/45 – (P. A-15) Japan Surenders: Foreign Minister signs surrender document aboard Missouri; Insurgency probable
9/3/45 – Over 400,000 Americans Killed so far in Second World War: Was it worth the cost?