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May 12, 2004

The Myth of Senseless Violence

It suddenly occurred to me that one of the problems with the way this war has been reported is that it has not been reported like a war. It has been reported like a traffic update, with body counts.

There has been very little context about the geography of the situation since the fall of Baghdad. Instead of hearing about which military units are engaged against which of the enemy in which area, we merely hear things like this AP report:

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Mortar fire slammed into a marketplace in Baghdad’s biggest Shiite Muslim neighborhood, and a roadside bomb hit a bus Saturday, a day that saw at least 33 Iraqis killed in multiple attacks. Outside Baghdad, insurgents rocketed a U.S. military base, killing four soldiers.

In Sadr City, the capital’s sprawling Shiite slum, angry residents vented anger at Iraq’s U.S. occupiers after the mortar barrages, which followed an early morning clash in the neighborhood between U.S. troops and militiamen loyal to a radical Shiite cleric.

The worst single incident of the day came when a bomb exploded on a main road as a bus passed near Haswa, 30 miles south of Baghdad. The back of the bus was shredded and seats crumpled. At least 13 people — including a four-year-old boy — were killed and 17 wounded, said Wasan Nasser, a doctor at Iskan Hospital in neighboring Iskandariyah.

"Mortar fire slammed", "a bomb exploded". "13 killed, 17 wounded". There is very little who, why or context. It just sounds like a traffic report.

What we need to hear is something that might tell us that the 239th Brigade of the 2nd Infantry Division is holding the territory Northwest of Blah City and that the supply routes are being successfully defended and we are cutting off theirs. That on a routine patrol of the American supply routes 4 irregulars emerged from a village a few miles away and attacked the convoy. They were captured and the supply line remains open....

Purpose. Direction. Meaning. Understanding. It's not being written into the way this conflict is being reported. Instead it all sounds like senseless violence.

Any idiot (and many do) can say x number of American soldiers were killed in April. But how many can say what they were doing at the time? Who can tell us whether it was a routine operation or something special. This is the reason very little heroism is understood here. 'We support our troops' is a blank check and we're not getting the kind of stories that flesh that out.

Except now that something has gone wrong at Abu Ghraib, or that Nick Berg has been executed. We find out all about where he's been.

Consider the following:

While leading his platoon north on Highway 1 toward Ad Diwaniyah, Chontosh's platoon moved into a coordinated ambush of mortars, rocket propelled grenades and automatic weapons fire. With coalition tanks blocking the road ahead, he realized his platoon was caught in a kill zone.

He had his driver move the vehicle through a breach along his flank, where he was immediately taken under fire from an entrenched machine gun. Without hesitation, Chontosh ordered the driver to advance directly at the enemy position enabling his .50 caliber machine gunner to silence the enemy.

He then directed his driver into the enemy trench, where he exited his vehicle and began to clear the trench with an M16A2 service rifle and 9 millimeter pistol. His ammunition depleted, Chontosh, with complete disregard for his safety, twice picked up discarded enemy rifles and continued his ferocious attack.

When a Marine following him found an enemy rocket propelled grenade launcher, Chontosh used it to destroy yet another group of enemy soldiers.

When his audacious attack ended, he had cleared over 200 meters of the enemy trench, killing more than 20 enemy soldiers and wounding several others.

That's reporting. Any questions?

Posted by mbowen at May 12, 2004 06:20 PM

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Comments

Posted by: Juliette at May 12, 2004 07:16 PM