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Iraq-Jordan
CNN "news": can we believe anything they say anymore?
2005-02-09
The U.S. military faces between 13,000 and 17,000 insurgents in Iraq, the large majority of them backers of ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and his Baath Party, a senior military official said Tuesday... The senior military official told CNN the bulk of the insurgency is made up of 12,000 to 15,000 Arab Sunni followers of Saddam's party. The Baath Party was overthrown by a U.S.-led invasion in March 2003. Of those, the source said 5,000 to 7,000 are considered "committed" fighters, with the rest considered "fence-sitters," criminals or "facilitators" who contribute material support or sanctuary to the guerrillas. The official, who is familiar with the region, said about 500 other fighters have come from other countries to battle the U.S.-led forces in Iraq, while another group of fewer than 1,000 are believed to be followers of Jordanian-born Islamic terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi...
I guess you have to parse CNN stories to try to figure out what parts are more like reality, and what parts are fabricated. Examples: "...a(n) (unnamed) senior (higher ranking than PFC) military (Coast Guard) official (works in an office) said (overheard in a bar) Tuesday (or at least that is what my editor told me to write)..."
Posted by:Anonymoose

#22  but the implication that this particular story is untrustworthy just doesnt fly.

maybe...but what you are really saying is that, based on your knowledge from other sources - you believe this story rings true. Nobody, not even you, LH, would believe it based soley on CNN's credibility alone.
Posted by: 2b   2005-02-09 10:48:29 PM  

#21  mhw - Rosemary Church. Her cheeks, actually. On her face, heh.
Posted by: .com   2005-02-09 8:26:08 PM  

#20  There are a couple of ladies on cnn that have DSL,.... Heh heh heh....... Other than that, cnn is a whore.
Posted by: Tom Dooley   2005-02-09 8:14:50 PM  

#19  Since Lynn Russell left CNN, why would you watch?
Posted by: mhw   2005-02-09 6:25:20 PM  

#18  I'm just giving up.
Posted by: Lent   2005-02-09 4:02:54 PM  

#17  I'm giving up CNN for Lent.
Posted by: Phil Fraering   2005-02-09 3:14:59 PM  

#16  I only watch CNN for the Nic Robertson stories.
Posted by: Fred   2005-02-09 2:57:34 PM  

#15  Who watches CNN? Your kidding right? People actually still watch CNN?

Only Headline News, and just to gaze at Rudi Bakhtiar.
Posted by: Bomb-a-rama   2005-02-09 2:39:48 PM  

#14  LH -- he's not simply a schmuck. He's delusional. Insane. Nuts.

You have to wonder how deeply his delusion effects the coverage from CNN, particularly since the head of CNNi is saying the same things.

CNN simply cannot be trusted, for ANYTHING. Heck, I think they should be booted out of every press pool and no member of the US government should speak to them unless and until they make a complete airing of Jordan's claims.

If Jordan's right, then he's got the biggest damned story in history. If he's lying to curry favor with overseas anti-Americanism, then the public has a right to know.
Posted by: Robert Crawford   2005-02-09 1:46:03 PM  

#13  Who watches CNN? Your kidding right? People actually still watch CNN?
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom   2005-02-09 1:45:58 PM  

#12  RC. well hay, then we somebody could have posted something from CNN about the Jackson trial. Jordan is a schmuck for what he said in Davos, but the implication that this particular story is untrustworthy just doesnt fly.
Posted by: Liberalhawk   2005-02-09 12:53:57 PM  

#11  What do you mean "anymore"?

Who believed them before?
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut   2005-02-09 12:51:08 PM  

#10  it means that tin foil news reporting is actually good business.

Seems to have been good for the last 40 years.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis   2005-02-09 11:54:15 AM  

#9  It is generally instructive to follow the money. In this case the advertising dollars that fund news operations. Who are the big advertisers for CNN? Is the advertiser profile greatly different for CNNi? What's the revenue split between domestic and foreign advertisers?

I've got to believe at some point Time Warner will clean house at CNN. If they don't, it means that tin foil news reporting is actually good business.
Posted by: Classical_Liberal   2005-02-09 11:47:06 AM  

#8  the biggest problem with CNN is that they've lost so much of their American market (and credibility) that they're tailoring their news and bias for foreign (CNNi) markets. That's why Jordan was surrounded by applauding arab media after he made that lying accusation in Davos
Posted by: Frank G   2005-02-09 11:07:13 AM  

#7  Except, LH, that since it comes from CNN, we can't trust a word of it. I'll wait for a more reliable source, like Debka or a bum muttering to himself on the street.
Posted by: Robert Crawford   2005-02-09 10:47:35 AM  

#6  No, and we never --- at least since the first Intifada --- could.
Posted by: gromgorru   2005-02-09 10:29:46 AM  

#5  "Crappy News Network: The Most Busted Name In News". When could we ever believe them?
Posted by: GK   2005-02-09 10:05:31 AM  

#4  actually theres nothing in the above story that looks out of line. In fact id say its good news. A few months ago it was said there about 20,000 insurgents, and all were assumed to be "full timers". And the left was trying to insinuate they were ordinary folks angry at the US. Instead we find less than 17,000 left - which might well indicatet that the siege of Fallujah and subsequent combat is having an effect, and that insurgent numbers are steadily dropping. Many of the 20,000 are parttimers, and the majority of the insurgency is, as the admin has said, former regime elements. And about 1500 foreigners, out of about 6000 commited fighters, sounds about right.
Posted by: Liberalhawk   2005-02-09 10:01:06 AM  

#3  New slogans for CNN:
"We (might or might not) report. You can try to decide."

"The Most Busted Name in News" (hat tip: Hugh)
Posted by: eLarson   2005-02-09 9:48:50 AM  

#2  CNN Chief News Exec keeps quiet about that which they know (for 12 years in Iraq [sorry about the login])

CNN Chief News Exec runs on at the mouth about that which he does not know to be true. (See EasonGate.)
Posted by: eLarson   2005-02-09 9:47:36 AM  

#1  Just as we had experts who (claimed) they could read between the lines of Pravda, we are going to needs experts for interpreting CNN.
Posted by: jackal   2005-02-09 9:28:26 AM  

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