Ok, little history lesson:

In 1968, the N. Koreans seizued the USS Pueblo and all its crew.  The crew were taken as prisoners and tortured severely.  The Koreans extracted a "confession" from the captain, which they broadcast to the world as propaganda.  It did not have the intended effect, as his American moxie and grit allowed him to use language and sarcasm in a way that everyone, save the N. Koreans would see that it was essentially "horseshit."   Here's an excerpt:

The absolute truth of this bowel wrenching confession is attested to by my fervent desire to paean the Korean People’s Army Navy, and their government and to beseech the Korean people to forgive our dastardly deeds unmatched since Attila. I therefore swear the following account to be true on the sacred honor of the Great Speckled Bird

Anyway, the N. Koreans also used our boys for propaganda.  They forced our guys so pose for photos and film that supposedly showed them being treated fairly and humanely.  However, our guys soon learned that the N. Koreans didn't know what flipping the bird meant.  In order to prevent the N. Koreans from acheiving the desired effect, they began incorporating this gesture, which they told the N. Koreans was a "Hawaiian Good Luck Sign" into their poses.  

Here are some examples, the first of which is from Time magazine:








All that brings me to our boys in Iraq.  Apparently, some of our guys sat down for a breather, and an Associated Press photographer (name of Hadi Mizban) decided to snap some photos of the fatigued soldiers.  Its no secret that the US Media in Iraq take every opportunity to portray our guys poorly, or to use them to "sell" the media's "quagmire" message.  Well, one of our guys wasn't up for it.  He revived the Hawaiian Good Luck Sign!!!



And, like the N. Koreans, the AP was clueless.  Here's their caption over at Yahoo:

US Army soldiers take rest during patrol in Baghdad suburb, Monday Nov. 17, 2003. U.S. forces have reacted to the increasing attacks in which dozens of Americans and their allies have died by mounting a massive show of force in central and northern Iraq. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)

Now, I suppose an alternative interpretation of this would be that our troops are pissed at the administration, commanding officers, etc.;  but, it looks to me like this guy just didn't want to be photographed for "look how tired our guys are" propaganda by the Associated Press.

What do you guys think?

What do you guys think?

The translation is easy:

"I would shoot your dumb ass but it isn't worth the paperwork so why don't you stick that camera up your ass and die."

Quoted: What do you guys think? The translation is easy: "I would shoot your dumb ass but it isn't worth the paperwork so why don't you stick that camera up your ass and die."

Yup, that is pretty much how I read it..

Yeah, that's true.  The pulling the trigger part is easy, its the paperwork that'll kill you.  Remember: "the man, the legend, the paperwork machine".  Don't know how that fits, but I thought it was funny.  

Ghost

Quoted: Now, I suppose an alternative interpretation of this would be that our troops are pissed at the administration, commanding officers, etc.;  but, it looks to me like this guy just didn't want to be photographed for "look how tired our guys are" propaganda by the Associated Press. What do you guys think?

I've yet to meet a Marine/Sailor/Soldier with a nice thing to say about the majority of the media, so I'm gonna agree with you.

OUT-FUCKING-STANDING!

btt for the afternoon crew.

I have personally met one photojournalist who was "embedded" with a unit during the war in Iraq.  He was not one who tried to portray things in a negative light, and for that I give him credit.

BUT, the sad fact is the majority of the media would like nothing better than for tragedies to keep happening so they can show everyone here that we never should have gotten involved.

99% of the time the media makes me want to .

I was having a really bad day, I got a good laugh.

This is good stuff, any more pics?

Speaking of how shitty the press is, I think I should probably note that according to most accounts the "Time" photograph and caption above was the first indication that the N. Koreans had regarding how the USS Pueblo crew had been making fools of them.   Time's publication of the photograph caused our guys to suffer additional beatings right up until they were finally released.  

Edited to add:  Here's a link to the "final confession" of the captain of the Pubeblo.  This guy had STONES!  

Note that when he read the confession, he mispronounced the word Paean (which means "give thanks").   Its supposed to be pronounced 'pE-&n, but he prounounced it pE on'  (e.g., "pee on").   So, imagine this guy saying "I pee on the Korean People's Army..."   LOL

www.usspueblo.org/v2f/captivity/bucherconfess.html

Read the whole thing.  Its fucking hillarious.  

nice, the press is an inbreeding cesspool of liberal trash

The main Associated Press feed has finally picked up on this photo.  Here's what they've replaced it with:

cnn.netscape.cnn.com/ns/news/bigpic.jsp?photoid=20031117DV115.jpg&this=4&searchpage=photosearch.jsp&cap=baghdad&w=ap+or+reuters&max=8&first=16&fs=

Editors, Photo Editors, Librarians, eliminate from your systems and archives DV115 transmitted Nov. 17, 2003, due to obscene gesture. (AP Photos/New York)

Nice.  The AP is responding to this about like the N. Koreans too.   Let see:  N. Koreans = Communits, ergo, Associated Press.....???

My good friend tha works at the VA in DC took care of the guys from the USS Pueblo. He has a whole bunch of autographed stuff from them. Amazing group of men. I can't wait to showhim this post. He's gonna really get a kick out of it. Especially those pictures. He's still in contact with them.  

This is the funniest thing I've seen all day. Wonderful that our boys are dissin' the press. That usually means that they want to shoot the photographer, but it wouldn't look too good on TV.

I met Cdr. Bucher and in his talk he mentioned that in one interview he answered with "The penetration however slight was insufficient to commit the offense."

How many recognize where that came from?

Quoted: The main Associated Press feed has finally picked up on this photo.  Here's what they've replaced it with: cnn.netscape.cnn.com/ns/news/bigpic.jsp?photoid=20031117DV115.jpg&this=4&searchpage=photosearch.jsp&cap=baghdad&w=ap+or+reuters&max=8&first=16&fs= Editors, Photo Editors, Librarians, eliminate from your systems and archives DV115 transmitted Nov. 17, 2003, due to obscene gesture. (AP Photos/New York)

Good example of the press deciding what we see and don't see. Hypocrite fuckers.

My impression is that the press is very "Pro-war."  Recall the first scenes we saw from the invasion...the picture of that guy hitting Saddam's portrait with his shoe still lingers in my memory.  Then there is the parroting of anything Bush or Rumsfield says as absolute truth and no one in mainstream media seems to be asking the tough questions.

Not to mention at various times, a majority of Americans believed that Hussein was directly involved with the 9/11 attacks.

People get these ideas from the media.  I think IN GENERAL, the media will suck up to whatever administration is in power.  American people want to hear that we have liberated Iraq and are welcomed there, and the press does their best to give that impression.

I'd also like to know why the press isn't riding the Bush administration's ass about not being able to produce any WMDs that Bush had previously told us, he knew exactly where they were.  The press, in an effort to dress up this war and maintain support for it, has conveniently forgotten about them.

Not to mention a war is good for ratings for the news agencies, so the news agencies have a vested interest in maintaining public support for the war.  A longer war=longer ratings bonanza.

It also seems to me, that the reporters want to kiss Bush's ass as much as possible so they can keep getting invited back to those fancy white house banquets and the administration PR people will "remember" their "reporter friends" when they have a hot item that they want reported.

Who knows what that US soldier in Iraq meant when he flipped the bird to the reporter.  It could have meant anything!

Anyone who thinks the US Gov isn't working the propaganda just as much as other governments, and using the "free" press to do it is naive, IMO.

-Nick Viejo.