New analogy: Don't try to "Baby Noor" your way out of this...

[zulchzulu]

I'm convinced that the Baby Noor story is pure Rove-concocted propaganda generated by the military and fed into the media channels to distract the real stories of Bush's impending collapse.

Why, I ask, are we suddenly interested in the health of Iraqi babies after we've killed or starved to death at least a million since the first Gulf War and sanctions after...not to even put into consideration the untold numbers of dead Iraqi infants that have died from our bombs, our guns, our policies...

So now we suddenly care about a baby that I do hope survives and lives a good life. It's utterly manipulative for the MSM to play right into Orwellian hands.

That's why I'll use the analogy "don't Baby Noor me..." when I can.

[PurpleChez]

1. Absolutely true.

No pretty white girls have disappeared lately, so they had to concoct something.

[OKNancy]

2. I disagree

I think it started out as a nice and thoughtful gesture by the soldiers. I saw them interviewed and I believe they are sincere. I think the media ran with it because it's a "feel good" story. The Pentagon loves it and encourages it but I don't think they started the whole thing.

I think it would be wise to not spit on a story like this myself. Bush will implode on his own and small stories like this don't matter in the grand scheme of things.

[Coastie for Truth]

4. Even in Bush's Iraq War

our American GI's are still a soft touch for injured and sick kids, and for homeless kittens and puppies.

Bush's handlers saw something they could usurp and exploit.

[Tom Rinaldo]

6. Thank You. Well put. There certainly is ample irony

and strong points to be made about the ongoing daily deaths of innocents in Iraq including infants, and Bush's team will do whatever they can (which is a lot) to push any story that serves their interest, but I am not surprised that some American soldiers and those they later contacted would act exactly in this manner for the best personal reasons in the world. Members of our families and neighbors are stationed in Iraq, they are fully capable of a tender moment. They may even need to take actions like this to hold onto their sanity amidst all the killing.

[AtomicKitten]

16. Think of all the pictures of dead Iraqi kids.

An image this act of kindness can't possibly erase.

[zulchzulu]

8. So should the soldiers tell us just how many Iraqi children have died?

I understand the gesture from the soldiers. I support the child getting healed and living a long life.

Seeing the story in heavy rotation and circulation with updates ad nauseum to fill in time when a real, honest discussion about the many scandals erupting within the Bush administration and the Repugs On The Hill should be a main, responsible focus. It is a "feel-good" kicker story without absolutely ANY mention of the numbers of dead Iraqi children from this war. It's as though we suddenly found a sick baby in Iraq and are doing incredible work to make sure the child survives. It's pure crocodile tears to me.

I know someone whose son returned from Iraq and has severe post-traumatic syndrome from the war and has psychological help three times a day. One of the main things that haunts him was seeing the amount of dead children everywhere in the war zone. He has gone into intense depression from the visions of death that he witnessed.

This story would never make it on the MSM...but a story about one child with such heavy focus brings the illusive perception that this is a classic case of our war effort helping out Iraqi children when they get injured...it's manipulative and contrived.

If the MSM reported that thousands of woman and children have died since our war, then I'd be a little less cynical...but that story will never be reported.

[FreedomAngel82]

12. And don't forget pregnant women and

pregnant women with poison in their bodies and than the effects their babies get. I've heard there have been babies born without a head. Imagine having that happen to you!

[PurpleChez]

17. My thoughts exactly

No doubt the soldiers who initiated the whole thing had nothing but good on their minds. But the exploitation of the story shows other forces at work. Surely, thousands of American kids could use the free medical services that have been promised ot baby noor.

[Humor_In_Cuneiform]

14. Agreed. We all need to hear some good news now and then. If

someone exploits it, well hopefully that is becoming clear to more and more people.

[babylonsister]

3. Does seem hypocritical; such

care is being taken for this one baby, but when I hear about the baby I wonder how many babies are being blown up daily?:-(

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2089-1965182,00...

The Sunday Times January 01, 2006

US forces step up Iraq airstrikes

Sarah Baxter, Washington, Ali Rifat, Baghdad and Peter Almond

AMERICAN forces are dramatically stepping up air attacks on insurgents in Iraq as they prepare to start the withdrawal of ground troops in the spring.

The number of airstrikes in 2005, running at a monthly average of 25 until August, surged to 120 in November and an expected 150 in December, according to official military figures.

The tempo looks set to increase this year as the Americans pull back from urban combat, leaving street fighting increasingly to Iraqi forces supported by US air power.

“The bottom line will be that as the Iraqi army and police gain in competence, they will be able to take on more and more of the territory,” said General Peter Pace, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, announcing a cut in troop numbers from 160,000 to fewer than 138,000 by March.

[Ian David]

5. How many Terri Schiavos died in New Orleans? n/t

[Quakerfriend]

7. Yes, Ian.

Their hypocrisy never ends.

[Yogi]

9. How many children and adults

as well as military personal have been harmed by the use of depleted uranium ammunition? As well as generations to come.

[Coastie for Truth]

10. DON'T BLAME THE ENLISTED DUDE OR THE SLJO FOR BUSH'S WAR

DO NOT BLAME THE ENLISTED PEOPLE OR THE JUNIOR OFFICERS FOR BUSH'S WAR OF CHOICE

THOSE ENLISTED FOLKS AND JUNIOR OFFICERS ARE STILL OUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS

YOU WANT TO BLAME SOMEBODY - BLAME BUSH, CHENEY, ROVE, RUMMIE

WANT TO BLAME SOMEBODY ELSE - BLAME THE FAT BUTT SOCCER MOMS DRIVING THEIR SPOILED KIDS AROUND EXURBIA IN OVER SIZED JUMBO GAS GUZZLER SUV'S

[FreedomAngel82]

11. It does make you wonder

I remember reading or hearing an interview from a solider who told how he felt so horrible how he got to have meals and all that while other children were out there coming to them starving for food and he couldn't do anything. Maybe someone felt so bad they wanted to help. Maybe they had enough money and made the connections and the republicans will use this to their advantage. :shrug: All are possible. I am glad the baby is getting help, but I wish all the babies in Iraq and here at home could get help. There's a baby here who will go hungry in the night. There's a baby here who's parents (or a single mother even) who don't have money for an operation. What about that baby?

[enid602]

13. coverage

As the MSM ramps up its 24/7 Baby Noor coverage, I can't help but notice that it never once covered our use of chemical weapons (white phosphorus) against civilians in Fallujah last fall.

[ddeclue]

15. TOTALLY FAKE NEWS ALERT.

I'm surprised they didn't recall Jessica Lynch to active duty so that she could be seen carrying the baby into the hospital.

Doug D.
Orlando, FL

[REP]

18. Spina Bifida Is Caused By Folic Acid Deficiency

It is quite possible that if her country was not under attack, her mother would have had access to proper nutrition and prenatal care, and Baby "Noor" (which is Arabic for "Jewel") might not have been born with such a horrible birth defect. There is no guarantee that the surgery will be successful or that she will survive it; facts that are just barely mentioned in the "look at the crippled baby!" coverage.