The Vicious War and Media Cycle

Remember how a few days ago we heard that the top two al-Qaeda leaders had been killed in Iraq? Ah, the nostaglic memories of Saddam Hussein's sons Uday and Qusay being killed and their corpses being circulated on the internet! Such inspiraiton and excitement! Well, just as the deaths of Hussein and his son amounted to nothing in terms of making progress in the Iraq conflict--now in its third decade--the deaths of these top two al-Qaeda leaders in Iraq resulted in at least 58 civilian deaths in Baghdad just days later (see NY Times, April 24, 2010). The media, though, pretends never to catch on to the pattern: the military reports a so-called "success," then a few days later body parts are flying. Can you imagine what it would be like if a bomb went off in your boring, zombie hole-in-the-ground U. S. A. town and you were left to carry your charred and bloodied loved one around in a daze of smoke and burnt flesh while more bombs were going off? But since that's not as bad as abortion or medical marijuana, then who cares? The American people of the 21st century have to be the sickest, most unfeeling creatures ever to walk this planet. I swear, people are under some kind of spell. How this cycle can keep repeating is as puzzling to me as it is repugnant.