I found news stories on the Fox News, MSNBC, and CNN websites on the recent deaths of nine NATO soldiers from America. Although all three sources covered the same story, there were glaring differences.
The Fox News report includes the wounding of an Afghan national security force member during the crash. According to the article, the Taliban claims to have shot down the helicopter, although NATO asserted that there was no hostile fire at the time of the crash. The Taliban are apparently prone to exaggeration. Additionally, Fox News points out that this is the deadliest year for international forces in Afghanistan since 2001. There is a definite slant within the article toward the idea that mechanical problems caused the crash since maintenance difficulties and dust have often been responsible for helicopter crashes in the past. The article goes into depth about the severity of certain past crashes before discussing a missile strike that occurred on the same day along with brief mentions of roadside bombs and the recent election. It appears as though Fox News is trying to provide a comprehensive look at recent violence in Afghanistan as compared to past acts. Although the focus is on the September 21st chopper crash, the report is used mainly to show the escalation of violence.
The MSNBC article is much like the Fox News report. It too reveals that the death of the nine NATO soldiers brings the annual death count of NATO forces to the highest number since 2001. It also leans toward the NATO claims concerning the cause of the crash, asserting that the Taliban often claims responsibility when not involved. After discussing other NATO injuries and deaths for that day, the article appears to try to make a connection between the escalation of violence and the recent elections in Afghanistan. The article also mentions details about the missile strike and the increase in foreign and United States troops in the country. MSNBC also seems to be providing a comprehensive look at recent violence in Afghanistan and trying to attribute this escalation of death and injury to the election.
The CNN article, written a few days later, takes a different approach. It focuses solely on the revelation of the identities of the soldiers killed and the flying of the bodies to Dover, Delaware. There is no comprehensive discussion of violence in Afghanistan. Neither is there mention of the election. The purpose of the article is to compile the deaths of the NATO soldiers.
The deaths of the nine soldiers are definitely something we should be concerned about. Even though their deaths are most likely attributable to maintenance issues rather than attacks from the Taliban, the escalation of injuries and deaths of foreign troops points to an overall rise of violence in the country. This increase in causalities is a concern we should be aware of, but I know I haven’t been paying attention for a while. News on the economy and our own elections seem to eclipse Afghanistan in the news. I have certainly been focused on those issues instead, but reading such articles will hopefully make me aware and willing to keep track of our military pursuits in Afghanistan.
I totally agree that it's hard to attend to international news when there's so much going on in the U.S. Even when I was trying to find articles for this assignment, I realized there's so much information about Afghanistan. It seems like this war isn't going to end anytime soon especially when Obama was saying we'll get out when the job is done. It's also very sad to think about all the deaths that have occurred as a result of this war and it seems that violence is something that we'll never get away from.
ReplyDeleteThe fact that this is now the highest death count since 2001 is isane. One of my articles stated that this war is "unwinnable" and that everyone who has tried to engage in land war with Afghanistan has lost. That should be a sign that we need to get out. Like you said, regardless of it being due to maintenance issues or attacks from the Tailiban violence is increasing and that is not a good thing.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting that the Taliban take credit for things that they clearly didn't do. One would think that would affect their credibility, which is weird because you'd think they'd want to be taken seriously.
ReplyDeleteAs for the exit plan, Obama says that he'll start pulling troops out in Jully of 2011. He has made statements about doing so when it is ready, so it is difficult to say whether he really will or not.
I wonder why the CNN article didn't discuss the escalation of violence in Afghanistan. To me, that seems more important. I suppose because there are so many articles every day about the war maybe the bigger picture isn't as important to discuss each time it comes into play.
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