by
Chaplain Kathie
Nancy Pelosi said the CIA did not tell congress exactly what was being done and when it was being done but it's not as if this would be the first time the CIA got things wrong and won't be the last time the government of this nation turns into a he said she said. Considering that anyone in the loop on any of the secret goings on running this country cannot talk about it in the media, there is a lot that is going on we don't find out about until years have passed. The problem is, the reporting on Pelosi, a pit-bull for the Democratic Party and target for the Republicans has in effect been killing the troops. It's not just the jumping on Pelosi story that has been doing it, it is the failure of the broadcast media to report on other things that are harder to report on but of so much more value.
Sgt. John Russell waits for trail, for what caused him to kill five at the Camp Liberty Stress Clinic. Five families grieve for their family members killed and another, Russell's family searches for answers, also grieving. While newspapers and local TV stations find this tragedy worthy of their attention and reporting, cable "news" has found a more interesting story in politics. Not that reporting on the characters running this country is bad, but we need to be asking what it is they value when they fail so miserably at reporting on what else is going on.
CNN, MSNBC and I presume FOX (because I don't watch FOX) have all piled on the same story of Nancy Pelosi and what the CIA did or did not tell congress. Others have since come out pointing out discrepancies in what the CIA claims and what they know to not be true. Is this a worthy story? Sure it is but so much coverage on this as if she is responsible for giving the orders to torture instead of claiming she was not told the whole truth. It is not as if she could have saved the lives of five men now dead because of the stresses the troops are under in Iraq as well as what they face in Afghanistan. So where is the reporting on what the troops are going thru? Where are the stories on Iraq and Afghanistan?
During the Presidential campaign the media found only that to report on and excused their lack of interest in the two military campaigns as viewer driven but did they ever explain how it was the blogs were on fire discussing both military campaigns as well as the Presidential one? The public interest was alive and well but being starved. The problem is the troops ended up paying for it because the general public was not informed adequately enough to rise up and help the troops coping with the tremendous stresses they were under and had nothing in place for when they came home needing our help. As the months went by, it was harder and harder to track the stories around the country about what was happening to them, the tragedies unfolding in every part of this country because not enough people knew what was going on.
Were 1.9 million lives worthy of reporting on? That's how many served. How about the lives on the line in Iraq and Afghanistan still? Don't they matter? What about their families? These are recent stories about the Camp Liberty tragedy that should have been on cable news.
Among 5 Killed, a Mender of Heartache and a Struggling Private
By JAMES DAO and PAUL von ZIELBAUER
Published: May 16, 2009
They came to the clinic at the base in Iraq for reasons as different as their ranks.
Maj. Matthew P. Houseal, a 54-year-old psychiatrist and father of seven in the Army Reserve, was there to counsel, having requested an Iraq deployment to support soldiers struggling with the heartache and hardship of war.
Pfc. Michael E. Yates, 19, was there to talk, perhaps about the pain he was feeling about being separated from his girlfriend and infant son, relatives said.
And Sgt. John M. Russell, 44, was there because he had to be. After 15 years in the Army, he had fallen into debt and out of favor with his commanding officer, who took away his weapon and sent him for counseling.
It was in that clinic, a low-slung building at Camp Liberty on the outskirts of Baghdad, that Sergeant Russell used a weapon that he seized from an escort last Monday to shoot and kill Major Houseal, Private Yates and three other people, Army officials say. He has been charged with five counts of murder in the deadliest case of soldier-on-soldier violence involving the American military in the six-year Iraq war.
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Among 5 Killed, a Mender of Heartache and a Struggling Private
Funeral set for soldier from Md. killed in Iraq
Baltimore Sun - United States
FEDERALSBURG - A 19-year-old Federalsburg soldier killed at a counseling clinic in Baghdad is to be buried this week.
Funeral services for Michael Edward Yates Jr. are to be held at noon Thursday at the Framptom Funeral Home in Federalsburg. Interment will follow at the Eastern Shore Veterans Cemetery in Beulah.
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Mourners remember quiet, helpful Army doctor
LubbockOnline.com - Lubbock,TX,USA
By Chris Ramirez | MORRIS NEWS SERVICE
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Story last updated at 5/20/2009 - 1:28 am
He was a soldier, a respected doctor, a steady-handed pilot, all qualities worth bragging about. But Matthew Philip Houseal wasn't the chest-beating type, his sister said.
He often melted quietly into the background. For that, many people knew him as "the invisible man," she said.
"He always was there for people," said Anne Houseal, a U.S. Air Force colonel. "He was a great example of service and honor."
Family and friends gathered Tuesday at St. Ann's Church in Canyon to pay their final respects to the slain Amarillo physician. Hundreds of American flags waved outside the church as a bell tolled and a lone bagpiper played softly in the distance.
Heads bowed and eyes welled with tears as a military color guard brought his flag-draped casket into the church. Arms curled gently around heavy shoulders.
"It's a sad day in America," said Jack Barnes, president of America Supports You Texas. "A good man was taken away from us."
Houseal, 54, a major in the Army Reserve, was one of five soldiers killed May 11 when a U.S. soldier allegedly opened fire in a mental health clinic at Camp Liberty in Baghdad.
In his sermon, the Rev. Phu Phan praised Houseal for sacrificing for his country and for placing the needs of others, often strangers, above his own.
"He found meaning in his desire to help others," Phan said. "We need to thank God for the gift of his life."
Troubled by the rising suicide rates among veterans, Houseal joined the reserves to use his training as a psychiatrist to help stem the tide.
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Tragic stories that have hardly been mentioned. But there are many, many more stories they find unworthy of their attention.
As Americans deal with the bad economy, home values dropping and jobs being lost, they will not think about what else is going on while they are hunting for jobs and worrying about finding ways to pay their bills. They won't find the stories of National Guards families suffering because of the lost incomes, coming home to no jobs after they risked their lives and the lack of support in their own communities to help them heal from PTSD. They won't know about families on food stamps because there is just not enough money to make ends meet while their family member is risking his/her life in service to this nation.
The media has a moral obligation to report on what is happening to our troops and have had a moral obligation to report on our veterans also suffering. They just have not taken the time to notice any of it. How many lives could have been saved had they bothered to report on any of what's been going on for the last 8 years? We need only look back at the tragedy of Camp Liberty for the answer. After this all the brass in the military have been trying to find out what else they need to do to prevent this from happening again because of all the reporting that was done and is being done. Yet tragedies have been unfolding across the country all these years that should have been worthy of their attention but alas, they just found more "important" to them to report on. After all, it's easier to jump on stories and take guesses when it comes to politics as usual but it is a certainty fueling the war between parties is not about to save lives, find answers, remove the stigma and provide knowledge about what the troops are going thru. They would have to actually invest the time in finding the people involved and talking to them instead of just picking up the phone and getting the usual talking heads to speculate of false earth shattering news.
The troops and our veterans are dying for the attention of the media but they haven't bothered to notice! They've just been too busy talking about Michelle Obama's arms and clothes and Nancy Pelosi's memory. How much time has talk radio invested in this as well? Honestly I cannot attack cable news and forget about the obligation talk radio has as well. They talk about what Pelosi knew or didn't know without any ability to actually know the truth but when the truth about what is happening to our troops and veterans is documented and known, they avoid it. What about the obligation Rush has to the troops? What about the obligation Hannity and O'Reilly have to the troops and our veterans? What about the hosts of Air America, admittedly doing a better job of mentioning any of their stories, but still, failing to spend enough time on any of them. Stephanie Miller, Richard Greene mention them from time to time and Thom Hartman spends more time on the veterans when he has on Larry Scott of VA Watchdog, but still not enough time. If you put all the hours talk radio on both sides spend on the troops and veterans it would pass as fast as you can hit a snooze button on an alarm clock but this alarm has been piercing the air in homes across this nation while the broadcast media has been snoozing!
We can talk about the obligation the government has to the troops and the veterans all we want but the media has a bigger obligation because the pubic has not been informed enough to get the government to live up to their obligations. They talk occasionally about gays in the military and don't ask-don't tell as a morale issue but fail to report on what is actually killing our troops and veterans that can be prevented. How many more tragedies will they suddenly find of value to even mention before they fully grasp the fact they are partly responsible for the failure to act, report and inspire the American people to act to correct the damage being done? How many more will be buried between this Memorial Day and the next one that did not need to die? Suicides have gone up every year and so have attempted ones while they failed to report so we can decide to act. Tell them they need to live up to their obligation to the troops because in the process of their decisions on what is valuable to cover, they are killing the troops by avoiding them.
