The AP is reporting a major defeat for Islamists in Afghanistan over the weekend
NATO and Afghan troops killed 70 suspected militants who attacked a military base in southern Afghanistan, the alliance said yesterday.
Some 100 to 150 militants attacked a base north of Tarin Kowt in Uruzgan on Saturday, said Maj. Luke Knittig, a spokesman for the NATO-led force. The alliance and Afghan troops fought back for several hours, killing 70 insurgents, Knittig said, upgrading an earlier estimate of 55 dead. One Afghan soldier was wounded. It was impossible to independently verify the death toll at the remote battle site.
And you know that this was a big defeat for the enemy, because Al Jazeerah is reporting the story a little differently
70 Afghanis Massacred by NATO Occupation Forces in Uruzgan
NATO occupation forces and US-led Afghan troops killed 70 alleged Taliban resistance fighters who attacked a military base in southern Afghanistan, while a roadside blast killed one NATO occupation soldier and wounded eight others, the alliance said Sunday.
Some 100 to 150 alleged Taliban resistance fighters attacked a military base north of Tarin Kowt in Uruzgan on Saturday, said Maj. Luke Knittig, a spokesman for the NATO occupation forces. The alliance and Afghan troops fought back for several hours with small arms fire, attack helicopters and airstrikes.
Seventy alleged Taliban resistance fighters were killed, Knittig said, upgrading an earlier estimate of 55 dead. One Afghan soldier was wounded. It was impossible to independently verify the death toll at the remote battle site.
Now if you look, both claim to be by the AP and both use very similar phrasing, that second paragraph is identical except for "resistance fighters" in one case and "militants" in the other. So which way did the AP write the story?
You don't think the news is tailored for the customer, do you?
Do you think this has something to do with al Qaida's media campaign?
a document issued by a group linked to al Qaeda spells out new goals for America's most determined enemies and calls for a media war against the United States.
The document, which began circulating on the Internet this month, illustrates the techniques Washington's enemy is using in what President George W. Bush has called the "war of ideas."
"The people of jihad need to carry out a media war parallel to the military war ... because we can observe the effect that the media have on nations," said the document, signed by Najd al-Rawi of the Global Islamic Media Front, a group associated with al Qaeda.
It lists targets for a public relations campaign ranging from the obvious -- Internet chat rooms -- to the surprising -- "famous U.S. authors with e-mail addresses" and mentions New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman and the academics Noam Chomsky, Francis Fukuyama and Samuel Huntington.
Now in this case, Reuter's thinks that al Qaida is "Washingon's enemy" not "America's enemy" or "the West's enemy". Cute, huh?
The battle in Tarin Kowt, it seems, was fought on the ground, and is now moving into the media.
And never forget, in the media wars, you are the target.
