From the perspective of a WWII generation- for CNN to provide terrorists the propaganda weapon of showing American troops getting snuffed by snipers and even presenting it against a montage of memorial portraits of our servicemen killed in Iraq..is absolutely beyond the pale of providing aide and comfort to the enemy in the midst of a war. The stunning aftermath of Marvin Kalb congratulating the network for boldly giving America the truth about the war plus the significant support given to his opinion by other media-convinces me that there are allot of Americans who so despise Bush- that they'd like to see us lose our battles overseas.

geese dude next thing you know...someone's dog will be peeing one mile away from a war memorium and the act will be condemned as for the enemy and against the country. People should have the right to show and see whatever they please to see, USA trashed all those millions on Iraq instead of investing it in something like USA needs, like space industry. So when US troop gets shot down on CNN and Bush is here saying his shit about how America had won the war against terrorism, people will see what this war really is. We deserve to see the truth, as horrible as it is, and the government has no right to take away that right from us. What good is this democracy than, whan the government can always blame and cover up something so that people do not see what is really happening?

it was/is an unnecessary war. why should we all band together to support the unnecessary death of thousands?

Who cares whether or not it was, in your opinion, necessary. No US news program should be airing enemy propaganda.

Ideally, they'd broadcast no propaganda, enemy or otherwise, but nothings perfect.

i find your perspective quite odd.

what do you think of all the footage, hours and hours of people and buildings being blown to peices.
men women and children (civilians) dead...

war is hell get over it or stop following it.

or step up to your own plate and start lobying your government for propper medical (psychiatric and physical) support, treatment and care for military once they have left or been discharged or released from the military.

if there was some good that could come of the war, I would be for trying to win it. however, it is a pointless war, why shouldn't we know the truth about it? its all about how much evil you are willing to do, in order to do good. if the war was worth something, then I would say "sure, pull the wool over the eyes of Americans". there is no good in this war, at least we can learn how much war sucks.

It's war. Why shouldnt we see it? We SHOULD see how war really is. It's not a game.

I don't think anything is wrong with seeing the reality of war, it's whats missing, because in the past when there were wars, everyone saw the bloody details on TV. Now we are all censored and watered down to the point where war looks like a movie.

How is it enemy propaganda? Either way, the US news should show the war, this includes the bloody details. War is disgusting, bloody, and violent, it's something that is a fact of the reality and nature of war. Why should we hide that reality ?

Timetraveler, what on earth are you talking about saying that in the past they showed more of the gore on TV?
Mate, war movies of the past didn't even have blood when someone was shot, as that was too much even for cinema, let alone prime time news.

And, Yes, they should show it all. The postives in opening up peoples eyes to the sheer obscenity of war far out way any negatives in what some are calling 'enemy propagander'.

The issue is not some abstract philosophical ethic as to whether or not a citizenry should be subjected to graphic documentation of the blood and gore of war but the whether such reportage helps or hurts our cause of defeating the terrorist enemy- period. Apparently the terrorist producing this snuff-video believe it will help them and hurt us, which brings into question which side are those who advocate this particular propaganda are on?

It is obvious that the far-left mindset is in utter denial that the terrorist leadership has said over and over that propaganda is half the weaponry they need to recruit jihadists and demoralize the American enemy. To claim that the public's right to know every graphic detail of the horror of war trumps the damage such enemy propaganda does to homefront morale and more importantly to the troops whose lives are put at even greater risk is despicable and makes evident the degree of ideological fantaticm motivating the anti-Bush jihadis.

In the twisted convictions of "peace activists" any "anti-war" tactic is justified no matter how directly harmful to the war effort by the demented rationale that it is moral, politically correct and even patriotic to work to end the evil of "war" and the killing of innocents. They refuse to recognize that terrorists are committed to waging jihad and killing Americans whether we fight offensively or cower in defense and they embrace a fantasy paradigm where the world could live in peace if only Bush stopped waging war.

There are some things that we as citizens should not know about. Thank God for Fox telling us the Right Things to Believe. Bush should ban CNN and throw all non-Fox reporters in Gulag.

We (meaning the general public) haven't had the opportunity to see what war might even remotely be like since around midway through this century. The first war that one could truly call televised was Vietnam. The result of images and news of war coming back to the public in almost real time was public outrage at something that was actually rather mild when compared to the widespread daily atrocities of World War II. With no support from the homeland, the United States military had no hope of winning the war even if they could have gained a strategic advantage.

This is the reason why war shouldn't be televised. Unless it's an overwhelming victory like the Gulf War (something that was wholly unprecedented in US military history), the public, mainly composed of pussies who faint at the sight of blood like you and me, will quickly condemn it, and the war will be lost.

Strange argument. What if the news networks decided that instead of televising the live pictures of the WTC attacks, they simply went to a desk somewhere and reported that the towers were struck and fell over. In other news.....

I thought we were talking about the Iraq War not 9/11.

It extends to the truth about what the World is really like.

If your point is about what the world is really like, then you should acknowledge people's perceptions of the world, which are also part of it.

You can't "win" a terrorist attack. On the other hand, if you're trying to make a concerted effort to achieve victory in a war, then you want the media in your country to either be silent or supportively propagandistic. Most people don't understand how horrible war actually is, and when they find out, they react with shock and disgust -- which is not the mood you want to convey if you're actually intent on winning.

I do not agree. War is hell. Its nasty, it's terrible. Therefore if you are going to go to war you better take the damn thing seriously, and KNOW the consequences. If we turn a blind eye to the horrors of War you simply make the idea more palatable.

People are less likey to question the reasons for going to war if they are unaware of how horrible it really is. Have all other options been explored? Is this the only option we have? I am not a pacifist, but going to war is too damn important a decision to turn a blind eye to.

And when that War is being undertaken, the Government (who act on behalf of the people) cannot simply turn round and say "dont worry, we will sort everything, just get back to your life (and keep voting for us)".

If a War is just then there is NO reason to shield it from the people. Otherwise you are simply claiming that you know better than the people (or worse still, trying to stifle voices that disagree with you).

Well, since you question who knows better, who does know better what war is? The people or the military?

If the people, especially our coddled people, get involved in decision making during a war, we will lose the war. Period. If winning the war isn't that important, fine. But then why was it started in the first place?

I agree completely. The media should only air footage that shows the US in a good light. The media should just stop reporting altogether and make up stories. Fiction's much nicer than reality, anyway.