I couldn’t help but feel dismay when I say the byline on this story. Remember this guy? I would not have even looked for the byline, asking myself who wrote this crap, had I not seen this passage:
In eastern Baghdad, a U.S. helicopter fired flares on a crowd on a square, hours after clashes between American troops and Shiite militia that left at least five people dead. The military said the flares were part of an automatic self-defense system.
If I have a greater criticism of the media in Iraq than their tendency to hire local stringers of questionable allegiance, it’s their idea that one can report on military matters despite one’s complete ignorance of them. So for Mr. Hanley’s benefit, I’ll write slowly.
Flares are not weapons. The military does not fire them at people. They are not projectiles, have almost no muzzle velocity, are attached to parachutes, and do not explode or break up on impact. Automatic flare dispensers are attached to aircraft to divert surface to air missiles. Their purpose is defensive. Unfortunately, almost any bright light or reflection can set them off, and when that happens, they can scare people or set fires. The flares only burn for a few seconds, however, so the risk is mitigated unless the aircraft is flying at a very low altitude.
Hanley might have bothered to explain these things, rather than suggest to his readers that the military “fired” some vaguely napalm-like projectiles at crowds of civilians, a suggestion that is nothing less than mendacious. It is the metaphorical equivalent of what he himself charges. But then again, Hanley downplayed and minimized North Korea’s use of refugees as human shields in 1950. Why? Because Hanely is a professional atrocity mongerer who thrives in the shadows of vagueness and ignorance and knows what the Pulitzer Committee likes. Just about every 13 months, Hanley retreads the same old No Gun Ri story as a shocking “new” revelation all over again.
Journalism requires more than the ability to write a clear sentence. It requires the persistence to find the relevant facts and the integrity to report them. Hanley is the sort of hack who puts his entire profession in a bad light because he refuses to do those things.
