Lazy CBC Press

I just wanted to point out an example of lazy journalistic practice and historical revisionism. Today the CBC has a news item about the US occupation arranging to have Fallujah placed under the "protection" of the Fallujah Protective Army:

The Fallujah Protective Army will include up to 1,100 Iraqi soldiers and will be led by a former division commander under Saddam. It will move into the hotbed of anti-U.S. insurgency beginning on Friday, U.S. marine Lt.-Col. Brennan Byrne said. (for the entire article click here)

The CBC report fails to mention if US troops will be a part of this "protective" force. In fact, the whole article sounds like a barely edited press release from CENTCOM (the American military press wing). The article ends by blaming the uprising in Fallujah on the Iraqis with the following:

Many insurgents in the city are believed to be former members of the Iraqi army or pro-Saddam militias.

The Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Washington said the city was a key bastion of support for Saddam Hussein and enjoyed economic subsidies under his regime.

When the regime toppled, Fallujah stood to lose all of its privileges, making it a hotbed of resistance.

Ah I see, so the sole reason the people in Fallujah have risen up against the US occupation is because they're pissed they aren't getting the perks they used to under Saddam. What an absolute load of crap. Is this the kind of garbage that passes for so-called professional journalism these days?

If the hacks at the CBC would take the time to do their jobs they would know full well the reasons for the strength of resistance in Fallujah has far more to do with Iraqi civilian massacres at the hands of US troops in that city. The following quotes are taken from an article in the CBC's own website archive!!!:

Last Updated Tue, 29 Apr 2003 21:34:09 FALLUJAH, IRAQ - U.S. soldiers opened fire on a crowd of Iraqi protesters late Monday. Iraqi sources say 13 Iraqis were killed and 75 injured.

A hospital director in Fallujah, 50 kilometres west of Baghdad, said the dead included three boys younger than 11.(for the entire article click here)

It took me less than a minute to search the CBC archive and find the article that detailed American forces killing children in Fallujah. Now that would seem to explain a little better the roots of the uprising, so why isn't it mentioned?