No, George - Taking Your Shoes Off Only Makes It To Twenty
by pessimist
Greg Palast has a math lesson to present to The New York Times - and all the rest of us:
Today's New York Times, page 1:"American commanders said 38 service members had been killed and 275 wounded in the Falluja assault."
Today's New York Times, page 11:
"The American military hospital here reported that it had treated 419 American soldiers since the siege of Falluja began."
Your assignment is on the next page, class.
Questions for the class:1. If 275 soldiers were wounded in Falluja and 419 are treated for wounds, how many were shot on the plane ride to Germany?
2. We're told only 275 soldiers were wounded but 419 treated for wounds; and we're told that 38 soldiers died. So how many will be buried?
3. How long have these Times reporters been embedded with with military?
Bonus question: When will they get out of bed with the military?
Today's New York Times, page 1:
"The commanders estimated that 1,200 to 1,600 insurgents had been killed."
Today's New York Times, page 11:
"Nowhere to be found: the remains of the insurgents that the tanks had been sent in to destroy. ...The absence of insurgent bodies in Falluja has remained an enduring mystery."
"Every time I hear the news
That old feeling comes back on;
We're waist deep in the Big Muddy
And the Big Fool says to push on."- Pete Seeger, 1967
Well I've got a couple more numbers to add to the quiz:
Report Says Dozens Of Iraqi Policemen Abducted
Officials with Iraq's Interior Ministry are trying to confirm a report today that at least 31 police officers were kidnapped while returning from training in neighboring Jordan on 14 November.The report came from one policeman, who says he escaped while some 20 armed men entered a hotel on near the Jordanian border where they were staying. He said the kidnappers hooded the unarmed policemen, tied their hands, and took them away.
The authenticity of the report could not be immediately confirmed.
I'll bet! Here's the last question:
In Al-Fallujah, U.S. and Iraqi forces were still hunting for insurgents after nine days of fighting that the U.S. military says has left some 1,600 insurgents dead.
Number nine... Number nine ... Number nine... Number nine ...
- Beatles 1968
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