New Face Of The Armed Forces
For the longest time, the President's "stay the course" meme translated into "can do" MSM images of the American fighting machine. Now, the growing reality of the Iraq quagmire and the escalating rejection of the war seems to have finally ushered in a new theme. Call it: "Feeling the...
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Abu Ghraib: Parting Shots
Looking at these photos, one question you have to ask is, how much of the jubilation expressed at the bus station is the expression of freedom granted to the innocent? And, how many of those shipped to other locations remain in limbo under quasi-legal status?
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Killed With Their Own Megaphone
Adnan Hajj not withstanding, why would Hezbollah -- along with other Islamist political factions in the Middle East and Asia -- need to stage photo ops when they (and their PR operatives) are using conventional savvy to run circles around the MSM? When the history of spin is recorded, I...
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Lost?
I invite your analysis and interpretation of the latest Economist cover. Still, I couldn't help jumping the gun with my own Middle East A, B, C's. (Yes, letters courtesy of The BAG.) Primarily, I question the assertion that Uncle Sam is lost at all.
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A Day To Celebrate
As the perfect corollary to yesterday's disgusting, yet completely unsurprising news that Bush has been milking the London airline terror plot for days, here's the shot the White House featured on it's photo gallery as the news (finally) broke.
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So, What's Your Point?
We've been witnessing Administration finger wagging for years now. I don't recall an instance, however, when it came back at them like this. Maybe "Old Europe" has finally had it with America's "New Middle East."
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Spasms In Rome
Yesterday, Condi Rice stymied a whole contingent of Arab and European countries in Rome, arguing against the vision of a "non-sustainable" cease fire in Lebanon. At the press briefing following the meeting, she took an emotional pummeling for it from an empassioned Lebanese Prime Minister, Fuad Siniora. Yesterday in Rome,...
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Screw The U.N.
July 15: A man hurls a stone at a U.N. vehicle carrying bodies away from the Tyre hospital. The Lebanese government called on the U.N. Security Council to establish a cease-fire. (image: Hassan Ammar/AFP-Getty. Tyre, Lebanon.
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Killing A Cougar
News coverage of the war doesn't usually say much about the firepower of the Iraq insurgency. As part of a general war update, however, yesterday's LAT reported that a roadside bomb had destroyed an American armored vehicle outside Ramadi, killing three G.I.'s. The story then went into some detail...
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Early Warning?
Isn't it a strange twist of fate that Steven Green was featured in this Army News Service photo back on December 9th of last year in the town of Mullah Fayed?
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A More Human Face On Guantanamo
Two weeks ago, The BAG anticipated that the Pentagon had no choice but to open up the view into Guantanamo. (And, that was before the Supreme Court negated the Bush terror prosecution strategy.) These photos, released by the military right before the court decision, seemed to anticipate the...
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Tall Tales
Visually, the story of the Sears Tower plot -- allegedly broken up by the DOJ -- had everything going for it ... except a credible threat.
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Military Tragedy Vs. Bush Bounce
Kristian Menchaca, 23, of Houston, Texas, went missing after a checkpoint attack near Yusufiya, Iraq.... Menchaca is one of the two U.S. soldiers found dead after they became missing on Friday at a checkpoint in Yusufiya, a town in an area south of Baghdad. (Menchaca family/Handout/Reuters) bare arm This...
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Why Gitmo's Commander Was Disappeared (Or: My Secret Guard Den)
"Tuesday night, while packing to leave Guantanamo Bay, I called Bumgarner's cell phone to say goodbye.... It was Navy Capt.-select Katie Hampf, Bumgarner's second-in-command. She now had Bumgarner's phone because she was acting prison commander.... A spokesman said Bumgarner's decision to allow us to listen in on staff meetings...
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Gitmo: Parting The Curtains … Somewhat
If you've been looking out -- as The BAG has -- for newswire photos from Guantanamo, you've likely been bored and frustrated in equal measure. I mean, a person can only stand so many long range silhouetted photos of guard towers. With the Administration really beginning to bleed from the...
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Reclaiming Iraq – Part 1: Media Shock And Awe
Still, I couldn't help getting a jump on the major PR assault the White House unleashed on Baghdad this morning. By now, everyone knows that Bush stealthily dropped in on Prime Minister Maliki as part of the Administration's much ballyhooed re-re-re-re-re-re-launch of the Iraqi campaign. I just wanted to...
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Give Me The Largest Frame You've Got
Of course, the "elimination" of Zarqawi was a strategic accomplishment which provides a moral boost both to the U.S. military and also the nascent government of Iraq. How big was Zarqawi, though? You can look at this pic from today's parade, and think he was huge. You have only to listen...
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Haditha: Return Of The "Bad Apples?"
As the Haditha killings work their way into the public consciousness and impact the political calculus of the war, The BAG is curious how the corresponding visual narrative is going to play. These three shots -- taken on a night raid in Haditha and dated simply "2005" -- showed up...
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