CNN's Headlines - Fool me once...we won't get fooled again

Here are the top six headlines listed on CNN.com right now.

Near-simultaneous truck bombs kill 50 in Iraqi city

U.S. commander: No civil war in Iraq

Shepperd: Army did Tillman family a disservice

Blair warns Iran about captured troops

U.S. begins big show of force in Persian Gulf

As political battles rage, Bush steers to ethanol

Here is my take on this.

Several bombs went off in Iraq killing many people which happens at least once a day now.  However, a US commander says there is no civil war in Iraq.  He, of course, is telling the truth.  And yet we now find that the military committed a despicable act by lying to us about something as simple as how a good man was killed in Afghanistan.  Lied to his family.  And even when they knew the truth they attended the funeral letting the lie persist.   And yet we should believe them when they say there is no civil war.   In other news, Britian is very mad at Iran about the incident in the gulf.  Oh, look, what a coincidence, the US of A has just begun a huge show of force in the Gulf.

And with all this going on, there are political battles raging (not to mention the real wars raging in two countries) and the president is talking about ethanol.

I've got a good idea where this is headed.  And I don't think ethanol is going to help in the shorterm.

•  Would've been perfect if the last headline read

  Corn Can't Solve Our Problem

  by pontechango on Tue Mar 27, 2007 at 12:19:57 PM PDT

  •  What about maize?

    Can maize solve out problems?

    by michael1104 on Tue Mar 27, 2007 at 12:23:26 PM PDT

  •  Look! Something Bright and Pretty!

    heh.

    Maybe we'll get distracted...

    by JDWolverton on Tue Mar 27, 2007 at 12:26:50 PM PDT

•  Of course ethanol will help short term...

  You don't see ADM complaining about it, do you?

  by catnap1972 on Tue Mar 27, 2007 at 12:20:33 PM PDT

  •  Exactly!

    by gchaucer2 on Tue Mar 27, 2007 at 12:29:50 PM PDT

    •  maybe we

      could have an ethanol powered aircraft carrier?  The wars could all be "green".

      by onemadson on Tue Mar 27, 2007 at 12:31:16 PM PDT

      •  Well the carriers are nucs, but if we could get

        airplanes, tanks, etc. to burn ethanol, it would be just swell!

        by coloradocomet on Tue Mar 27, 2007 at 12:37:40 PM PDT

        •  Biodiesel n/t

          by buddabelly on Tue Mar 27, 2007 at 12:41:46 PM PDT

        •  can we throw some corn in the reactors?

          i was pretty sure the carriers were nukes but i'm not up on my naval warship lingo so i figured i err there instead of saying "destroyer" or something else and not getting the ships right.  I know there are carriers there because my friend's brother just got dropped off on one.   When my wife said, "so he'll be bombing iran soon?"  The friend replied, "probably".  

          Grim.

          by onemadson on Tue Mar 27, 2007 at 12:49:51 PM PDT

  •  Or Jack Daniels...n/t

    by kmiddle on Tue Mar 27, 2007 at 01:05:33 PM PDT

•  talking ethanol, thinking alcohol?

  Or does Bush know the difference?

  by creekobear on Tue Mar 27, 2007 at 12:23:15 PM PDT

  •  Drinking ethanol. (n/t)

    by jrooth on Tue Mar 27, 2007 at 12:27:49 PM PDT

•  Meh.

  And yet we should believe them when they say there is no civil war.

  Whether they are believed or not, it doesn't change the news of daily bombings.  It also doesn't seem to affect public opinion too much considering a solid 60% of the American public already wants troops withdrawn within a year.

  by GTPinNJ on Tue Mar 27, 2007 at 12:24:06 PM PDT

•  Kyra Phillips' inverview with William Fallon

  From the video accompanying the story at CNN:

  Question: And you don't think there's civil war?

  Fallon: No, I don't think its a civil war. There are factions that are fighting one another. [CNN cut]

  CNN cuts Fallon off right on 'another'. We do not get to hear his full answer. I suspect his answer went on to discuss the fighting and give a description of what many would describe as a civil war (and contradictory statements). I think it stinks of selective editing. Sure, Admiral Fallon said he didn't think Iraq was in a civil war, but then to quote the CNN story:

  A Pentagon report this month said some elements of the Iraq conflict fit the definition of civil war, but the term "does not adequately capture the complexity of the conflict."

  Then again, neither did CNN and Kyra Phillips.

  by Magnifico on Tue Mar 27, 2007 at 12:26:13 PM PDT

  •  The players are not wearing uniforms

    or funny hats, ergo no civil war.

    Wasn't that simple?

    by NCrefugee on Tue Mar 27, 2007 at 12:31:10 PM PDT

    •  Swords!!!!

      You forgot swords...no swords, no Civil War.

      Hey, that's what I heard...

      by kmiddle on Tue Mar 27, 2007 at 01:06:52 PM PDT

      •  Cavalry -

        that's what made Afghanistan a civil war.

        by Bob Love on Tue Mar 27, 2007 at 03:28:24 PM PDT

•  Fox news

  What pisses me off about fox news more than anything else is that they have somehow convinced  a lot of people that CNN is "left-wing biased," which is obviously a joke,  making Fox somehow mainstream media.  Somehow Fox has shifted the categorization of the MSM 10 steps to the right.

  by Forrest79 on Tue Mar 27, 2007 at 12:31:04 PM PDT

  •  i look at it everyday

    and since i don't watch Fox it sure seems right wing to me.

    by onemadson on Tue Mar 27, 2007 at 12:32:15 PM PDT

    •  Onemadson

      I gave you a rec above since you did not put out a tip jar.  
      Your diary is great and really sums things up.

      by ScienceMom on Tue Mar 27, 2007 at 12:35:50 PM PDT

      •  thanks n/t

        i've never understood tip jars.   does that just get me more trusted user status or does it help you to get on the recommended diaries list?   If it doesn't help boost you on the the rec list, i don't have much use for added mojo.  

        by onemadson on Tue Mar 27, 2007 at 12:45:53 PM PDT

        •  i do however

          understand n/t in a subject line.  I just made a mistake.

          by onemadson on Tue Mar 27, 2007 at 12:46:26 PM PDT

•  let CNN say what it wants, MSNBC says

  58 dead
  http://www.msnbc.msn.com/...

  Also, I am glad I saw this thread because I was wondering just how a small time state like the UK will force Iran to hand over the captured soldiers.

  UK is a lame duck squatting in the hind quaters of big bro Uncle Sam.

  US is lfexing muscles with a Navy exercise to send Iran a message.

  Iran will do what Iran wants to do.
  Will US open a new battle front with Iran over these 15 soldiers? Nope!

  And thats why the soldiers have  a long vacation planned somewhere in Iran.

  They now have an idea of how one feels when Gitmo-ized.

  by wuod kwatch on Tue Mar 27, 2007 at 12:35:15 PM PDT

  •  Expand the war

    Bush is looking for any excuse to get voters minds off of Iraq.  He has found the perfect solution, Iran.  

    by wapitig8r on Tue Mar 27, 2007 at 12:37:44 PM PDT

•  It's not a civil war; it's worse.

  It's many factions - sectarian, tribal, clan - fighting each other.  If it was a "civil" war, our troops might have a chance of knowing who wanted to take them out.

  The proper terminology is "chaos".  

  by wozzle on Tue Mar 27, 2007 at 12:55:39 PM PDT

•  In the short-term, it could help

  If we're looking at oil from Iran being cut-off, maybe from the other Gulf nations. Ethanol could help in the short-term. In the long-term, we'll all be dead.....

  by FischFry on Tue Mar 27, 2007 at 01:41:56 PM PDT

  •  short term

    for me is what those ships in the gulf do.  Start firing or leave.  I don't think ethanol is going to help there.

    by onemadson on Tue Mar 27, 2007 at 02:53:59 PM PDT

•  Nonsense! Ethanol will work fine

  as soon as we release all that ice locked in Mars' polar caps, flood the planet, terraform it to support raising ethanol plants, and figure out how to beam it back here.  

  by Bob Love on Tue Mar 27, 2007 at 03:24:55 PM PDT