They just can't resist reaching for the sensational

Further to Mark's post below, I've come to the frustrated conclusion that all too many of our supposedly sober and professional press in this country are so desperate for The! Big! Story! that they can't resist sensationalizing to get it.

Exhibit A, from the Globe and bloody Mail - here's the text:

Tuesday, the Taliban moved into villages just outside Kandahar city, as Canadian officials played down suggestions that combat was imminent between the insurgents and NATO troops.

Reports that the Taliban took over villages are greatly exaggerated, officials say.

The officials do not dispute reports of an increased insurgent presence in the Arghandab region, or reports of bombed-out culverts and planted land mines.

But they say a more accurate description of the situation in Arghandab is that the Taliban have entered a handful of villages to make their presence felt.

But look, just look at the graphic they put up beside it!



"Heavily armed Taliban fighters drove trucks, motorbikes, and other vehicles into Arghandab district, taking control of the lush valley after only minor skirmishes" (my emphasis) the header says, and a shaded section of the map says "Taliban-controlled area."

Are you f-ing kidding me?

If the Talibs have "control" of the valley, how is it that LCol Dave Corbould, CO of the 2PPCLI Battle Group in Kandahar was able to personally go in and out of Arghandab and live to tell reporters about it?

Coalition troops on Tuesday were increasing their presence in Arghandab, according to Lt.-Col. Dave Corbould, commanding officer of the battle group of 2nd Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry.

"It is clear that Kandahar City remains firmly under the control of the Afghan government and its people," he said.

"Indeed, having just returned from the Arghandab district centre, I can tell you that there were no obvious signs of insurgent activity," Corbould said.

"While this does not mean the Taliban are not there, they just do not appear to have the foothold that they have apparently claimed."

The gleeful exaggeration at the G&M continued with the bloviating Jeffrey Simpson stuffing both feet in his mouth at once:

In Kandahar, a brilliantly executed attack on Sarpoza Provincial Prison liberated hundreds of Taliban fighters and common criminals. A few former prisoners were later rounded up, but most now are safely scattered around the province. Subsequently, the Taliban and its supporters captured whole villages near Kandahar. [my emphasis]

Whole villages, eh, Jeffrey? Care to tell us which ones? Come on: you're asserting it as a fact, right? In direct contradiction to a light colonel who's actually on the ground, going into Arghandab himself.

I won't hold my breath waiting for the retraction.

You want to know what responsible reporting reads like? Try Rosie DiManno on for size:

One local tribal elder reported that the Taliban had taken control of 18 villages northwest of the Arghandab River and had started digging trenches for combat cover.

Certainly, the Taliban's ubiquitous spokespeople have been saying quite a lot, claiming 450 Taliban were among the fugitives who escaped from Sarposa and that nearly all have joined up with Taliban units to engage anew in jihad.

...

Although insurgents have infiltrated – rather than seized – villages in the Arghandab valley before, as recently as a year ago, they've always been repelled by ISAF and Afghan troops rumbling to the rescue.

And the National Post puts up a far more honest graphic:



So to the idiots at the Globe & Mail: show me where exactly Canadian and Afghan troops can't go in Arghandab. Because the Taliban can't be said to control a damned thing otherwise...

...except maybe a Toronto newsroom.