Any excuse for a party, even the grisliest one

It's almost time for THE BIG EVENT!

That's right, our Canadian media outlets are gearing up RIGHT NOW for a coverage blitz of this season's MOST IMPORTANT DATE! Columns have already been written, interviews have been done, background pieces are "in the can." What, you think I'm talking about the election?

I'm talking about the 100th Canadian death in Afghanistan.

I've confirmed with multiple sources in both the media and the military that organizations like the Toronto Star, the Globe & Mail, and the CBC are putting together pieces for a full-coverage extravaganza when the inevitable 100th Canadian death in Afghanistan occurs. I doubt that's a comprehensive list, as I'm confident CP, CanWest, and everyone else in the herd will surely follow suit.

CF personnel will do what they do so well - harden themselves, dig in, and soldier on. From an e-mail I received from an infrequent correspondent:

They are prepping for what might be a large spread on Afstan when/if we hit the 100th death. They see this number as a psychologically momentous event that will shift attitudes and operations in the CF.

They couldn't be more wrong.

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What made me ill is the press' death watch attitude that they're salivating over, almost as though the deaths in the 90's don't count except for placeholders until we reach that 'big 100.'

These people that are dying are/were like you and I, and all the press cares about is that stupid number. Sensationalization, uncaring, and fear mongering comes to mind. Unsure what the agenda is, but I'm betting that it isn't pro-military.

Journalists with any sort of integrity are distancing themselves from these unseemly efforts where they can, and attempting to make the coverage respectful where they can't. In a lot of cases, editors and producers will be driving the decisions on how the coverage plays, as usual. Ask yourself how many media people were in Trenton when Sgt Shipway came home, and ask yourself how many will be there when the soldier unlucky enough to be #100 comes home.

Is Shipway any less worthy of our attention than Smith or Goddard?

The MSM will respond that this is a milestone, and as such an apt moment to reflect upon the mission.

Yes, because we need shiny baubles like deathwatch milestones to make us reflect - right? They feed Canadians' collective ADD by focusing on the next story, the next soundbite, the next headline - all with breathless mock-seriousness, no matter what the ad-hook of the moment is. An idiot communications staffer? Front page, above the fold! 100th Canadian soldier dies? Wait for it...front page, above the fold! Unlike the poor sods who came before, or who will surely come after.

Don Martin, of all people, got it right just about a month ago:

Now that two deaths in the past four days have pushed the total of fallen soldiers in Afghanistan to 90, the spectre of Canada's 100th military casualty looms large.

With political statements of regret becoming almost photocopies where only the name of the deceased changes, ramp ceremonies so routine they barely make the news, and the issue of allowing reporters to cover repatriation ceremonies no longer a concern for media who rarely bother to show up anyway, we have become blase to the individual sacrifice of soldiers dying at an average rate of two per month.

The 100th death will undoubtedly refocus Canadian minds on the human cost of a mission with three years left on the clock, particularly if that moment comes in the middle of a federal election campaign.

The 100th British soldier who died in next-door Helmand province, two months ago, became the catalyst for a great debate as the nation took stock of its hefty losses for a cause many questioned.

Yet nowhere is it written that Canada's 90th dead soldier, a master corporal and "gentle giant" named Erin Doyle, doesn't represent an equally tragic moment to review what's going on in our military deployment, particularly given the strange happenings in Kandahar these days.

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If there's one certainty in this uncertain scenario, it is that Canadian casualties will continue to rise almost to the moment when the last private boards a Globemaster leaving for Trenton in late 2011.

Every one, be it ramp ceremony 99 or 101, rates a nation's mourning.

I would add that every day Canadian soldiers venture outside the wire, far from their families, Canadians should be paying attention to their sacrifices and the mission that necessitates their toll.

It shouldn't take a round-numbered death to make us pay attention.

But we're going to get force-fed a news-cycle's worth of attention by the Canadian media nonetheless, and told they're doing us a service. They should be ashamed. One wonders if they have any shame left at this point.

Update: Two comments on this topic from SDA, both worth noting...

When I was in the army a friend of mine had to accompany a dead soldier home from Bosnia. No Honour Guard, no Highway Of Heroes, not even more than a paragraph in the paper. Just him, coming through the Air Canada cargo terminal, on a commercial flight with a coffin and having to deal with customs agents at O dark thirty.

...and...

Odd that the MSM didn't fall over themselves to report the 1000th or 4000th insurgent casualty?

Must not rate newsworthy when our side wins.

Remember those two tidbits of information the next time the MSM tells you it's just an unbiased observer, reporting the news. When you decide what's news and what isn't, you're editorializing by stealth...