Ed Morrissey makes an absolutely critical point after reading news reports that the Taliban “used women and children as human shields as they tried to escape into the mountains of Afghanistan.” Morrissey writes:
This has two purposes for the Taliban. First, it keeps Western forces from firing on them, as they know that Coalition troops will try to protect civilians where possible. Secondly as just as importantly from a strategic point of view, any women and children killed in the battle will almost certainly be blamed on the Western forces by the Western media. It allows the Taliban to continue their propaganda blitz against the West, one in which the media has unwittingly (in most cases) found themselves a pawn to the Islamists.
I’m a little busy this afternoon with other writing projects, but in the meantime, don’t miss “Have the Mainstream Media Ignored Our Heroes?” by Cap Weinberger and Wynton Hall, and Mark Levin’s latest post. Both pieces are must-reads today.