In an attempt to underscore the notion that violence wrecked the Iraqi elections — which anyone watching the live coverage and aware of the high turnout knows is false — Reuters uses the following headline to characterize the historic developments:
Violence-Weary Iraqis Await Poll Results
How do they support the headline in the story? They show these examples of “violence-weary” first-time voters:
Up to 8 million Iraqis, some ululating with joy, others hiding their faces in fear, cast ballots across the country on Sunday as guerrilla attacks proved less ferocious than anticipated in the face of a massive security crackdown. …
Samir Hassan, 32, who lost his leg in a car bomb blast last year, said as he waited to vote in Baghdad: “I would have crawled here if I had to. I don’t want terrorists to kill other Iraqis like they tried to kill me.” …
Voters created an almost festive atmosphere in Shi’ite areas and the northern regions where Kurds, who make up nearly a fifth of Iraqis, are looking to the vote to enshrine their autonomous rule. …
By the end of the day in Baghdad, voters were rushing to get to polling stations before they closed, including some old women helped along by young boys.
Not one single mention of violence weariness appears in the Reuters report. The reporters who contributed to the article played it straight. They wanted to report the story as it happened. However, the editors at Reuters apparently want to send a different message to its readers.
Small wonder that the British news service has acquired the nickname “al-Reuters”. It earns it every day.