The Idiot Culture and its Enablers

The Washington Post is describing the situation in Fallujah as:

U.S. Marines in the densely packed city were allowing women and children, but not young men, to make an exodus from the city where Marines have deployed air strikes and heavy ground fire against entrenched insurgents armed with automatic weapons, mortars and rocket propelled grenades. The Marines were also permitting food and medicine to enter Fallujah.

That doesn't quite gel with the description offered by the Australian press

THOUSANDS of Sunni and Shiite Muslims forced their way through US military checkpoints Thursday to ferry food and medical supplies to the besieged Sunni bastion of Fallujah where US marines are trying to crush insurgents.

Troops in armoured vehicles tried to stop the convoy of cars and pedestrians from reaching the town located 50 kilometers west of Baghdad.

But US forces were overwhelmed as residents of villages west of the capital came to the convoy's assistance, hurling insults and stones at the beleaguered troops.

....

Two US Humvees tried to stop the marchers but were forced to drive off as residents joined the marchers, shouting "Allahu Akbar" (God is greater).

US troops again blocked the highway further west, but were forced to let the Iraqis past as they came under a hail of stones.

Sitting on top of supply trucks, young men also hurled empty bottles of water and waved their shoes in sign of disdain at the US troops.

Atrios has it right - this is totally FUBAR. Our press isn't doing us any favors by trying to spin it as a situation where we are in control. I guess Carl Bernstein's observation about the modern media is on point:

"Their interest in truth is secondary to their interest in huge profits."

Welcome to the idiot culture.