Media Skip 2,000th Afghan War Death On Obama's Watch

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Investors Business Daily:

Media Bias: The latest incident of Afghan forces firing on NATO troops underscores the lack of media attention to an important milestone and the fact that most Afghan casualties have occurred on this president's watch.

We don't expect an apology from the Afghan government of Mohammed Karzai for the latest incident of green-on-blue violence, in which members of the Afghan security force turn on their NATO allies.

But we marvel at the media's relative indifference to things that would be screaming headlines if they happened on the watch of President George W. Bush.

On Tuesday, an Afghan soldier opened fire on a group of American troops, wounding five of them in Wardak province in eastern Afghanistan. It was the second such gunning in three days. On Sunday, an Afghan policeman shot and killed three British soldiers.

There have been dozens of such incidents this year, costing the lives of 26 NATO soldiers.

When a U.S. soldier inexplicably ran amok and killed 16 Afghan civilians, it received widespread coverage and prompted an apology from President Obama. "I am deeply saddened by the reported killing and wounding of Afghan civilians," he said in a statement. "I offer my condolences to the families and loved ones of those who lost their lives, and to the people of Afghanistan, who have endured too much violence and suffering."

No apologies have been forthcoming from the Afghan side for the wounding and killing of NATO and U.S. troops by "friendly fire." Nor has there been any attention paid to this fact by major media that have also ignored factoids they did not ignore under the prior administration.

Tim Graham of the Media Research Center notes that CBS News was alone among media outlets when on June 13 it did a story on the number of NATO, and largely American, deaths in Afghanistan reaching the 2,000 mark. Included was an interview by reporter David Martin with the mother of a fallen Marine.