L.A. Times Bans 'Resistance Fighters' in Iraq News

L.A. Times Bans 'Resistance Fighters' in Iraq News
Wed Nov 5, 9:21 PM ET Add Top Stories - Reuters to My Yahoo!


By Dan Whitcomb

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The Los Angeles Times has ordered its reporters to stop describing anti-American forces in Iraq (news - web sites) as "resistance fighters," saying the term romanticizes them and evokes World War II-era heroism.

The ban was issued by Melissa McCoy, a Times assistant managing editor, who told the staff in an e-mail circulated on Monday night that the phrase conveyed unintended meaning and asked them to instead use the terms "insurgents" or "guerrillas."


McCoy told Reuters in an interview on Wednesday that the memo followed a discussion among top editors at the paper and was not sparked by reader complaints. The memo first surfaced on the Web site L.A. Observed (www.laobserved.com)

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http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=564&ncid=564&e=45&u=/nm/20031106/ts_nm/iraq_usa_media_dc

George Washington and the Minutemen were "insurgents" and "guerillas"

No, she probably thought they were Terrorists....

I don't want to romanticize any part of this miserable goddamned massacre.

Personally, I prefer to use the term "victim" when referring to any Iraqi citizen, whether he or she be an insurgent, a guerrilla or a resistance fighter.