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In WW2, Korea and for the most part in Vietman, the media knew who the enemy was, where they were and could duck, take cover and be protected. It's a bit different when you don't know when or where the next car bomb is going to explode. It's a bit more difficult to fight or protect one's self from an unseen bomb planted by cowards who depend on such tactics to bring about fear and don't care who they kill than it is an enemy that has a face and is not afraid to face you.
To compare this war with any of the past wars is a bit of a stretch regardless if it is in comparing it to the media role or from the soldiers role.

The death of those in the media or military is certainly a sad and difficult situation to face. As for the cartoon. It told a story from one individuals perception regardless of the timing of such.

Good points, just all of which I agree with.
However, roadside bombs are reminiscent of mines and other booby traps used in places like Vietnam.

Allen,

Since you asked what people thought, I'd say it was a typical low shot taken by you and the media. It may be a salient statement, but would it have been any less so if you had allowed a few days before printing it? The loss of life by members of the media or our soldiers and marines are cause for concern and grief, but why don't we focus on the radical scum that is the cause of it? The media is wallowing in the evil things happening in Iraq, rather than exalting the courage of our soldiers, martines, and, yes, media, that are there. But, I guess the old adage is true, if it bleeds it leads. Good news and courageous acts don't sell newspapers do they?

Editorial cartoons aim to provoke, period. If the results of such provocation include a rethinking of or re-evaluation of policy, all the better, in the minds of many artists.

My reading of the cartoon was not that it made light of the terrible loss of the two members of CBS. I suspect the people who cover Iraq everyday understand the risks and accept them; and also know that when one of their own, an editorial cartoonist, is doing their job, the weapons of art don't usually spare "collateral damage". Art of this genre is not meant to play nice.

Politicians have the power granted them by voters and insured by corporate money. Governments move like glaciers. Art has to be smarter and wage stealth wars against complacency.

The real issue may well be whether a newspaper wants to leave itself open to the dangers of war-related art which may be fighting its own (c)overt campaign.

"However, roadside bombs are reminiscent of mines and other booby traps used in places like Vietnam."(Allen)

Yep, Allen they were used in Nam but they were as a rule not placed in the middle of civilain populations to take lives of innocents who just might have been in the way, just for political purposes. Yes, occassionaly there was a bomb set in one of the clubs in some cities but it was as a rule placed where military frequented and not Vietnamese. The other boobytraps etc were placed in jungles and villages where we expected them to be, unfortunately we didn't always discover them all before they did the damage. I an others will continue our lives carrying the scars caused by those. I can only recall one or two instances where humans were used as bombers, unlike the frequency with which the terrorist are doing today. The VC would occassionaly use civilians as shields but still far less than we are seeing in Iraq. So Allen there is still a vast difference in the previous theaters of conflict and that of Iraq. Glad however that you do agree with the points I made earlier .

I stand corrected.

The larger percentage of media KIA in Iraq is the result of two things.
One, the media has wide, broad, open access to all aspects of US involvement in Iraq except special ops activities.
Second, the terrorist opposition to the democratically elected government is killing as many people as they can, regardless of affiliation, in order to brutally capitalize on the media propensity to report violence above all other stories.
So, in a tragic sense, the broad coverage by the media results in more of them being killed and wounded.
The terrorists are media savvy, make no mistake about it. They learned long ago how to maximize media coverage to get their message out.
Just my $.02.