On yesterday's Midrats, our guest brought up a point that I have heard often - one that many members of the press feel that they - the press in general - did a poor job prior to the invasion of Iraq.
I don't know if I fully agree with that statement, everything has a time and context. There is a little bit too much Monday morning quarterbacking; I don't think there was a failure of the press then. It was what it was.
I do know where they are failing now - and that is in the end of the Iraq war. Once it became clear that the surge worked - most of the press was wrong in that respect - by the time President Obama took office the reporting has been little to none. Now that the President has announced the complete withdrawal from Iraq at the end of the year - very little reporting has been done that asks the tough questions. Very little in depth discussions about the 2nd and 3rd order effects.
Max Boot's latest at WSJ gets close - but he isn't a reporter.
Failure on Iraq reporting? In the past you could debate that - what you can't debate is the failure of the press now.
29 comments:
The Press are doing what they set out to do...just like Cronkite about Vietnam.
The rest is just detail.
That's one way to read it...another way to read it is that our national security interest in Iraq is almost entirely a function of our presence there. As that presence ends, there's less of interest to the American public to write about.
Well, there is one thing that governs news: it is not a news if everyone is doing their job right - it is when some disaster strikje that it's news...
and re: Iraq withdrawal - do you really think staying longer a year or five would make the difference in the long run? - or are you thinking of sort of "permanent troops presence" of kind that made Soviets hated in Eastern Europe?
Anon,
By that logic, press coverage should have surged with the troop surge. When it was clear the surge worked, against all the prognostication and in some cases outright wishes of the press, coverage dropped to nil.
My dealings with media types in Al Anbar, which were too many for my taste, found them highly opinionated, startlingly ignorant of recent history and current events, anti-military, and in many cases, anti-American. And these, American press.
With exceptions. Tony Perry of the LA Times, and the lovely Pam Hess, who was with UPI at the time, I believe.
"Goodnight, and go F yourself."
- the press to the US Fighting Men/Women
Sorry the above was me
Yeah, so about that name. Here I am thinking I'm doing a good thing, saving the taxpayer a few bucks by installing RAM into my computer myself instead of calling out a "site visit" by tech support, and I am getting constant "chasis intrusion alarms" and my cookies were cleared.
So much for being cost effective.
I recall many of the young and rebellious (similar to todays OWS with Marxist banners and goals and everything) Germans protesting daily outside of the US bases in Germany in the 80s.
Many of the more rational Germans didn't hate the US/Nato for the years after WWII as it probably prevented seeing the Soviets hated in Western Europe as the were in Eastern Europe.
It was fascinating to watch the interest by the press function in inverse proportion to the number of US troops dying and the rise in success against driving AQ out of the country. You don't see many stories about the Iraqis who wanted us to stay a bit longer and who are nervous as we leave them to the predators among them.
A "chasis intrusion" probably would clear your cookies and a few other things. Just sayin'
well played, Sir
Reporting on casualties after 20 JAN 2009 does not support the narrative.
signed,
The Lame Stream Media Deciders
The way that this whole thing was handled was a disservice to everyone who ever contributed anything with regard to our work in Iraq. The greatest disservice done is to those who valiantly lost their lives there and their families who suffered that loss. The indignity of that disservice will be amplified greatly as Iraq suffers in the future. With a prosperous, evolving Iraq the families of those lost there could at least have something to look at as an example of what their loved ones sacrifice went toward. The current administration did nothing to try to guide Iraqi leaders toward a path that would offer security and allow sovereignty. The Iraqis are coming out of the dark ages and need help. We have enough problems negotiating Status of Forces issues with our experienced, sophisticated allies, we should not have looked to hold the Iraqis to an all or nothing--take it or leave it standard. They don't know enough to negotiate with us on a level playing field. There were a million ways out of this and the administration did not look at any of them--just to be able to say "we ended the war", yes, you did, but at what future expense...They should be ashamed.
I am beyond tired of the patronizing and leftist agenda of the major news organizations.
Personally, I blame conservatives for allowing the majority of national media to be purchased and operated by those people. As H L menken observed: "Freedom of the Press belongs to those who actually own a press."
I do believe that there would be a better and more balanced national news coverage were more conservatives to start up their own newspapers, television stations, etc, though perhaps it is too late for that. I don't know. I do know that I can do my small part through writing this or that here and there, but I don't have any sort of capital to begin a start up.
Perhaps conservatives have been too busy working to build this nation, to raise their familes and do the work that the left pontificates about. Again, I don't know. What I do know is that somehow conservatives ceded the bulk of journalism to the left, and that the dagger to the back of true objective media reporting was weilded and driven deeply home by Walter Cronkite, and the gloating over it's corpse done primarily by the crew from "60 Minutes" and The Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
But as to the good Commander's view, yes... the press has neglected what has happened in Iraq and in Afghanistan. Heralding success would have been giving praise to the previous administration, as well as to the armed forces, and besides, they are all too busy working to get the current president reelected, or at the very least, to keep a conservative OUT of the White House.
This administration and its intellectual and political fellow-travelers know no shame. Besides, the disrespect and indignity is entirely intentional.
But we dont have equivalent of Soviets in the middle east to keep US being needed - Iran, with all its posturing isn't that kind of threat.
Once they have nukes they will be much greater than they have ever been. And to Israel, they will be on par with what the Soviets were to us.
Iran managed to bleed itself dry against Soviet-style equipped and trained Iraq in the 80s. The same Iraq folded under US air power. Twice. They will be at best North Korea type of PITA. Of course if they REALLY get a death wish Israel has enough nukes to become their wishgranting genie...
Well, some data points:
--Press "deploys" too. After so many trips to the field the news orgs lose money and run out of people. NGOs have a similar problem in theater with recruiting. DoD can direct their people, and State burns through their JOs, but there ain't that many out there for those who can't write orders.
--I'm not sure we're doing a good job messaging on the gov't side in English language press. (Arabic press, particularly in country, is a different story IMAO.)
--Lots harder getting around in country these days with less DoD to hitch a ride on.
--Doesn't fit the narrative, you know. Which is a damn shame--some very interesting things going on, and the reporting that is being done is coming out more late and error-laden than usual.
In the case of an Iranian TBM first strike against Israel, even if Israel destroys Teheran and a number of other cities, what cost to Tel Aviv? Jerusalem? Haifa?
here we go again. just like viet nam. in a couple of years, or about six months after the democrats get into the white house again, iran will jump over the border and with some semi political excuse take over, either by force of arms or ballot box stuffing, the government of iraq.
then there will be another voice in the UN haranging us about what we do or want to do.
about that time the idiots in washington will be proud of the fact that we will be down to fewer nukes than they have cities with more than 250,000 residents and it'l be over for us.
C
Their coverage of the WoT is as bad as it has been everywhere.
----------------------------------------------
Here is the thing for me. Liberals and others will contend that a free press keeps you free. True. Yet the media is a thing most supportive of socialist and other anti american agenda's.
And even those supportive of the US and things the others destroy (even when they dont mean to do it) are a problem few that they are.
What is the check on the power of the press? Its shown from the begining that they cant resist giving power to the side They support and so try and sway the entire nation because they Want their side to win.
So it shouldn't suprise anyone that no one Especialy soldiers can't trust the media.
I returned mid summer from 15 months BOG in Iraq, mostly spent off-FOB and liaising w senior govt and military Iraqis. My husband, former USMC Helo pilot, currently works for DON and therefore has access to computers that allowed us to talk rather frankly about the real goings on. Month after month after month, there was little to no coverage in US press. A month or two before I left, our FOB got IDF'd more in a two week period than all other FOBs country wide combined for previous 12 months....guess what. Not a damn word about it. Long after this New Dawn crap went into affect, Americans were still losing limbs and going home under flags - all the while the administration painted a far rosier picture. Assassinations were out of control and exponentially increasing - but they had to reach a couple hundred bodies before it was begrudgingly a back page story.
Someone posted about Iran... they're there, they've been there for a while, and this last year they were flat out brazen about it. But that's not in mainstream media either, you have to have the intellectual curiosity to dig for it. Which tragically excludes many of our fellow Americans. When it was finally (thankfully) time to go, I had more than one Iraqi tell me with tears in his eyes that we were witnessing the end of his country. They spoke of ethnic cleansing, civil war, assassinations, Maliki in Iran's pocket.
I personally believe - and rather strongly - that neither Iraq nor Afghanistan are worth a single American life, and add Iran to the growing list. God help us if we are ever involved in that Tar Baby. Glass parking lot or nothing at all. And stop apologizing and rebuilding for them. These people respect power, not apologists.
Israelis have functioning, and ever improving ABM system with Arrow soon to be supported by David's Sling, plus absolute megatonnage/number of warheads advantage.Iran has missiole tech that about 50% time malfunctions, and probably very few warheads to use. See the
http://csis.org/files/media/csis/pubs/071119_iran.is&nuclearwar.pdf
for serious, cookie-cutter analysis.
And if the Iran leadership is so "end-of-days" firebrand, why corruption is such a big problem there? Why gather money when you intend to burn the world?
Damn hell, CDR! Are you implying there is no intellectual curiosity in the media?! How dare you?! Haven't you seen the golden seal work they have put into Sarah Palin? How about how much focus they put on linking the two racist signs at the tea party rallies to every conservative in America? You clearly do not appreciate the work they are doing. Iran being in Iraq doesn't even require any work. Why would they report on something so OBVIOUS.
And yes, we can drill through glass.
Was it computer love Monday? Thow shalt not touch thy RAM at work!
"<span>Why gather money when you intend to burn the world?"</span>
Because burning the world is expensive ;) !
<span>Glass parking lot or nothing at all.</span>
32 years (and counting) overdue, IMNSHO...
Back then Soviets would love to make USA glass parking lot... so it was not really an option.
Today it would give you "nobody trades with us" pariah status on a par with NK. This makes it an "theory only" option, unless you enjoy riding bicycle to work and reading newspaper only by daylight.
Of course unless Iran uses its (future) nukes first, but that is another story.
Post a Comment