Tuesday, January 25, 2005

Reporting on Iraq

Only a dimwit would take the MSM seriously when it comes to reporting on the goings-on in Iraq today. Thomas Sowell's column makes a brilliant observation:

There are still people in the mainstream media who profess bewilderment that they are accused of being biased. But you need to look no further than reporting on the war in Iraq to see the bias staring you in the face, day after day, on the front page of the New York Times and in much of the rest of the media.

If a battle ends with Americans killing a hundred guerrillas and terrorists, while sustaining ten fatalities, that is an American victory. But not in the mainstream media. The headline is more likely to read: "Ten More Americans Killed in Iraq Today."

This kind of journalism can turn victory into defeat in print or on TV. Kept up long enough, it can even end up with real defeat, when support for the war collapses at home and abroad.
When the Viet-Commies admit that the U.S. media aided and abetted them into victory, it says three things: (1) our mainstream media (MSM) was (and still is) shamefully anti-American, perverted, and treasonous; (2) our media shaped and fostered domestic discontent towards the war, a war that could have been won; and (3) our politicians lacked backbone to properly fight the Vietnam War. They're trying (1) and (2) again, to see if they can bring about (3). After all, as Sowell points out:

Too many in the media today regard the reporting of the Vietnam war as one of their greatest triumphs. It certainly showed the power of the media -- but also its irresponsibility. Some in the media today seem determined to recapture those glory days by the way they report on events in the Iraq war.
They will fail. As they failed in 2000, 2002, and 2004 to influence elections, and as they failed in trying to disparage Afghanis for voting recently, and as they still disparage Iraqis in attempts to delay Iraqi elections...they will fail.