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An Inconvenient Victory

Posted 28 Jul 2008 in media bias, victory, war

Newsbusters has an excellent post detailing how the mainstream media has minimized or, in some cases, buried the AP’s analysis of America’s imminent victory in Iraq. The article in question omits the word “surge” and, of course, doesn’t credit President Bush’s resolve and steadfast support of our military.

  • AP’s decision to run the story on a Saturday greatly reduced its exposure. Though it can’t be proven, it apears that the authors may have had what they needed to complete their work in time to send it over the wires on Friday morning US time. They indicated that they spoke to General Petraeus “this past week,” and to US ambassador to Iraq Crocker on Thursday. They did provide a troop casualty figure as of Friday, but that figure could have been provided as of a couple of days earlier without affecting the analysis.

  • The relatively few outlets carrying the story, and the headline dilutions done at some of them, probably mean that the 85% of Americans who don’t closely follow the news are not going to be aware of what Burns and Reid wrote.

It’s time to increase the pressure on the terrorists, as opposed to withdrawing and allowing al-Qaeda to declare victory. Are you listening, Mr. Obama?

I wonder if this might be how the surge’s naysayers (MSM, anti-war/anti-military liberals, Obama, et al.) must be feeling right now about their craven, premature calls for retreat. (h/t: Two Dogs)

America’s top military commander in Iraq, Gen David Petraeus, wisely cautions against anticipatory withdrawal (or redeployment) of American troops.

During a Friday interview on CNN’s “The Situation Room,” Republican candidate John McCain, who had opposed setting a timeline, appeared to shift ground. McCain said that 16 months “is a pretty good timetable” but must be based on conditions on the ground.

Meanwhile, the Bush administration has embraced “time horizons” as it negotiates with the Iraqi government a status of forces agreement over the future role of U.S. troops. Petraeus said any timetable must have “a heck of a lot more granularity than the kind of very short-hand statements that have been put out.”

“We occasionally have commanders who have so many good weeks, (they think) it’s won. We’ve got this thing. Well we don’t. We’ve had so many good weeks. Right now, for example we’ve had two-and-a-half months of levels of violence not since March 2004,” he said from his office at Camp Victory.

“Well that’s encouraging. It’s heartening. It’s very welcome. But let’s keep our powder dry. . . .Let’s not let our guard down.“

Posted by FullMetalPatriot
12th gen. American, Constitutionalist, Harley-riding Texan, gun owner & NRA member, blogger, illustrator, Florida Gator alumnus. #TCOT

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