Iraq 'Civil War'
First off...I want to apologize for not answering the comments left here and for not making my usual rounds of the blogsphere.
Unfortunately I am fighting an infection that has laid me up the last two days. I hope to be feeling much better by this weekend.
NBC News made a dramatic announcement yesterday: Effective immediately, it will call the sectarian conflict in Iraq a civil war. And that's the way it is, as a rival network once upon a time might have put it.
"Today" Show host Matt Lauer - last heard from describing the progress of Scooby-Doo and SpongeBob SquarePants down Broadway during Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade - said his network gave "careful thought and consideration" to its decision. No doubt.
But that doesn't mean that what's happening in Iraq - as disturbing as it is - rises to the level of civil war.
As the White House noted in disputing NBC's decision, the increasing violence in Iraq is avicious but localized, largely centered around Baghdad - hardly a nationwide civil war.
What's the difference, you might ask; isn't this just a word game?
Hardly.
As radio host Don Imus suggested, NBC seems to be striving for a Walter Cronkite moment - a single broadcast decision that produces a major impact on public opinion about a long and difficult war, just as Cronkite did during Vietnam.
And that, of course, is the whole point.
Once Iraq becomes, in the public mind, a civil war between opposing factions competing for political power - and not a case of a terrorist insurgency aimed ultimately at Western civilization - the sentiment for a hasty withdrawal grows.
As does NBC's perceived power.
Which almost certainly is why NBC made its announcement yesterday.
But wishing doesn't make it so. And misrepresenting the situation in Iraq in hopes of ending the U.S. commitment there - and enhancing one's status at home - won't mitigate the disaster if this country abandons its mission.
Something for Matt Lauer to consider - if he can drag himself away from his next one-on-one with Ol' SpongeBob.
posted by American Crusader @ 10:54 AM
18 comments
18 Comments:
let's just call it a conflict of interests. or a skirmish. or how about a difference of opinions.
someone needs to get a clue. our very existence depends on it.
p.s. i really hope you're doing better.
Crusader,
Before I read your article here, first let me send you all my best wishes for a swift and complete recovery.
The Civil War that NBC wants the American public to believe is really happening in only three provinces.
You would think that a civil war would be nationwide.
NBC is more concerned about its ratings than in reporting the truth.
Thanks AOW...we are both here at the same time.
NBC's agenda: promote cut-and-run.
Is Iraq in a civil war? Maybe. Discerning between tribal warfare and civil war is not so easy to do in Islamic nations.
But it's not NBC's place to decide.
right nance a "skirmish"..I luv that one!..great read and get to feelin better AC!
Sorry you've been feeling poorly, AC. So have I, but I'm doing a lot better now. I hope you are too.
NBC just makes it up the way they want to. I quit watching them a long time ago; I'm not interested in fiction.
Is NBC the new CBS?
Fair and Balanced is a catchphrase these days.
News organizations have become as much a part of the story as reporting the story.
Maybe it's always been this way.
Sensationalism and ratings are actually berating the truth these days in today's media. this is why I hardly watch television news at all anymore, even Fox.
In regard to making blog rounds, I am equally as guilty, but I'm trying.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
A Civil War would mean that this is a war between Iraqis and Iraqis.
Since the current Iraqi government was elected in internationally certified elections, free of unfair influence by the US, that would imply that the US is not the problem.
Anyone who thinks that a US withdrawal will bring peace to the country is a fool.
AC, I hope you're feeling better!
I hardly get my news from the TV or other major outlets anymore, because it is all plastic and sensationalist. You may as well get the info from Jon Stewart, which incidentally, most college kids do.
Hmmm, I thought the war was a "problem to be solved"; isn't that what Nancy The San Francisco Treat Pelosi says? [/sarc]
Hope you feel better!
Ive read that brooke.
Thanks atheling2 and thanks for stopping by..
Hey hope you're feelin better. I haven't been hit yet but I know somethin's out there...just ready to ambush me.
3,000 dead and uncounted wounded every month, Sunni's fighting Shiites for control of the country's wealth and political power, and it's not a civil war?
Of course it will be worst in the places where the two religions are mixed, and at a low level where they are not - duh!
Does anyone really believe that our staying in the middle of this carnage is going to end it? We'll see Hillary Clinton holding hands with Sam Brownback before that day comes.
3,000 dead and uncounted wounded every month, Sunni's fighting Shiites for control of the country's wealth and political power, and it's not a civil war?
Of course it will be worst in the places where the two religions are mixed, and at a low level where they are not - duh!
Does anyone really believe that our staying in the middle of this carnage is going to end it? We'll see Hillary Clinton holding hands with Sam Brownback before that day comes.
Post a Comment
<< Home