All Quiet on the Eastern Front?
It is strange that all the major print and television media have gone relatively quiet with reports on the Iraq War. I wonder why? There is much to be said that all news story have their day and then they become old and stale, and no one wants to listen to old stale news.
One of the institutions that failed the American people in 2002 and 2003 was the media. Most all news organizations reported verbatim whatever the White House said. Organizations like Fox News used the White House releases and then hyped them even more. This enthusiastic, non-questioning blind regurgitation of White House propaganda was not done under duress. It resulted from the cold hard calculations of what would generate more readers, viewers, and listeners, and that translated into dollars.
The news media, of course, has always had a greater purpose than just making a buck. There is nothing wrong with making money but there is a public assumption that what is purported to be news, is accurate and news worthy. But what we witnessed was a herd mentality. Even the venerable New York Times and the Washington Post read like hawks. So it seems doubly strange that there is so little reporting in the past few weeks.
1. Has the violence suddenly stopped in Iraq?
2. Has the surge triumphed and set the stage for reconstruction?
3. Has the Administration struck a secret deal with the major media organizations and obtained their commitment to remain silent?
4. Have public opinion surveys simply determined that Americans are so fed up with the Iraq War that they simply do not want to hear, read, or see any more coverage?
I do not know the answers to these questions although if asked I would say “no” to questions 1 + 2 and “maybe” to questions 3 + 4. It is question 4 that should really scare all of us. If our country moves on and does not ask the penatrating questions on why the War was ever begun in the first place and why has it been so poorly managed (tactics and accountability) and how could a country like America produce Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo, secret CIA prisions, dismissal of Habeas Corpus and due process, and rejection of the Geneva Convention, then we are domed as a great country.
