Media Favorites
| August 12th, 2008 by Robert | Word Count: 1242 | Reading Time 5:02 | 2,439 views |
Since the Iraq invasion in 2003, Americans and politicians alike have wondered when the war would be complete. Defeat was never an option or even a part of the equation. The war carried a predetermined fate of victory already achieved. Our resolve to protect freedom’s life and virtue in the dawn of a new age of fear and death brought upon us by radical terrorist extremists could and would not be deterred. Everyone knew going in, we would win. We would rise from the ashes of 9/11 and protect our country and freedom at all costs to be victorious in this fight of good versus evil.
However, what exactly is victory in a war on terror? In WW2, victory was simple – defeat the enemy by submission to our demands. Our enemies were forced to surrender or face obliteration. Germany gave in when the result was clear and we were in clear site of Berlin. Hitler gave in by taking the coward’s way out. He sacrificed his country’s honor and never faced the consequences for his actions on this earth. Japan on the other hand, forced our hands. Of course everyone knows the history of our bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki leading to the end of the Pacific campaign. Japan’s emperor surrendered to our demands because he knew if he did not, his country and nearly every civilian in it would pay the price of death. Victory was easy to determine. We achieved unconditional surrender from our enemy nations.
Is that even possible in our current war? No. We are not fighting an entity such as a state, country, or political party. We are fighting a segment of society. This segment exists everywhere, not just in one location. There is no President or Emperor to sign a treaty of surrender. There is no city to bomb into oblivion to force a nation’s hand. There is no road to Berlin that forces the insane dictator to choose death rather than facing the consequences. We are fighting an unknown enemy, an ideology, a theoretical army of combatants that looks just like innocent civilians.
And so, the war continues to carry on. We are now 5+ years into our invasion and occupation of Iraq. Mission accomplished was forcefully stated less than 2 months after our troops entered Iraq’s borders. While the mission versus Saddam’s military was in fact accomplished and victorious, the true enemy within was untouched. The radical extremists were now loosed from their cages and proceeded to rain death, fear, and destruction upon the innocents. We won the war as history taught us that day, but we were, and are, not close to winning the war against the ideals of terrorism.
We will never be able to achieve complete victory against terrorism. There is no single entity asked to sign the complete surrender of their ideology. There is no country which political and economic embargos can be levied against. Can this particular war be won? I don’t think winning is a concept that applies to the war on terror. Winning as we know it implies an end. There is no end to this war. The conflict between good and evil has been around since the dawn of time and will continue until the earth ceases to exist. We can limit the effect evil has on our lives, but we can never truly win.
Now, here we are, nearing the end of 2008 and our troops are still in Iraq fighting an enemy we cannot directly confront. Our national media and politicians have been filling our airwaves and print with calls for troop removal for a few years now. Barack Obama has staked the majority of political capital on the fact that he is against the war in Iraq and will “bring our troops home.” We have all heard about timetables of return. We’ve heard rhetoric from every angle, pros and cons ad nauseam, and yet we still have no real answer. There is no real answer because as I stated, there is no victory here.
The article title is “Media Favorites,” there is a reason for that. Just as I mentioned that Obama and his campaign have, for over a year, proudly proclaimed that when in office, his duty is to end this war and bring our patriots of freedom back to their homes where they belong. It’s a great selling point considering we have been involved in Iraq longer than we were in WW2. Luckily, he may be able to do just that if elected. Not because of congress or votes of the public, but because the violence in Iraq is subsiding enough that internal Iraqi forces are beginning to handle the protection needs of their country. The American military’s presence at current levels is decreasing in importance. Iraqi security forces, having been trained and equipped by our forces are now able to defend their country.
President Bush has since day one, said that when the time came to reduce troops, he would withdraw our forces. However, when the time comes is when Iraq can adequately defend its government and civilians. We are reaching that point in time and this July, with little media fanfare, he announced that he agreed with a general timetable upon withdrawal of troops. I happened to see this story on the front page of a single news service the day it was announced, yet did our media waves become inundated with this new and profound statement? No. For years our media has driven Bush and his policies into the ground concerning our troops in Iraq and the day he announces something of this significance, it’s ignored? Media favorites at work. Obama is the favorite son of our media while Bush is the easy media target. It’s easy to blame a President in his last term, there is no recourse.
From CNN on Aug 7th, supporting the statement Bush made on July 19th: “An Iraqi politician said Thursday that Iraq and the United States are close to reaching a deal under which combat troops would leave Iraq by December 2010, and other troops would leave by the end of the following year.” Additional information continues: “… U.S. troops would leave Iraq’s cities to remain inside their bases by June 30, 2009. He said the two governments had been close to reaching deal for about a week.” Two senior US officials corroborated the statements of being close to reaching a deal. How will this play out on our national airwaves. Is this the day of rejoicing our country has been waiting for? A potential concrete change positively stating that a troop withdrawal is eminent? Unfortunately, I doubt the majority of Americans will hear anything about it.
The media will continue to play the current game with Obama being the good guy and Bush and McCain being the schoolyard bullies. When the time presented itself for a potential troop withdrawal, Bush did not discard the possibility. He has allowed Iraq to become self sufficient via their own protection and now we can safely turn the country’s security over and settle on a timetable of troop withdrawal. We need to be aware of what facts we have available and not allow the media to sway our decision making just because they said so or its national opinion. I can make up my own mind and so can you. Media will always have its favorites, but that doesn’t mean it should be our favorite.
Citation: http://www.nytimes.com/ & http://www.cnn.com/
on August 12th, 2008 at 10:17 pm:
The truth in this article has made me very sad. We can never win the war on terrorism. We can not recognize the enemy. They live among us as our friends. We use to win our battles with honor, now we cannot even say we won. Just prevented here and there major killings and murder. I would not want the President’s job. He will never be able to lead us to victory. And I think the President to be knows that. So they will do their best to choose the way best to satisfy our country’s questions and protect us the best they can. Our prayers need to be in earnest for our protectors and our countrymen and women. Our future is in God’s hands now whether people accept it or not.
on August 12th, 2008 at 10:37 pm:
There are still conventional wars in our future I would guess, but the war on terror is far from that. It is sad to think that we cannot truly win the war as past conflicts have been decided. Our Presidential office has changed with the terrorists coming to the forefront of our nation’s worries. If we fail to recognize the threat and stay ready, we will experience the pain again.
I fear that complacency will set in as it’s been almost 7 years now since 9/11 and the attitude of our nation is nowhere near the first few years past the attack. We cannot assume everything will be ok just because nothing new has happened to us today. Our next President will have an even tougher job than Bush has had because the unknown is far more scary than the known.
on August 12th, 2008 at 11:03 pm:
It is very sad when we cannot believe what most of our media decides that we should hear. Or for that matter, our politicians who also talk with forked tongues.
What happened to the pride that brought us through WW1 and WW2?
Every country in the world has their eyes on the United States to see if we have the backbone and the backing of our citizens and politicians to finish the job that we have started. If we pull out too early, then the soldiers that have lost their lives or wounded in action would have all been done for nothing.
Iran would just love to see the U.S. pull all of its forces out too early, this would make very easy pickings for them to take the whole country over.
I don’t remember what the man’s name was that said that this nation has turned into a bunch of whiners, but he was correct. One of John McCain’s men I do believe.
The citizens did not back our men during the Vietnam war. They treated some or most of the returning soldiers as if they had the plague.
I would speculate that a lot of this was brought on by bad press. Whatever it takes to make good ratings is what they will push.
Freedom of the press is one thing, but at least publish the truth, don’t just go after the bad things and forget the good things that happen.
on August 12th, 2008 at 11:15 pm:
The media has gained such a foothold in American society since the advent of cable television. People assume that with 24 hour news, we are getting an unfiltered, unbiased, and clear view at the “news” of the world. However, they are all run by profit motive companies. These companies are in charge of content and filters and viewpoints. If the media isn’t making money, then it doesn’t get any notoriety.
Do you think the media giants who have invested so much time in destroying the image of the Republican Party and President Bush will provide any time to anything good at this point in time? Highly doubtful. Why try and alter the winds of change and waves of hate directed their way when Obama is the media darling of these same media giants?
What we see, hear, and read is skewed by marketing and political flunkies in the backrooms deciding how the news should be portrayed. You referred to Vietnam. Very similar situation that we are in now. The enemy was extremely hard to determine and winning was never going to be a clear cut surrender. The media failed to support the troops and they paid the price in the lack of respect from our nation.
on August 14th, 2008 at 2:59 pm:
Additional information from timesonline.co.uk (Aug 14):
“American soldiers will withdraw from cities across Iraq next summer and all US combat troops will leave the country within three years, provided the violence remains low, under the terms of a draft agreement with the Iraqi Government.
…Nouri al-Maliki, the Prime Minister, Jalal Talabani, the President, and other Iraqi leaders must give their approval – something that could happen this month…
The “time horizon” for the exit of US troops would depend upon the ability of the Iraqi police and army to maintain security gains in Iraq after a surge of US forces in 2007 helped to push violence to its lowest levels in 4½ years.
We are talking about combat troops, maybe in 2010-11, there could be drawdowns…”
on August 22nd, 2008 at 4:39 pm:
Available via US mass media, CNN reports (Aug 22):
“U.S. and Iraqi negotiators have reached agreement on a proposal calling for a complete U.S. military withdrawal from Iraq by 2012…
…President Bush was briefed on the negotiations and then spoke by secure video conference with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki. The spokesman said the two agreed that their negotiating teams would continue discussions.
…last date for the presence of U.S. troops in cities and towns will be June 30, 2009.”
Don’t you find it odd that European news media obtained this information for mass consumption before the American media? Also, they state “Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and al-Maliki was helpful in reaching the tentative agreement.” The tentative agreement spoke of on Aug 14th occurred before she was even in Iraq.
on August 18th, 2008 at 10:06 am:
The following information provides additional information on media playing favorites in politics (proven true via snopes link below post). Thanks for the email Chris:
House #1 A 20 room mansion (not including 8 bathrooms) heated by natural gas. Add on a pool (and a pool house) and a separate guest house, all heated by gas. In one month this residence consumes more energy than the average American household does in a year. The average bill for electricity and natural gas runs over $2400 per month. In natural gas alone, this property consumes more than 20 times the national average for an American home. This house is not situated in a Norther n or Midwestern ‘snow belt’ area. It’s in the South.
House #2 Designed by an architecture professor at a leading national university. This house incorporates every ‘green’ feature current home construction can provide. The house is 4,000 square feet (4 bedrooms) and is nestled on a high prairie in the American southwest. A central closet in the house holds geothermal heat-pumps drawing ground water through pipes sunk 300 feet into the ground.
The water (usually 67 degrees F) heats the house in the winter and cools it in the summer. The system uses no fossil fuel s such as oil or natural gas and it consumes one-quarter electricity required for a conventional heating/cooling system. Rainwater from the roof is collected and funneled into a 25,000 gallon underground cistern. Wastewater from showers, sinks and toilets goes into underg round purifying tanks and then into the cistern. The collected water then irrigates the land surrounding the house. Surrounding flowers and shrubs native to the area enable the property to blend into the surrounding rural landscape.
HOUSE #1 is outside of Nashville , Tennessee ; it is the abode of the ‘environmentalist ‘ Al Gore.
HOUSE #2 is on a ranch near Crawford , Texas ; it is the residence of the President of the United States , George W. Bush.
Snopes Link