THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Volume V, Issue # 84, March 28, 2003
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Government Committed to & Acting in Accord with Conservative Principles
Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity
THE FOG OF WAR: LIBERAL MEDIA POLITICAL BIAS & ITS DISTORTED COVERAGE
& ANALYSIS OF NEWS
ON PROGRESS OF THE WAR IN IRAQ
By Paul Walfield
All we tend to hear from the Liberal media is that America is up against "stiff resist- ance" and while, it may not be a quagmire in Iraq, it sure is close.
Moreover, the New York Times, some cable news channels, and others in the Left-lean- ing press exclaim, as Newsweek did in a story by their imbedded reporter Rod Norland in a March 27, 2003, article entitled, "Not What America Expected," that American troops were "charging ahead into Iraq with a dangerously overstretched and underguarded line of supply, with utter self-confidence in the enemy's military inability to mount a signifi- cant challenge and with no interest in a secure line of retreat, just in case. But in the end, it was ignoring those same basic principles of warfare that defeated Custer."
There you have it, American journalists declaring that American military leaders and soldiers don't have a clue, and more to the point, are bound to be defeated by the brave Iraqi military. America, at the time that "journalist" wrote the article, was at war for barely 8 days.
We often hear the term, the fog of war. It refers to misinformation and mistakes in re- porting that are first given about a particular campaign. In the "new" view of America by American media, it refers to blatant, unabashed lies, half truths, and intentional misin- formation to promote an agenda.
The facts on the battlefield are simple, and readily available from the Pentagon. Any reporter worth his salt can get the same information as any other. When a "journalist" chooses to report on the movement and tactics of the American military, and bases his assumptions and conclusions on notions that are in direct contrast to the reality on the ground, he is no longer reporting, he is promoting an agenda.
In the event a reporter is "imbedded" with a particular infantry division, he can only see and report from the perspective of that unit. If the reporter chooses to go beyond that perspective, he needs to have sources, make it up as he goes, or both.
The Pentagon says that, after 8 days, the American military controls over half the coun- try of Iraq. The 3rd Infantry Division, along with the 1st Marines, is within 50 miles of Iraq's capital, Baghdad. The 173rd is in Northern Iraq and the airfields and land to the west of Iraq is in Coalition hands.
No American or Coalition member has been cut off from supplies and the U.S.A. has air dominance over all the skies of Iraq. Yet, the reporter for Newsweek wants his readers to understand that, in the 8 days of virtually full success of every military endeavor undertaken by the Coalition, he knows best and the military planners have doomed the sons, daughters, and spouses of those who read his article and have relatives fighting or waiting to fight in Iraq.
To date, the Coalition has lost a relatively few in action. While every life is sacred, and it is a tragedy beyond languages' ability to console the loss of even one soul; in the grand scheme of this war in Iraq, it must be acknowledged by those who are in a position to know that the campaign, to date, is a resounding success in all areas, including casualties.
Yet, the Left-leaning media choose to ignore all of this, or, as in the case of the News- week article, minimize any success with a damning of the war planners and, more impor- tantly, the displaying of an arrogance that is difficult to measure using words acceptable in polite circles.
Mr. Norland and his ilk choose to report the war in Iraq not from the perspective of an American, or even that of a disinterested third party. Instead, they choose to portray the war from their own negative and distorted perspective, a perspective they held prior to the war.
There has been a Liberal Leftist bias in the news for as long as anyone can remember. That fact has never been so blatantly apparent since George W. Bush took office as President. Moreover, the situation has been building ever since. In a word, it is just plain disgusting.
American soldiers are fighting and dying and these socalled "reporters" are making it up as they go along. While it is probably true that few, if any, of our brave warriors are reading the drivel coming out of the New York Times, the networks or Newsweek, some might be. Imagine how nice it would be on a battlefield learning that their superiors had thrown away "centuries of military doctrine into the trash heap."
It would no doubt be reassuring to also know that their supply lines had "key choke points." All which lead the Pulitzer Prize winning "journalist" to comment, "I can't remember another modern instance in which American forces operated with such a long and vulnerable tail."
Of course, the author's intent is not to frighten and cause discord among the military in Iraq. Rather, it is to instill in his readers the notion that America has made a grave mistake in going to war in Iraq. This is the same notion the Leftists were spewing forth prior to hostilities.
Only now, it is no longer their opinion. It is factual. It is "news."
Sadly, looking at European and other foreign news services, American coverage, by America's free press, seems tame in comparison. Nonetheless, it remains a blight on us all that so noble a calling, which was granted constitutional protection as the first free- dom in America's Bill of Rights, has sunk so low as to abuse our trust, to squander its very meaning.
On the other hand, American resolve and determination against the abusers of its ideals have never stood taller.
We need to remember who said what and when.
LINKS TO RELATED TOPICS:
The News Media & Political Bias
Liberals, Statists, Socialists, & Other Leftists
The Middle East & the Problem of Iraq
Page Two
Page One
The Problem of Rogue States:
Iraq as a Case History
The Middle East & the Arabs
Islamism & Jihadism -- The Threat of Radical Islam
Page Three
Page Two
Page One
War & Peace in the Real World
Page Two
Page One
Islamist Terrorist Attacks on the U.S.A.
Osama bin Laden & the Islamist Declaration of War
Against the U.S.A. & Western Civilization
Islamist International Terrorism &
U.S. Intelligence Agencies
U.S. National Security Strategy
Paul Walfield is a freelance writer and member of the State Bar of California, with an undergraduate degree in Psychology
and post-graduate study in behavioral and analytical psychology. He resided for a number of years in the small town of
Houlton, Maine, and is now a California attorney. His articles appear in numerous periodicals and on numerous websites. He
has been the featured guest on KTSA News Talk Radio. CONTACT INFORMATION: Email:
paul.walfield@cox.net
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THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
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Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
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