For the Press, No Iraq Introspection
Commentary: On the fifth anniversary of the Iraq War, the media reexamined just about everything—except for themselves.
March 28, 2008
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In the thousands of articles and television reports marking the fifth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, nearly every important aspect of the war was probed. Fingers were pointed at the usual suspects—Rumsfeld, Bremer, and Cheney; stubborn Republicans and weak-willed Democrats, among many others—but conspicuously absent from the media coverage was any soul-searching on behalf of the press, as if there had been no major media slips or tragic omissions over the past five years. With months to plan for the commemoration, the media were ready to take stock of everything—but themselves.
By and large, when the press did revisit their Iraq coverage, they showcased some of the undeniably terrific reporting, photography, and videography that have emerged from the war zone. But a frank assessment of the overall media performance, from the "run-up" to the "surge," was virtually nonexistent. That’s not only shameful and revealing, it’s also a real missed opportunity, since there is so much to be learned from the media's Iraq coverage—the good, the bad, and the ugly—by future generations of journalists, not to mention the current one.
Yes, the fateful media mistakes and misreporting of Iraqi WMD before the war have been widely covered in the past, but how could this not be widely revisited at the fifth-year mark, with 4,000 American soldiers dead and thousands wounded for life? What about the media’s role in falling victim to official propaganda in the Jessica Lynch and Pat Tillman cases? The delay in exposing the abuses at Abu Ghraib and attacks on civilians in Haditha and numerous other places?
The list goes on: Why did it take years to really focus on ill treatment of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans back here at home? To expose the rising suicide rate among soldiers and vets? To assess the full financial costs of the war? Why did the media go along with the Pentagon’s ban on showing coffins returning from Iraq, and the restrictions on running pictures of dead or injured American soldiers—thus preventing the public from absorbing the true costs of the war? On reflection, what were the strengths and weaknesses of the much-ballyhooed "embedded" journalists plan?
What about the reluctance of editorial pages and pundits to propose, even tentatively, a real change in course in Iraq, as month after month, and then year after year, passed? Almost four years went by before a major newspaper called for the beginning of even a very slow, phased withdrawal. What do they think of that delay—now?
And in recent months, why are there so few reporters covering the war now? Are budgetary excuses—and blaming readers for not being much interested anymore—really valid? Do readers take their cues from the (increasingly disinterested) media?
There has been a tremendous amount of truly heroic journalism from the war zone and tough-minded reporting into the war causes and conduct here at home, and that certainly deserves to be celebrated. But the media’s current failure to reexamine themselves only adds to the black mark journalists have received for past oversights and errors in their chronicling of this war.
Photo of reporters interviewing military personnel by flickr user jamesdale10 used under a Creative Commons license.
Greg Mitchell is editor of Editor & Publisher and the author of So Wrong for So Long: How the Press, the Pundits—and the President—Failed on Iraq (Union Square Press), which was published in March.
I just got back from Iraq, it is a totally different place from what was there 2 years ago. you can walk down the street in Bagdadh considerably more safely than you ever could and the city is beginning to flourish, but hey, why not focus on Basra since the blood is what sells right?
Shameful.
Why aren't they reporting over and over about the build up of Navy forces in the waters near Iran which includes ships capable of launching nuclear warheads into Iran? Bush and Cheney's saber rattling has proven more than once to be lies and yet they wait a few weeks and start over. Did they ALL forget, or JUST DON'T CARE ONE BIT that Russia has nuclear weapons TOO? And Bush and Cheney have been warned about attacking Iran. But they are CRAZY!!! And they don't CARE about nuclear fallout OR the destruction that will be launched on US right here at home. THEY WILL INVADE IRAN ANYWAY, AFTER THEY LAUNCH THE FIRST STRIKE.
9/11 has false-flag psy-ops written all over it. An official that knows these guys--Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld--said Bush signed the order for operation 9/11--otherwise why would they fight an investigation? Why was WTC 7 demolished? And it was, as admitted by lease-holder Larry Silverstein himself, plus the foreknowledge of countless cops, firemen, and reporters of the buildings collapse before it happened--and it wasn't hit by any plane. Fire has NEVER demolished a steel-framed skyscraper before or after 9/11, even the one in Madrid that burned ferociously for 18 hours still stood. They must have figured out that we would realize that it takes a min. of 3 days to rig a building that size for wireless demolition, and that's why younever heard about WTC 7 again..It was wired to blow days before 9/11..and if it was, why not the towers, too? it would explain the "smoking gun" chemical fingerprint of thermate found in the dust of the WTCs, and the molten metal found in the basements of all 3 buildings. The "Northwoods" documents show the government is willing to kill civilians and soldiers if it suits their agenda. The real conspiracy theory is that some Muslims who couldn't even fly Cessnas managed to manuever a jumbo jet through the state to N.Y. City and find and hit the WTCs..it's not like you can just dial in a number, like for airports.
Why have they done this? What are the reasons that those items mentioned in the article have not been kept forcefully and continuously in the minds of the American people. That is the way change occurs.
I guess I have my answer. The press does not want change.
You very seldom read about fire destroying a steel frame building because there is usually too little combustible matter, and VERY tall buildings excepted, firefighters can usually douse a fire before it exceeds the fire rating (in hours) of the structure.
Hijacking planes headed from the East Coast to California ensured a huge supply of combustible jet fuel (basically refined kerosene) to provide intense heat for a long time. The way the two towers collapsed almost precisely vertically indicated that the steel connectors between the steel girders and the steel columns heat-softened, bent, and failed. This only after the intense kerosene fire had burned for several hours (thus the thousands who escaped each tower).
Flying an airplane after it is airborne and not involving landing is considerably easier than it looks; it's just that until 9/11 there was no point in doing only that. Maueuvering out over the ocean south of Manhattan is not much more difficult than driving a car (OK, except for steering with your feet so the airplane banks) and then you just dial, say, 500 feet of altitude into the autopilot. At that point you can even just steer with the rudder (the dingus that looks like a steering wheel), aim for the big shiny target, and wait for Allah to welcome you to Paradise!
Basra was not the hotbed of unrest that Baghdad was, and partially continues to be. The situation has changed now in the push to remove power from the Shi'ite militias controlling most of Basra.
However, there should be more stories on Baghdad's slow return to life.
This is a letter from a foreigner whom you may scorn precisely because of the fact that I am not American. But do you realize how often we, foreigners, were victims of your government's military and political adventures abroad, and you did not produce a single pip? Don't you feel ashamed? Above all, can you sleep at night knowing that you, too, are guilty of the million, and counting, dead civilians -innocent blood you know- that your stupid, criminal government has caused? To tell you the truth, I really doubt you feel anything. Being so close to evil and lies has turned you into the same. I still remember reading your accounts during the first Gulf War. Those articles were filled to the brim with blind nationalistic militance and seemed more the reports of the Völkischer Beobachter or Pravda. You even gloated over the criminal behaviour of your armies in bombing soldiers who had already surrendered. Of course, the US wanted to set an example with Iraq: there were things Washington was not going to stand in the golden age of Pax Americana: invasions for example, especially those who were not approved by your president. Reading that gave me an idea of what could come, although reality can even be more shocking. Who could have thought, for example, that a little, insignificant nation in the Middle East could hold such a sway over the affairs of your country? And you, searchers of the truth, defenders of the flag, are all part of this. I suppose this is the "new" reality that your country as a hyperpower is creating. In this alternate universe, there are
words, ideas, symbols that make sense only within the borders of the Empire. The rest of the world are left at a loss.
State sponsored terrorism is the main thing responsible for diminishing (destroying) the quality of life for many people in many lands. Wake up to yourselves, Dorian Greys.
some of us have noted that US always had a ruling class just like every other country but the irongrip of US on foreign and domestic populations has never been equaled by any other evil empire. i also believe that its grip is so strong that even if 50 milion or more americans would hit the streets tomorrow to protest occupation or to demand medicare, bush would hardly bat an eye. the grip is unbrekable because the ruling class (about 10% of population)controls cia, fbi, city police, armed forces. scholing, media; and, of course, money. americans ( and not only americans) have been rendered semantically blind by jingoism. selfpraise, infallibility of presidents, etc.
is it too late to break the grip? thank you.