Tuesday, September 05, 2006
Norman Solomon on the how the media spins the war
Norman Solomon has a must read article on how the media keeps spinning the troop level in Iraq.
"As I noted in my book War Made Easy, which came off the press nearly 18 months ago, "Hedge words were plentiful: 'the most' that could be hoped for was that 'some kind' of elected Iraqi government would 'eventually emerge,' at which time the United States 'could conceivably' manage to 'reduce' its troop level in Iraq 'significantly,' although even that vague hope necessitated a commitment of 'at least several more months' of Americans killing and dying. But in several more months, predictably, there would still be no end in sight -- just another blank check for more 'blood and treasure,' on the installment plan."
More.
"President Bush keeps demanding those blank checks, and Congress keeps cutting them. What Martin Luther King Jr. called "the madness of militarism" provides ample justifications. For Bush, one of them involves couching the choices ahead in military terms -- to be best judged by military leaders. This is, in essence, an effort to short-circuit democracy."
More.
"Civilian control of the military means that the president is accountable to citizens, not generals. But -- despite the growing opposition to the Iraq war, as reflected in national opinion polls -- the president fervently declares his commitment to the U.S. war effort. Rather than directly proclaim that he will ignore public opinion, Bush prefers to shift the discussion from domestic political accountability to ostensible military necessity."
"That's where the it's-up-to-the-generals gambit comes in. As soon as the question is re-framed around what multi-star generals say, a closed loop turns into a tightening noose. And a fraud. After all, until the moment of retirement, the generals are in a chain of command -- with the president, as commander in chief, at the top."
Go and read the whole thing.
"As I noted in my book War Made Easy, which came off the press nearly 18 months ago, "Hedge words were plentiful: 'the most' that could be hoped for was that 'some kind' of elected Iraqi government would 'eventually emerge,' at which time the United States 'could conceivably' manage to 'reduce' its troop level in Iraq 'significantly,' although even that vague hope necessitated a commitment of 'at least several more months' of Americans killing and dying. But in several more months, predictably, there would still be no end in sight -- just another blank check for more 'blood and treasure,' on the installment plan."
More.
"President Bush keeps demanding those blank checks, and Congress keeps cutting them. What Martin Luther King Jr. called "the madness of militarism" provides ample justifications. For Bush, one of them involves couching the choices ahead in military terms -- to be best judged by military leaders. This is, in essence, an effort to short-circuit democracy."
More.
"Civilian control of the military means that the president is accountable to citizens, not generals. But -- despite the growing opposition to the Iraq war, as reflected in national opinion polls -- the president fervently declares his commitment to the U.S. war effort. Rather than directly proclaim that he will ignore public opinion, Bush prefers to shift the discussion from domestic political accountability to ostensible military necessity."
"That's where the it's-up-to-the-generals gambit comes in. As soon as the question is re-framed around what multi-star generals say, a closed loop turns into a tightening noose. And a fraud. After all, until the moment of retirement, the generals are in a chain of command -- with the president, as commander in chief, at the top."
Go and read the whole thing.
# posted by Raf C. @ 3:28 PM 
