Good news from Iraq: 93% of the population has not fled ... so far
The Finger-Pointing Game
By Howard Kurtz
Washington Post
Is it time to stop blaming the media on Iraq?
Have we reached the point where the reality--the objective, unvarnished reality, as best we can discern it--is universally recognized as pretty bad? Can 70 percent of the country really have turned against the war because of the nattering nabobs of negative journalism?
After all, a new Pentagon report says anti-American fighters have achieved a "strategic success" by unleashing waves of sectarian violence that have reached a record high of 959 attacks per week--"an unbelievably rapid pace," says Joint Chiefs official John F. Sattler. That's not some liberal columnist talking, he's a Marine lieutenant general.
I thought I had detected a recent drop-off in administration officials sniping at the war coverage. But then Laura Bush told MSNBC last week: "I do know that there are a lot of good things that are happening that aren't covered, and I think the drumbeat in the country from the media, from the only way people know what's happening, unless they happen to have a loved one deployed there, is discouraging."
Maybe this was just a wife's frustration with the toll that the war is taking on her husband's presidency, rather than some new strategy. But here's the telling part: I no longer see most conservatives making this argument.
Which is why this piece by National Review Editor Rich Lowry is very much worth noting:
"First Lady Laura Bush spoke for many conservatives when she excoriated the media's coverage of Iraq the other day. She complained that . . . 'there are a lot of good things happening that aren't covered.'
"What are those things, one wonders? One can only imagine how Mrs. Bush can figure that they outweigh the horrors in Iraq. The U.N.'s High Commissioner for Refugees estimates that more than 1.6 million Iraqis have fled the country, about 7 percent of the population. But that means that an overwhelming 93 percent haven't left. Why doesn't the liberal media ever report that? About 120 Iraqis are killed per day, nearly 4,000 a month. But most are still living. Couldn't one of the morning shows do a soft feature on this heartwarming fact? . . .
(The rest is here.)
By Howard Kurtz
Washington Post
Is it time to stop blaming the media on Iraq?
Have we reached the point where the reality--the objective, unvarnished reality, as best we can discern it--is universally recognized as pretty bad? Can 70 percent of the country really have turned against the war because of the nattering nabobs of negative journalism?
After all, a new Pentagon report says anti-American fighters have achieved a "strategic success" by unleashing waves of sectarian violence that have reached a record high of 959 attacks per week--"an unbelievably rapid pace," says Joint Chiefs official John F. Sattler. That's not some liberal columnist talking, he's a Marine lieutenant general.
I thought I had detected a recent drop-off in administration officials sniping at the war coverage. But then Laura Bush told MSNBC last week: "I do know that there are a lot of good things that are happening that aren't covered, and I think the drumbeat in the country from the media, from the only way people know what's happening, unless they happen to have a loved one deployed there, is discouraging."
Maybe this was just a wife's frustration with the toll that the war is taking on her husband's presidency, rather than some new strategy. But here's the telling part: I no longer see most conservatives making this argument.
Which is why this piece by National Review Editor Rich Lowry is very much worth noting:
"First Lady Laura Bush spoke for many conservatives when she excoriated the media's coverage of Iraq the other day. She complained that . . . 'there are a lot of good things happening that aren't covered.'
"What are those things, one wonders? One can only imagine how Mrs. Bush can figure that they outweigh the horrors in Iraq. The U.N.'s High Commissioner for Refugees estimates that more than 1.6 million Iraqis have fled the country, about 7 percent of the population. But that means that an overwhelming 93 percent haven't left. Why doesn't the liberal media ever report that? About 120 Iraqis are killed per day, nearly 4,000 a month. But most are still living. Couldn't one of the morning shows do a soft feature on this heartwarming fact? . . .
(The rest is here.)
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