As predicted, here’s the new party line: The failure in Iraq (and soon in Afghanistan) is not the fault of the morons who put us there, but of the critics of the war, including those who could see ahead of time how disastrous it was liable to be.
I can remember this as far ago as Lyndon Johnson. The same empty “hang the coonskin on the wall,” “stay the course” rhetoric; the same hunkering down, speaking only on military bases or in safe venues like the American Legion; the same blaming anybody and everybody else and never admitting that it was his own stupid fault. Also the same exaggeration of consequences should we back out of a place we never should have gone into.
I do not wish to be perceived, however, as a defender of the media.
The media has done, and continues to do, a terrible job of reporting. But the faults that Rumsfeld assails are just the opposite of their real faults. Shallow and opportunistic they undoubtedly are, but they functioned for years as cheerleaders for this group of incompetents.
This appeared August 29, 2006
In Salt Lake, Rumsfeld assails media coverage of Iraq
By Matt Canham
The Salt Lake Tribune
Posted: 11:18 AM- Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld said the war in Iraq is fought just as much in the media as it is on the ground, and in that media war America is losing.
“Those who know the truth need to speak out against the myths and distortions,”
he told the crowd of veterans at the American Legion conference at the Salt Palace this morning. “America is not what is wrong with the world.”
Rumsfeld criticized the number of newspaper stories on alleged abuses by troops compared to the stories about the first Congressional Medal of Honor winner from the Iraq War.
He also defended Guantanamo Bay, the Cuba-based prison that holds many alleged terrorists, saying it is “arguably the best run and most scrutinized detention facility” ever.
He called media coverage “inexcusable.” Rumsfeld’s speech was part of a coordinated White House strategy to aggressively challenge administration critics in the face of increasing public skepticism about U.S. involvement in Iraq The secretary only briefly touched on the war and offered no new insights, rather he repeated a pledge to push forward and urged the Legion to continue backing the troops.
“The question is not whether we can win, the question is whether we have the will to persevere to win.”