The Fifth Column

I've been convinced for some time now that the War in Iraq, and maybe the one in Afghanistan -- would be long over and would have ended decidedly in America's favor if it weren't for a strong fifth column in the U.S. (and the rest of the West -- but the worst part of the problem is here) -- and it's overwhelming representation in the media.

They have made the entire war about George Bush. They're still bitter over the 2000 election. Every little story is spun to show how Bush has failed, how his motives are selfish (accusations over oil, Halliburton), even evil (accusations over torture, abusive wiretapping).

It has led to me, on this blog, being very shy about criticizing the Administration over mistakes I think they did make precisely because the Administration is so overly criticized every day. I feel an almost reflexive need to defend it. It ain't that bad.

I ran across a couple of stories on the net about retired General Sanchez's speech being selectively quoted. When you read the whole speech, he didn't restrict his criticism to the Bush Administration. He also criticized Congress. And he ripped in to the press for its role in our woes in Iraq.

None of the ripping into the press ended up in the big CNN story on the speech.

Their headline "Sanchez: Iraq war 'a nightmare with no end in sight" only reflects a part of the message Sanchez had... the part that aligns with the agenda of the Democrats at CNN. The part that they wanted people to hear.

The story leaves the impression (by ommission and an invitation to read between the lines) that he thinks Congress should have slapped Bush down (Congress failed in its oversight), and that Democrats should have been listened to more ("At times, these partisan struggles have led us to political decisions that endangered the lives of our sons and daughters on the battlefield. The unmistakable message was that political power had greater priority than our national security objectives.") ... but if you read the whole speech it is clear that he was addressing the fifth column elements in our government and in the press.

It looks like it did end up in Fox News' coverage. Their headline was "Sanchez: Media's Reporting of Iraq War Endangered Soldiers' Lives". Fox's article does include Sanchez's criticisms of the Bush Administration as well. Fair and Balanced in this case, Fox 1, CNN 0.

To the majority of journalists it has never been about reporting on the war. It has been about exposing its pre-supposed folly. It has been about politics. It has been about the 2000 election.

If WWII had been reported like this one, we'd all be speaking German or Japanese today.