Irak 52

Een andere vlijmscherpe Amerikaanse commentator is Norman Solomon. Hij schrijft: 'On Invasion's Third Anniversary, Tune Out the PunditsThe current anniversary of the invasion should be a time for sober reflection about the U.S. war effort in Iraq. But we shouldn’t expect much insight from the pundits who applauded when the United States went to war three years ago. Researchers at the media watch group Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting (where I’m an associate) have exhumed statements made by prominent media cheerleaders for war in the spring of 2003. Frequently showing elation as Baghdad fell, U.S. journalists often lavished praise on the invasion and aimed derisive salvos at American opponents of the military action.
One of the most gleeful commentators on network television was MSNBC’s “Hardball” host, Christopher Matthews. “We’re all neocons now,” he crowed on April 9, 2003, hours after a Saddam Hussein statue tumbled in Baghdad. Weeks later, Matthews was still at it, making categorical declarations: “We’re proud of our president. Americans love having a guy as president, a guy who has a little swagger, who’s physical, who’s not a complicated guy like Clinton or even like Dukakis or Mondale, all those guys, McGovern. They want a guy who’s president. Women like a guy who’s president. Check it out. The women like this war. I think we like having a hero as our president. It’s simple.” Simplistic was more like it. And, in the rush of stateside enthusiasm for war on Iraq, centrist pundits like Matthews—apt to sway with the prevailing wind—were hardly inclined to buck the jingoistic storm. Pseudo-patriotic hot air remained at gale force on Fox News Channel, still blowing strong several weeks after the invasion. “Tommy Franks and the coalition forces have demonstrated the old axiom that boldness on the battlefield produces swift and relatively bloodless victory,” Tony Snow told viewers in late April. “The three-week swing through Iraq has utterly shattered skeptics’ complaints.”' Lees verder: http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20060317_norman_solomon_invasion/