Outrage Meter in the Red
Today's NY Times carries a Frank Rich piece that should be required reading for every blindered Preznit, every chickenhawk neocon, every clueless pundit and White House spokesperson claiming that the media is "only reporting the bad news" out of Iraq, and every regular American war apologist and supporter of the continuing death and destruction over there in Mesopotamia. Here are some choice excerpts:
"Iraq is Vietnam on speed - the false endings of that tragic decade re-enacted and compressed in jump cuts, a quagmire retooled for the MTV attention span...
"But in at least one way we are not back in Vietnam. Iraq hawks, like Vietnam hawks before them, often take the line that to criticize America's mission in Iraq is to attack the troops. That paradigm just doesn't hold. Americans, including those opposed to the war, love the troops (Lynndie England always excepted). Not even the most unhinged Bush hater is calling our all-volunteer army 'baby killers.' This time, paradoxically enough, it is often those who claim to love the troops the most - and who have the political power to help alleviate their sacrifice - who turn out to be the troops' false friends...
"There was, for instance, according to the Los Angeles Times, 'nary a mention' of the Iraq war or 'the prices paid by American soldiers and their families' at the lavish Inauguration bash thrown for the grandees of the Christian right by the Rev. Lou Sheldon of the Traditional Values Coalition at Washington's Ritz-Carlton...
"In this same vein, television's ceremonial coverage of the Inauguration, much of which resembled the martial pageantry broadcast by state-owned networks in banana republics, made a dutiful show out of the White House's claim that the four-day bacchanal was a salute to the troops. The only commentator to rudely call attention to the disconnect between that fictional pretense and the reality was Judy Bachrach, a writer for Vanity Fair, who dared say on Fox News that the inaugural's military ball and prayer service would not keep troops 'safe and warm' in their 'flimsy' Humvees in Iraq. She was promptly given the hook. (The riveting three-minute clip, labeled 'Fair and Balanced Inauguration,' can be found at ifilm.com, where it has seized the 'most popular' slot once owned by Jon Stewart's slapdown of Tucker Carlson.)...
"Alas, there were no Fox News cameras to capture what may have been the week's most surreal 'salute' to the troops, the 'Heroes Red, White and Blue Inaugural Ball' attended by Donald Rumsfeld and Paul Wolfowitz. The event's celebrity stars included the Fox correspondent Geraldo Rivera, who had been booted from Iraq at the start of the war for compromising 'operational security' by telling his viewers the position of the American troops he loves so much. He joked to the crowd that his deployment as an 'overpaid' reporter was tantamount to that of an 'underpaid hero' in battle. The attendees from Walter Reed and Bethesda Naval Hospital, some of whose long-term care must be picked up by private foundations because of government stinginess, responded with 'deafening silence,' reported Roxanne Roberts of The Washington Post. Ms. Roberts understandably left the party after the night's big act: Nile Rodgers and Chic sang the lyrics 'Clap your hands, hoo!' and 'Dance to the beat' to 'a group of soldiers missing hands and legs'...
"A fast growing plurality of the country wants troops withdrawn from Iraq, but being so detached from the war they are unlikely to make a stink about it. The civilian leaders who conceived this adventure are clever at maintaining the false illusion that the end is just around the corner anyway...
"They do this by moving the goal posts for 'mission accomplished' as frequently as they have changed the rationale for us entering this war in the first place. In the walk-up to the Inauguration, even Iraq's Election Day was quietly downsized in importance so a sixth V-I Day further off in the future could be substituted. Dick Cheney told Don Imus on Inauguration morning that 'we can bring our boys home' and that 'our mission is complete' once the Iraqis 'can defend themselves.' What that means, and when exactly that might be is, shall we say, unclear. President Bush and Prime Minister Allawi told the press in unison last September that there were 'nearly 100,000 fully trained and equipped' Iraqi security forces ready to carry out that self-defense. Condoleezza Rice told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee this month that there are 120,000. Time magazine says this week that the actual figure of fully trained ground soldiers is 14,000, but hey: in patriotism as it's been redefined for this war, loving the troops means never having to say you're sorry - or even having to say the word Iraq in an Inaugural address."
There's more, plenty more. Read it for yourself and experience the outrage anew.
"Iraq is Vietnam on speed - the false endings of that tragic decade re-enacted and compressed in jump cuts, a quagmire retooled for the MTV attention span...
"But in at least one way we are not back in Vietnam. Iraq hawks, like Vietnam hawks before them, often take the line that to criticize America's mission in Iraq is to attack the troops. That paradigm just doesn't hold. Americans, including those opposed to the war, love the troops (Lynndie England always excepted). Not even the most unhinged Bush hater is calling our all-volunteer army 'baby killers.' This time, paradoxically enough, it is often those who claim to love the troops the most - and who have the political power to help alleviate their sacrifice - who turn out to be the troops' false friends...
"There was, for instance, according to the Los Angeles Times, 'nary a mention' of the Iraq war or 'the prices paid by American soldiers and their families' at the lavish Inauguration bash thrown for the grandees of the Christian right by the Rev. Lou Sheldon of the Traditional Values Coalition at Washington's Ritz-Carlton...
"In this same vein, television's ceremonial coverage of the Inauguration, much of which resembled the martial pageantry broadcast by state-owned networks in banana republics, made a dutiful show out of the White House's claim that the four-day bacchanal was a salute to the troops. The only commentator to rudely call attention to the disconnect between that fictional pretense and the reality was Judy Bachrach, a writer for Vanity Fair, who dared say on Fox News that the inaugural's military ball and prayer service would not keep troops 'safe and warm' in their 'flimsy' Humvees in Iraq. She was promptly given the hook. (The riveting three-minute clip, labeled 'Fair and Balanced Inauguration,' can be found at ifilm.com, where it has seized the 'most popular' slot once owned by Jon Stewart's slapdown of Tucker Carlson.)...
"Alas, there were no Fox News cameras to capture what may have been the week's most surreal 'salute' to the troops, the 'Heroes Red, White and Blue Inaugural Ball' attended by Donald Rumsfeld and Paul Wolfowitz. The event's celebrity stars included the Fox correspondent Geraldo Rivera, who had been booted from Iraq at the start of the war for compromising 'operational security' by telling his viewers the position of the American troops he loves so much. He joked to the crowd that his deployment as an 'overpaid' reporter was tantamount to that of an 'underpaid hero' in battle. The attendees from Walter Reed and Bethesda Naval Hospital, some of whose long-term care must be picked up by private foundations because of government stinginess, responded with 'deafening silence,' reported Roxanne Roberts of The Washington Post. Ms. Roberts understandably left the party after the night's big act: Nile Rodgers and Chic sang the lyrics 'Clap your hands, hoo!' and 'Dance to the beat' to 'a group of soldiers missing hands and legs'...
"A fast growing plurality of the country wants troops withdrawn from Iraq, but being so detached from the war they are unlikely to make a stink about it. The civilian leaders who conceived this adventure are clever at maintaining the false illusion that the end is just around the corner anyway...
"They do this by moving the goal posts for 'mission accomplished' as frequently as they have changed the rationale for us entering this war in the first place. In the walk-up to the Inauguration, even Iraq's Election Day was quietly downsized in importance so a sixth V-I Day further off in the future could be substituted. Dick Cheney told Don Imus on Inauguration morning that 'we can bring our boys home' and that 'our mission is complete' once the Iraqis 'can defend themselves.' What that means, and when exactly that might be is, shall we say, unclear. President Bush and Prime Minister Allawi told the press in unison last September that there were 'nearly 100,000 fully trained and equipped' Iraqi security forces ready to carry out that self-defense. Condoleezza Rice told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee this month that there are 120,000. Time magazine says this week that the actual figure of fully trained ground soldiers is 14,000, but hey: in patriotism as it's been redefined for this war, loving the troops means never having to say you're sorry - or even having to say the word Iraq in an Inaugural address."
There's more, plenty more. Read it for yourself and experience the outrage anew.
posted by Generik at 2:31 PM
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