BCT Editorial – 1/17/05

This page was last updated on January 18, 2005.

Shock and awe; Editorial; Beaver County Times; January 17, 2005.

Below is a detailed critique of the subject editorial.

“Where’s the shock and awe now?

“On Wednesday, the White House acknowledged that the search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq has ended not with a bang but with a whimper.

“After two years of searching and millions of dollars, no WMDs were found.”

[RWC] This is old news. Did the Times editorial board miss the reports last summer?

“Oops.

“We’ll leave it to the excuse-makers whose job it is to defend those in power who were responsible for this miscalculation of immense proportions (MIPs) to do their best to confuse the issue and to come up with new phony reasons for the invasion of Iraq.”

[RWC] What excuses? Every intelligence post-mortem concluded the Bush administration acted in good faith with the information it had. Remember, the Clinton administration made the same assessment regarding WMD as the Bush administration.

“It is all too obvious by now that the pro-administration propaganda machine that dominates talk radio and the shoutfests on the so-called 24-7 cable news channels is too well oiled and efficient to be refuted effectively. Far too many Americans have bought into the big lies in regard to Iraq to change minds now.”

[RWC] Translation: We can’t make a fact-based argument to support our position so we’ll claim we’re a voice crying in the wilderness.

Relative to the “old media” (ABC, CBS, CNN, NBC, NPR, PBS, The New York Times, Newsweek, the Beaver County Times, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, et cetera), a.k.a. the “anti-administration propaganda machine,” the audience of the so-called “pro-administration propaganda machine” pales in comparison. I guess the Times is admitting people believe “David” more than they believe “Goliath.” Eventually, that’s what tends to happen with the truth.

I find it funny that the Times continues to bash “shoutfests.” Don’t get me wrong, I too find them to be annoying and next to worthless. What I find funny is that the Times apparently doesn’t recognize its own shoutfests, its opinion pages. Between editorials, letters to the editor, and so-called analysis and commentary columns, the Times opinion pages are the print equivalent of those dreaded TV and radio shoutfests.

“As a result, no one in the White House and Pentagon has had to face the consequences for their costly MIPs.”

[RWC] I’m sure it was an honest omission – not, but the editorial forgot to mention Congress. Congress saw the same information as President Bush and most of it came to the same conclusion, including the 39% of House Democrats and the 58% of Senate Democrats who voted for the resolution. Does the Times support removing from office all representatives and senators who voted for the Iraq War Resolution?

“Sadly, the only ones paying the price are the troops, their families and the nation. A first-class military machine is being ground up in Iraq and the people who are most responsible are getting a free ride.”

[RWC] The Times keeps repeating the “ground up” charge yet offers no support. Does the Times believe the U.S. military is losing in Iraq?

“And the denials go on. A White House spokesman said that based ‘on what we know today, the president would have taken the same action because this is about protecting the American people.’”

[RWC] I don’t know if President Bush would have made the same decision or not, but there’s no way he could give a different answer. Any other answer would kill the morale of the troops and disrespect the sacrifice made by many of our military.

If I had known then what I know now, I probably would not have made the same decision. Despite the other reasons listed in the Iraq War Resolution, the WMD was the deciding factor for me. That said, it doesn’t mean the decision would have been correct.

“Sorry, but nothing good can come when failure has no consequences.”

[RWC] I agree, but everyone makes mistakes. Using this logic, by the end of World War II no one would have been left in the Pentagon.

I find it funny that this sentiment comes from the same newspaper that recently defended the failure known as the James E. Ross Highway, a.k.a. Toll Route 60.