This page was last updated on June 8, 2011.
True courage; Editorial; Beaver County Times; June 8, 2011.
Below is a detailed critique of the subject editorial.
“Talk about liberty and freedom is cheap.
“Having the courage to put your life on the line for those ideals is another matter altogether.
“That’s why what is taking place in Syria is remarkable and noble. Dissidents know that their rulers have no qualms about killing them, yet they haven’t backed down. They know their chances of succeeding are slim, yet their ideals drive them on.”
[RWC] Note the editorial doesn’t tell us what those “ideals” are.
“Watch, listen and be humbled by what you are seeing in Syria.”
[RWC] I almost don’t know how to respond. This editorial is something I’d expect to see in The Onion.
In “Springing forward,” the Times told us “the so-called Arab spring is starting to lose its bloom. The New York Times reports the movements over the last few months that have inspired so many are colliding with the reality of religious differences, ethnic tensions and competition among clans — forces that have been stifled for years by dictatorial regimes.” How is Syria different?
As I wrote in my critique of “Still at war,” “The Times appears to have forgotten what happened in Iran just over 30 years ago. Just as the Times claims today about ‘the people’s movements … sweeping the Middle East,’ we were told the overthrow of the Shah of Iran was all about ‘freedom and liberty.’ Instead, Iranians got an ‘Islamic theocracy’ and currently the largest state sponsor of terrorism.” Why would we expect Syria to be different?
Did the Times forget/ignore the gang-rape of CBS reporter Lara Logan in Cairo’s Tahrir Square by members of “the people’s movements that are sweeping the Middle East” while shouting “Jew, Jew, Jew?” Again, how is Syria different? Did no one at the Times see the video of Syrians storming the border with Israel?
Perhaps the Times editorial board needs to reread its editorial “People power” (1/31/06). The editorial subtitle was “Democracy in the Middle East brings terrorists to power in Palestine.”
© 2004-2011 Robert W. Cox, all rights reserved.