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Awards:  | ABC, CBS, NBC Skip Report of Benchmarks Met in Iraq
ABC, CBS, NBC Skip Report of Benchmarks Met in Iraq
Remember when the major networks and publications in this country were all dwelling on the fact that only 3 of the 18 Iraqi benchmarks for progress had been met? Well, they are mysteriously silent now that 15 of the benchmarks have been met.
You'd think they want us to lose! Quote:
June 17, 2008 - by Abe Greenwald
Way back in the dark days of 2007, when the only popular question about the Iraq war concerned the degree of tragedy, Congress’s Iraq “benchmarks” were all the rage among Democrats. Every argument against a continued U.S. presence in Iraq was constructed around the Maliki administration’s apparent inability to meet the political and security-based milestones as outlined by America’s Democratic-majority Congress.
Then something happened. The gains of the troop surge allowed the Iraqi government and citizenry to implement the security measures and legislative acts called for by the U.S. The benchmark line of argument quietly died. Here, then, is the brief life and glorious death of the great benchmark trope.
In mid-May 2007, Congress passed bill H.R. 2206, which included 18 benchmarks intended to gauge success in the security and political reconciliation of Iraq. Some of the benchmarks were broadly worded calls for beefed-up security, while others cited very specific goals. Benchmarks included, for example, “Enacting and implementing legislation addressing amnesty,” “Providing three trained and ready Iraqi brigades to support Baghdad operations,” and “Ensuring that the rights of minority political parties in the Iraqi legislature are protected.” Continued aid for Iraq reconstruction was to be contingent upon the Iraqi government’s ability to satisfactorily meet these benchmarks. President George W. Bush signed the bill into law on May 25, 2007.
In July 2007, the Bush administration issued an interim report that found satisfactory progress being made on eight of the 18 benchmarks, most of those having to do with security. The progress on eight other benchmarks was described as unsatisfactory, and the assessment of two more benchmarks was mixed. The New York Times quoted an anonymous White House official as saying, “It is a mixed bag, with some areas that are too early to pass judgment on.”
Pajamas Media » Remember Those Iraqi Benchmarks? Well, Guess What… | The Mainstream Media can not represent JUST one side or the other side, otherwise it would be like a monopoly of opinion. And even if there WAS only one point of view being represented by the MSM why in the hell would that point of view be OPPOSED to America's interests??? Quote:
For most of the Iraq war, the national media has suggested to the public that there are two sides of the story on Iraq: the version painted by President Bush and his spokesmen, and the "reality" that Americans see in the media. But when things go well in Iraq, do the networks take any steps to acknowledge reality? Or do they keep a lid on the good news?
On July 1, the Associated Press reported that the White House notified Congress this spring that Iraq's efforts on 15 of 18 benchmarks of progress were "satisfactory" -- almost twice as many as the eight benchmarks checked off a year ago. On FNC's Special Report that evening, anchor Brit Hume predicted: "I suspect that this broadcast tonight -- and maybe some others on this channel -- are the only ones who are going to make a headline out of this. This is not going to be a big story elsewhere."
Hume was right. Neither CBS Evening News nor NBC Nightly News mentioned Iraq at all. On ABC's World News, anchor Charles Gibson read a short update about "increasing dangers for U.S. troops in Afghanistan" since "in the month of June there were 28 American fatalities in Afghanistan, just one less than died in Iraq last month." NBC was the only network that put the words "Iraq" and "progress" together last week, in an item on the July 4 Today on optimism that American soldiers have in Iraq.
Newspapers also downplayed the positive progress report. The Washington Post put the news on page A-8 on Wednesday. But on Thursday, the top of the Post's front page highlighted "A Shortage of Troops in Afghanistan." Iraq is improving, so Post reporter Josh White shifted the bad-news spotlight back to the other battlefront: "Violence in Afghanistan has increased markedly over recent weeks, with June the deadliest month for U.S. troops since the war began in 2001."
ABC, CBS, NBC Skip Report of Benchmarks Met in Iraq - HUMAN EVENTS | MSNBC, CBS, ABC, NBC, the NYT, the WASHPO, the L.A. Times et al, should be ashamed of themselves.
History will reflect this era as a low point for journalism. |