Frank Rich: Why the television networks 'canceled' the war in Iraq

[kpete]

Frank Rich: Why the television networks 'canceled' the war in Iraq

Excerpts from Rich's Sunday column in the Times:

As America fell into the quagmire of Vietnam, the comedian Milton Berle joked that the fastest way to end the war would be to put it on the last-place network, ABC, where it was certain to be canceled. Berle's gallows humor lives on in the quagmire in Iraq. Americans want this war canceled too, and first- and last-place networks alike are more than happy to oblige.

CNN will surely remind us on Sunday that it is Day 19 of the Israel-Hezbollah war -- now branded as Crisis in the Middle East -- but you won't catch anyone saying it's Day 1,229 of the war in Iraq. On the Big Three networks' evening newscasts, the time devoted to Iraq has fallen 60 percent between 2003 and this spring, as clocked by the television monitor, the Tyndall Report. On Thursday, Brian Williams of NBC read aloud a "shame on you" e-mail complaint from the parents of two military sons anguished that his broadcast had so little news about the war.

....

The specter of defeat is not the only reason Americans have switched off Iraq. The larger issue is that we don't know what we -- or, more specifically, 135,000 brave and vulnerable American troops -- are fighting for. In contrast to the Israel-Hezbollah war, where the stakes for the combatants and American interests are clear, the war in Iraq has no rationale to keep it afloat on television or anywhere else. It's a big, nightmarish story, all right, but one that lacks the thread of a coherent plot.

....

That the latest American plan for victory is to reposition our forces by putting more of them in the crossfire of Baghdad's civil war is tantamount to treating our troops as if they were deck chairs on the Titanic. Even if the networks led with the story every night, what Americans would have the stomach to watch?

http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/Frank_Rich_Network_helping_to_cancel_0729.html

[elehhhhna]

1. Bush's Iraq War : It's All Over But The Pouting

[Botany]

9. No way! Look from 2003

Today, organized military resistance is virtually ended; the major cities of Iraq have been liberated. (Applause.)



Thanks to the courage and the might of our military, the American people are more secure. Thanks to the courage and might of our military, the Iraqi people are now free.

One week ago, Baghdad was filled with statues and giant pictures of the dictator. They're kind of hard to find today. (Laughter.) The fall of that statue in Baghdad marked the end of a nightmare for the Iraqi people, and it marked the start of a new day of freedom. (Applause.)

American and coalition forces still face serious risks in Iraq. Scattered enemy is still capable of doing harm to our forces and to the innocent. But we'll stay focused. We will finish what we've begun. We will press on until our mission is finished and victory is complete. (Applause.)

On September the 11th, 2001, America found that we are not immune to the threats that gather for years across the ocean; threats that can arrive in sudden tragedy. Since September the 11th, we've been engaged in a global war against terror, a war being waged on many fronts. That war continues, and we are winning. (Applause.)

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=&imgrefurl=http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/04/20030416-9.html&h=190&w=254&sz=15&hl=en&start=4&tbnid=txoVhyPdRFfGFM:&tbnh=83&tbnw=111&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dbush%2Boperation%2Bvictory%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26client%3Dsafari%26rls%3Den-us%26sa%3DN

[Joanne98]

2. Maybe Bush thinks he can win if we're not looking.

LOL

[Jara sang]

3. We are at war in Iraq? When did this happen?

[LiberalHeart]

4. The day Bush was selected prez

[Jara sang]

6. PNAC had it planned out well before then.

[Olney Blue]

5. Per Rove: People are just "sour" on it right now.

Let's all forget about it and think of happy things like American Idols in the White House.

[BeHereNow]

8. Yes, yes and let's not forget to keep shopping! N/T

bhn

[BeHereNow]

7. It's fucking disgraceful...Americans have the attention span of

fleas.

American forces in Iraq have all but been
dismissed by the American public...
except for those still sporting little yellow ribbons
professing such a ridiculous action to suffice in "supporting the troops"
while they ignore ALL of the facts about how the troops ended up
there because of lies, greed and corporate interests of the American led corporate empire.
Despicable- truly.
BHN