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Who
Ever Said, "The War Is Over"?
EDITORIAL
Frank Salvato
September 16, 2003 |
As the evil cabal over at the
New York Times tries to find those among the American public who have
the attention span of gnats for their opinion polls, the question has to be
asked, who ever stated that the war in Iraq was over? The New York Times
keeps insisting, as well as most of the alphabet media, that President
Bush landed on the USS Abraham Lincoln and declared the war
was over. This is factually incorrect and in actuality a blatant lie.
President Bush declared that major military operations were
over in Iraq and he was correct. But one would never know the truth if they
hadn’t listened to what the president actually said especially if they
relied on the alphabet media to inform them.
Anyone who is remotely versed in the happenings of international conflict
would agree that there are several phases to any military operation and
major operations is just one of them. The alphabet media is feeding off of
the fact that the American public has become spoiled in the sense we are now
accustomed to instant everything. There is instant food, instant banking,
the television shows are mostly half hours, everything happens in short
satisfying increments. Sales pitches need to get the hook in within the
first 30 seconds and books are either read or discarded within the first few
pages. Candy is bite-sized and yogurt comes in "easy on-the-go containers.”
We have drive-thru fast food restaurants, drive-thru pharmacies, drive-thru
wedding chapels and in California (no surprise here) we have drive-thru
funeral homes all because we need to get things done quicker, fast and more
conveniently. We have become a society of instant satisfaction and if we
don’t get it there is hell to pay. It is sad that our inability to grasp the
concept of long-term commitment should influence the well being of an entire
nation’s people, but then that’s probably why our divorce rate is so high.
Additionally, it is disturbing that a once vital community of honest and
purposeful media outlets has been hijacked by those who would use them as
tools for a political agenda by manipulating the facts and therefore
manipulating the minds of the American people.
If
the mainstream media weren’t politically tainted, skewing their coverage to
support a liberally bias agenda they would no doubt be reminding us every
day of the following so that we wouldn’t forget.
Before the military action in Iraq started President Bush made it quite
clear this was but a battle in the overall War on Terror whose objective was
to remove from power a dictator who harbored terrorist organizations within
the borders of his country (remember "You are either with us or you are with
the terrorists”?), oppressed, tortured, raped and killed his own people,
defied UN resolutions requiring him to show proof of the destruction of the
banned weapons that had already used on the Kurds of his population and who
thoroughly violated the cease-fire agreements that brought an end to
Operation Desert Storm (when it’s spelled out it is quite a lengthy set
of reasons – don’t you think?)
When we launched the War on Terror – in direct response to the murderous
attacks of September 11th – the president stated in no uncertain terms that
this conflict would be a very lengthy one and a very costly one but that we
had to commit ourselves if we were going to win the war and make our country
and the world a safer place.
When we launched operations in Iraq we did so with such efficiency that it
stunned the world and because of that the American pubic assumed that
everything would happen in the "instant” way we have all become accustomed,
this is not nor was it ever the case.
It takes quite a bit of time to take a third world country, secure it from
fanatics that have held the reigns of a murderous dictatorship, establish a
democratic government and then depart knowing full well that the said
democratic government won’t fall flat on its face the moment we leave.
President Bush never said that the military conflict in Iraq was over, those
words never came out of his mouth. He simply stated that major military
operations were over. There is an incredibly huge difference.
If the alphabet media would return to the noble tradition of reporting the
news we wouldn’t have to be reminded of what was said and what wasn’t. It
would be a matter of record that was referred to often as those of us who
write opinion and editorial banter about the pro’s, con’s and intricacies of
any given topic of the day. But the mainstream or alphabet media has evolved
into a gaggle of editorialists all feverishly searching out the big breaking
story and along the way to their prize they have forgotten that the most
important element in any news story is the truth. Today, the truth in the
mainstream media has been limited to what sells papers and ad time. Today,
the truth suffers and sits second to opportunism.
Fact: President Bush never said that the war in Iraq was over. He said that
major military operations were over.
Fact: Anyone would be hard pressed to know this reality by reading the
New York Times.
Summation: It is hard to tell what is the truth and what is not if you read
the New York Times. Right Jayson Blair? Right
Maureen Dowd?
Enough said.Frank Salvato
is a political media consultant and the managing editor for The New Media Journal.us. He
is a contributing writer for The Washington Dispatch, GOPUSA,
OpinionEditorials, Men’s News Daily, Canada Free Press & AmericanDaily. His
pieces are regularly featured in Townhall.com. He has appeared as a guest on
The O’Reilly Factor, The Kevin Matthews Radio Show (Chicago) and The Brad
Messer Radio Show (San Antonio). His pieces have been recognized by the
Japan Center for Conflict Prevention and are occasionally featured in The
Washington Times and The London Morning Paper as well as other national and
international publications.
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