November 28, 2006
Hotline After Dark -- The Media Becomes The Story
Lots of talk last night on NBC's decision to call Iraq a "civil war":
MSNBC's Olbermann: "Is this the Walter Cronkite moment of the Iraq War?" ("Countdown," 11/27).
FNC's Hannity: "They think that they're Walter Cronkite and they want to have an impact here. But they've never given the American public the story about all the success in Iraq" ("Hannity & Colmes," 11/27).
CNN's Ware, in Baghdad: "By any academic's definition, this is civil war, organized conflict by two elements within a country to pursue the political center, with elements of ethnic cleansing, militia combat, family against family, neighbor against neighbor, with a degree of organization and coordination. ... So, whether the White House calls it civil war or not, the fact on the ground is, if this is not civil war, we don't want to see one when it comes" ("PZ Now," 11/27).
More Ware: "Anyone who still remains in doubt about whether this is civil war or not is suffering from the luxury of distance" ("Situation Room," 11/27).
Pat Buchanan: "If you want to call it a civil war, fine. But it's not a traditional civil war, like the Spanish Civil War, where one side or the other is fighting for the capital and control of the entire country. It's a series of wars, a number of wars in one" ("Hardball," MSNBC, 11/27).
Retired Gen./NBC News analyst Barry McCaffrey: "I've been calling it that, a low-grade civil war, for the last 18 months" ("Hardball," MSNBC, 11/27).
Washington Post's Priest: "I think one of the reasons the president resists that label is because it equates almost with a failure of U.S. policy" ("Hardball," MSNBC, 11/27).
Ex-Pres. Carter: "I think there's certainly been indications of civil war for a long time. The war is between civil entities within the country and it's obviously reached a point of not being constrained or controlled by outside forces, including American forces, so I don't think there's anything wrong with calling it a civil war. It doesn't change the character of it just because NBC has said that but I don't think it's a misnomer for it" ("LKL," CNN, 11/27). [EMILY GOODIN]
Posted at 07:11 AM
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