More on the media. Sullivan's back, and has this priceless bit:
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THE BEEB APOLOGIZES: From Private Eye (Britain's Onion), an apology from the BBC:
In the light of recent events, we now accept – albeit with a very bad grace – that the coalition forces seem for the time being to have got away with it, and that large numbers of Iraqis, though clearly paid by the CIA to do so, may have appeared to be not entirely displeased at the downfall of a regime which, whatever its faults, did at least for 30 years guarantee the stability of a potentially explosive mix of Shias, Sunnis and Kurds, who will now undoubtedly plunge the whole region into a state of chaos which will threaten the peace of the world.
Whilst apologising for any confusion to which our reports may have given rise (and allowing for the fact that they could be broadcast only under monitoring restrictions imposed by the Iraqi authorities), we now realise that the only hope for future peace is for the hated Bush/Blair imperialist aggressors to be replaced at once by a French-led UN force of Russian troops of the type who were so successful in bringing peace to the Muslims of Groszny.
Yep, that just about sums it up, doesn't it?
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andrewsullivan.com
I heard a BBC radio summary of the war the other night, and it was a marvelous CYA job: the Americans swept in, the Iraqis deserted, they mounted no coherent defense against American air attacks, the whole regime seemed headless from early on, etc, etc.
Completely different in both tone and substance from the BBC's real time coverage, in which the reporters and announcers only seemed to realize that the great last stand of Saddam was never going to materialize on the day that the minders didn't show up for work!
Sullivan also has a link to this article in the Village Voice about morale at the NYT:
Press Clips
by Cynthia Cotts
'Republic of Fear'
Raines Team Consolidates on 43rd Street
April 16 - 22, 2003
ast week, as one regime crumbled in Baghdad, another was consolidating power on 43rd Street—that of New York Times executive editor Howell Raines. Since former editor Joe Lelyveld stepped down in September 2001, Raines and his deputies are said to have engaged in a rolling purge, systematically pushing out editorial employees with ties to the past and making way for new stars. "It's like a divorce," says one insider, with the staff now divided between Joe's people and Howell's people. "To be a favorite of Joe is a black mark with Howell," says another.
villagevoice.com |
