George Bush has been giving the essentially the same speech about the dangers of leaving Iraq for almost two years now. The media dutifully records those same words over and over -- without applying any context.
September 22, 2005:
"Some Americans want us to withdraw our troops so that we can escape the violence," said Bush, who was flanked by Vice President Cheney, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and other top officials. "I recognize their good intentions, but their position is wrong. Withdrawing our troops would make the world more dangerous and make America less safe. To leave Iraq now would be to repeat the costly mistakes of the past that led to the attacks of September the 11th, 2001."April 4, 2007:
"The enemy does not measure the conflict in Iraq in terms of timetables," Bush said to soldiers here, a reference to congressional Democrats' plans to start phasing in troop withdrawals.Slight change in wording, but essentially the same message.
"A strategy that encourages this enemy to wait us out is dangerous - dangerous for our troops, dangerous for our security," Bush said. "And it's not going to become law."
If the media did any kind of analysis, they'd examine what's really dangerous for our troops and our security. For example, they might note that Bush makes these remarks while troops are dying -- seven in the last two days. For example, it's dangerous for our troops to send them to a war without a plan and without the needed equipment and training. What's dangerous for our troops is leaving them to die in the middle of a civil war. What's been dangerous for our security has been to ignore the real terror threat while simultaneously empowering them.
