The Absurd Report

Iraq: The media in America are trivializing the sacrifice of thousands who gave their lives in the global war on terror by playing a numbers game. Each of the 4,000 sad losses in Iraq was for a cause as great as WWII.

There should be no illusions as to why the establishment press, from networks to newsmagazines, never miss the opportunity to hype the death toll threshold in Iraq: They’re trying to drum up opposition to the war among an American public that has proved time and again to be reflexively patriotic.

As willing as the people of this land are to sacrifice for the country, its interests, and for what is right, however, the media correctly recognize that our patience is limited when it comes to war.

If they do not appreciate what it is we are fighting for, or if our political leaders manage the conflict incompetently, as in Vietnam, Americans will not remain aboard a sinking ship.

And so for years now, especially after the sectarian violence in the aftermath of the bombing of the Golden Mosque in Samarra two years ago, reporting on Iraq has coupled with the rhetoric of Democratic politicians in insisting that this is a pointless war, begun for the wrong reasons, and which the U.S. had no hope of winning — especially after the Samarra incident sparked a civil war there, in which U.S. troops were caught in the middle.

The media and the Democrats also insisted that it was an indelible stain of fundamental failure for the presidency of George W. Bush.

As the tale is told, this “C student,” as the Rev. Jeremiah Wright calls him, who made it to the White House through voter fraud, and who lied us into Iraq with false information about weapons of mass destruction, was finally reaping what he had sown.

The sooner we admit that and opt for some kind of defeat with dignity, the better.

Then there is the truth.