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To the casual observer, the situation in Iraq is bleak, the Iraqi people don’t really want democracy, and the only worthwhile story is the brutality and intimidation of Iraqi prisoners. To the “casual observer” of the mainstream media, that is. Although common sense and a semi-continuous pulse would be enough to notice the media’s pack mentality in its Iraq coverage, the numbers paint a compelling—and disturbing—picture. On any given day, Americans are treated to maybe a dozen stories highlighting the good deeds being done by coalition forces—building bridges, literally and figuratively, and generally improving daily life for ordinary Iraqis—and that’s...

To the casual observer, the situation in Iraq is bleak, the Iraqi people don’t really want democracy, and the U.S. has instituted an evil, widespread program of brutality and intimidation of Iraqi prisoners. To the “casual observer” of the mainstream media, that is.Although common sense and a semi-continuous pulse would be enough to notice the media’s pack mentality in its Iraq coverage, the numbers paint a compelling—and disturbing—picture. On any given day, Americans are treated to maybe a dozen stories highlighting the good deeds being done by coalition forces—building bridges, literally and figuratively, and generally improving daily life for ordinary Iraqis—and...

As the Abu Gharib prisoner abuse scandal has almost naturally segued into calls for Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld’s resignation, the media has once again focused on the “news” to the detriment of the actual context needed to fully understand and appreciate the reality of the situation. Just as the media focuses on Fallujah and now Abu Gharib while ignoring the thousands of daily good deeds performed by Americans and others, those calling for Rumsfeld’s head on a platter are being given a pass on their motivations for doing so. When the media trots out one poll after another showing that half...

Reflecting the perverse logic that has guided the U.S. State Department for decades, sixty former diplomats have written an open letter to President Bush denouncing the currentadministration’s “unabashed support” for the sole democracy in the Middle East: Israel. The hyperbolic screed, released this week, is chock-full of gross overstatements and pure myth.   Yet far more important – and what the media will almost surely overlook – is the stench of bias emanating from almost all of the signers, particularly from the man who organized the effort, former Ambassador Andrew Killgore, who served in Qatar from 1977-1980. The two-page letter follows the...

Although the answer changes from week to week, the general consensus of John Kerry’s comments over the past 18 months indicates that the Democratic presidential candidate believes the United States should make every effort to work through the United Nations before acting to defend itself. Kerry, however, does not believe Israel should be burdened by such a requirement. It’s not entirely clear why, but then again, nothing with Kerry is. No one is sure what Kerry’s exact position is on the question of Iraq and the UN, but when asked on “Meet the Press” by the incomparable Tim Russert if...

In announcing last week the first rollback of the de-Baathification in Iraq, the Bush administration portrayed it as a move to help bring skilled technocrats back into positions where their “talents” could be put to good use. Representative of the resulting media coverage is the New York Times reporting it as a move aimed at “bringing back thousands of teachers and professors.” But the shameless spin was a lethal cocktail of understatement and myth. Looking at just the official line—bringing back those who are “innocent, capable people who were Baathists in name only,” according to the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA)...

In recent weeks, a long-brewing conspiratorial question managed to make its way off of loony web sites and onto the front page of the paper of record, the New York Times: What did Bush know, and when did he know it, before 9/11? Seemingly lost in the “discussion” is any similar treatment of the former president with such what-and-when-did-he-know questions. Not about 9/11, but about Osama bin Laden, al Qaeda, or simply the general threat posed by radical Islam. These are crucial questions, and they cannot be ignored. Two days after Condoleezza Rice testified before the 9/11 Commission, the New...

Hours after an Israeli missile claimed the life of Hamas head and co-founder Abdel Aziz Rantisi, the terrorist organization released a statement promising "100 unique retaliations" that would shake "the criminal entity."Senior Hamas official Ismail Haniya told more than 70,000 mourners at Gaza City's largest mosque, "Every time a martyr falls, Hamas is strengthened."But as the kids on the playground would say, Hamas is just talking trash.Amid all the hyperbole about "exploding a volcano of revenge" and whatnot, Hamas refused to name its new leader. They're afraid. "They" is the appropriate term here, not "it," as in "the group," because...

In recent weeks, a long-brewing conspiratorial question managed to make its way off of loony web sites and onto the front page of the paper of record, the New York Times: What did Bush know, and when did he know it, before 9/11? Seemingly lost in the “discussion” is any similar treatment of the former president with such what-and-when-did-he-know questions.  Not about 9/11, but about Osama bin Laden, al Qaeda, or simply the general threat posed by radical Islam.These are crucial questions, and they cannot be ignored. Two days after Condoleezza Rice testified before the 9/11 Commission, the New York Times...

Hours after an Israeli missile claimed the life of Hamas head and co-founder Abdel Aziz Rantisi, the terrorist organization released a statement promising “100 unique retaliations” that would shake “the criminal entity.” Senior Hamas official Ismail Haniya told more than 70,000 “mourners” at Gaza City’s largest mosque, “Every time a martyr falls, Hamas is strengthened.”But as the kids on the playground would say, Hamas is just talking trash. Hamas is following in the footsteps of so many nearly-defeated people throughout time: talk tough to distract everyone.  The model is time-tested: the person about to go down to ignominious defeat remains defiant,...

On Saturday, the New York Times—adhering to the P.T. Barnum school of journalism—screamed on its front page that President Bush was warned “that supporters of Osama bin Laden planned an attack within the United States with explosives and wanted to hijack airplanes.”To drive home the point that “Bush lied,” the Times informed readers, “The disclosure appears to contradict the White House’s repeated assertions that the briefing the president received about the Qaeda threat was ‘historical’ in nature and that the White House had little reason to suspect a Qaeda attack within American borders.”The source for this most sensational of charges,...

Witnessing the gruesome attacks on four Americans in Fallujah last week would thoroughly sicken any fellow American—except for one very prominent American-Muslim organization, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). In a statement issued shortly after the gory murders, CAIR said that it “condemned the mutilation of those killed in Iraq on Wednesday.” The slaughter of these men was not “murder,” though, it was merely a “killing.” Nowhere in the statement, in fact, did CAIR condemn the murder of the four Americans. Nowhere in the statement did CAIR condemn setting on fire the cars the men were driving. Nowhere in the...

Perhaps the starkest contrast voters have in front of them this fall has nothing to do with taxes or health care or even strategy on the war on terror. It is something much more fundamental, rooted in values and worldview: the ability to recognize evil. And looking around the Democratic Party, it may be a recurring issue for some time to come. John Kerry had to deal with a one-day flare-up a couple weeks ago for having praised Yasser Arafat as a "statesman" in his 1997 book, "The New War." But it was something else Kerry wrote that was profoundly...

Perhaps the starkest contrast voters have in front of them this fall has nothing to do with taxes or health care or even strategy on the war on terror. It is something much more fundamental, rooted in values and worldview: the ability to recognize evil. And looking around the Democratic Party, it may be a recurring issue for some time to come.John Kerry had to deal with a one-day flare-up a couple weeks ago for having praised Yasser Arafat as a "statesman" in his 1997 book, "The New War."But it was something else Kerry wrote that was profoundly more troubling.Think...

Forum Madame Hillary New York, New York (United States) ID: 181161 - 03/15/2004 - 0:50 - $29.95 Tyrrell Jr., R. Emmett, Editor in Chief, [American Spectator] Regnery, Alfred, President, Regnery Gateway Publishing Innis, Niger, National Spokesman, Congress of Racial Equality Mowbray, Joel, Columnist, Townhall.com Fund, John, Columnist, [Wall Street Journal] Mr. Tyrrell was joined by a panel of political reporters, columnists, and commentators to discuss his book, Madame Hillary: The Dark Road to the White House, published by Regnery Publishing. In the book, the author examines the life of Senator and former First Lady Hillary Clinton. He also speculates about...

Palestinians poured out into the streets Monday in what the New York Times called the largest demonstrations in a decade—all to honor the memory of a master terrorist, Hamas founder and “spiritual leader” Sheikh Ahmed Yassin. It was a hero’s memorial, not one befitting a thug hellbent on emulating Adolf Hitler. The reaction of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians reveals the depths of a depraved culture created by “spiritual leaders” like Sheikh Yassin. Political arguments can be made as to whether or not Israel’s targeted killing of Hamas’ chief executive was a prudent tactical move or if governments should be...

All too often, talking heads take to the tube a disturbing willingness to tell a heck of a whopper, apparently never believing their bluffs will be called. Take, for example, Ibrahim Hooper, the spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). Appearing on Fox News recently, Hooper, said that in twenty years’ worth of trips to mosques, “I’ve never heard violence preached; I’ve never heard anti-Semitism or anti-Americanism preached.” When asked in a subsequent phone interview with this columnist if his statement also holds true for any Muslim events, conferences, and rallies he has attended, Hooper said it did and...

Appearing on Fox News recently, the spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), Ibrahim Hooper, said that in twenty years’ worth of trips to mosques, “I’ve never heard violence preached; I’ve never heard anti-Semitism or anti-Americanism preached.” When asked in a subsequent phone interview with this columnist if his statement also holds true for any Muslim events, conferences, and rallies he has attended, Hooper said it did and added, “In fact, if I had heard that I would have called them on the carpet and asked them why they’re saying such hate-filled, divisive things.” (In a follow-up conversation, Hooper...

Voters in Spain pulled the lever for al Qaeda on Sunday, and it may only be a matter of months before Osama bin Laden tries to replicate the results in the U.S.It also shows that al Qaeda may have been more concerned with Saddam staying in power than the world realized.Although evidence that al Qaeda is responsible is nowhere near ironclad yet, the fact that the election can be chalked up as a victory for terrorists everywhere, especially al Qaeda, is.Heading into this past weekend’s elections, Spain's Popular Party—headed by Prime Minister Jose Aznar, a strong U.S. ally in...

Turn on the Korea Central News Agency in recent days, and you’d be likely to hear John Kerry’s foreign policy speeches receiving lavish praise normally reserved for the man who runs the broadcaster—and pretty much everything else in North Korea: Kim Jong-Il.    Kim Jong-Il hates George W. Bush—his mouthpiece called a senior Bush appointee who is particularly tough on Pyongyang’s dictator “human scum” last year—and luckily for him, Bush’s Democratic opponent wants the same thing Kim does: one-on-one talks, which would help cement the perception North Korea wants to project of equal adversaries squaring off.  So the “Dear Leader” supporting...