The Facts Are Biased

It amazes me how any all bad news out of Iraq is written off by Bush war supporters as being everything from biased, partisan attacks on the President to being downright treasonous. The latest incident giving the wingnuts the vapors involves CNN reporter Christane Amanpour’s comments that the situation in Iraq is getting worse. Juan Cole has the story:

Cristiane Amanpour thinks things are getting "worse and worse" in Iraq. Given that
daily attacks are up from 55 per day to 77 per day over a year ago, and given that Baghdad (1/4 of the population) is being starved of fuel and electricity, and given that the Sunni Arabs rejected the constitution and are threatening to launch a civil disobedience campaign on top of the guerrilla war, I don't see in what way her statement is controversial.

It is a measure of the fantasy world in which about 40 percent of Americans live that her statement is even a matter for comment. As for the charge that her views might affect her reporting, no one on the right is complaining about all those gung ho reporters who went to Iraq in 2003 believing it was a noble endeavor. Wouldn't that philosophy have affected their reporting of the war? In fact, don't Fox Cable News reporters get pressure from their editors and from Rupert to constantly downplay the guerrilla war in Iraq and to find silver linings in this mess? And Christiane, who has reported on wars all over the world and knows the Middle East like the back of her hand is the one who is out of line?

Amanpuor is perhaps the best foreign correspondent on any American network. Her knowledge and abilities are amazing. Shooting the messenger only makes the right even more foolish and delusional.

This all reminds me of this now famous exchange on the Daily Show between “reporter” Rob Corddry and “anchor” Jon Stewart:

Rob Corddry: How does one report the facts in an unbiased way when the facts themselves are biased?

Jon Stewart: I'm sorry, Rob, did you say the facts are biased?

Rob Corddry: That's right Jon. From the names of our fallen soldiers to the gradual withdrawal of our allies to the growing insurgency, it's become all too clear that facts in Iraq have an anti-Bush agenda.

Reality becomes really warped when everything is seen though partisan political glasses. Denying things aren’t going well in Iraq isn’t going to bring “victory” (what ever that means in terms of Iraq) any sooner. In fact, the first step in successfully dealing with a problem is admitting there is one.