April 19, 2004

That Liberal Media

Posted by Brian

We all had a bit of a giggle at the foolish anti-war sloganeers who insinuated that the Iraq invasion was done simply to try and get lower oil prices. So it’s a bit of a shock to find out that one of the things the White House bargained for before the war was lower oil prices in the run-up to the election.

The issues involved here seem to be simply scandalous. A foreign, and for all intents and purposes hostile, government is informed of our war plans before the Secretary of State is. And when that government agrees to help, the help is delivered in the form of partisan assistance in the electoral cycle, rather than say military support that might lead to fewer of our troops being killed. So you’d expect the liberal media to be jumping all over the story. And with the new fancy 24 hour news cycle, 16 hours after the story breaks would be like plenty of time to do that. So it’s again a bit of a shock to find how little coverage the story is getting. Only 21 stories worldwide, only 9 of them in America, and the vast bulk of them wire stories. (Including some from those lefty news outlets Bloomberg and Forbes.) Yep, that liberal media.

Posted on April 19, 2004 04:15 PM UTC
Comments

Am I the only person who hears alarm bells ringing when they come across the words “author of a new book” in relation to some new claim about the causes or motivations behind the Iraq war or 911? I suppose in a crowded market they all have to have a unique selling point.

Posted by Anthony · April 19, 2004 04:28 PM

What? Is Drudge not good enough for you? The story is widely reported including in the 60 Minute story. Do you feel it’s being ignored by the “conservative” press?

Posted by Richard Vagge · April 19, 2004 04:29 PM

Bob Woodward’s various allegations are getting plenty of press attention.

Posted by Anthony · April 19, 2004 07:19 PM

Sure his book is getting attention, but the focus is usually on Tenet’s “slam dunk” comment. Press seems to be eating up theideathat 9-11 and the war in Iraq were simply the results of institutional problems.

Posted by artclone · April 19, 2004 07:49 PM

Its on CNN online as of 4/19/04.

Posted by james · April 19, 2004 10:56 PM

Anthony, you are not the only one with a healthy dose of skepticism. In this case it’s worth noting that the reporting does not agree with the author. The claim is something which some people wish were true.

Read Bob Woodward’s own words from Monday’s Larry King Live: ( http://www.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0404/19/lkl.00.html )

I suspect many people prefer their interpretation to the truth.

Posted by david · April 20, 2004 03:32 PM

The Secretary of State helped draw up the plan, so the claim is ludicrous.

Colin Powell spoke to the issue in a radio interview on Monday afternoon (20040419).

Posted by david · April 20, 2004 03:37 PM
Followups

→ Kerry Responds.
Excerpt: Media not picking up the Saudi Arabia/oil fixing story like they should be? Fine, says campaign of future President, we'll send out an e-mail to our 500,000 supporters talking about it. And we'll talk about it on our blog. And...Read more at Pandagon
→ Kerry Responds.
Excerpt: Media not picking up the Saudi Arabia/oil fixing story like they should be? Fine, says campaign of future President, we'll send out an e-mail to our 500,000 supporters talking about it. And we'll talk about it on our blog. And...Read more at Pandagon

This discussion has been closed. Thanks to everyone who contributed.