It's not the same as Iraq
It really seems odd to me that the press seems to want to report a pressure on Obama to exit Afghanistan, but it's not my experience that that pressure is really out there.
Besides George Will's overhyped piece, have you run across lots of screeds against the Afghan war? Are there anti-Afghan war protests? Do you see bumperstickers? Have you run into any conversations where someone is animatedly describing a need to get out of Afghanistan?
No, I sincerely doubt you have, and yet you read headlines like today's NYTimes top story, G.O.P. Support May Be Vital to Obama on Afghan War, and you'd think there's a movement.
There was real, very real anti-Iraq sentiment from well before that war started, and I can't tell you how many years it took before it was a top headline on the NYTimes, (aluminum tubes) and now they seem to be almost ginning up stories about Afghan war pressure.
It just feels so wrong. They can't even find a protest to hang the story on.
Besides George Will's overhyped piece, have you run across lots of screeds against the Afghan war? Are there anti-Afghan war protests? Do you see bumperstickers? Have you run into any conversations where someone is animatedly describing a need to get out of Afghanistan?
No, I sincerely doubt you have, and yet you read headlines like today's NYTimes top story, G.O.P. Support May Be Vital to Obama on Afghan War, and you'd think there's a movement.
There was real, very real anti-Iraq sentiment from well before that war started, and I can't tell you how many years it took before it was a top headline on the NYTimes, (aluminum tubes) and now they seem to be almost ginning up stories about Afghan war pressure.
It just feels so wrong. They can't even find a protest to hang the story on.
posted by mikevotes at
7:10 AM
5 Comments:
The media helped get the US into this mess. Maybe they feel guilty?
By
Anonymous, at 9:25 AM
I don't see that article as anti-war. More troops needed seems to be the mantra. People need to believe the 'goals are achievable' with the right formula.
By
Anonymous, at 10:28 AM
Anon 1, I could see it as an effort at compensation for not covering the anti-Iraq stuff, now with the accepted knowledge that it was a mistake.
...
Anon 2, It probably wasn't the best example of the reporting trend. It was just the one that sent me over the edge because of its seemingly outsized placement.
There have been a fair number of these "the left wants out of Afghanistan" stories, and it's not my experience that that is a deeply held sentiment.
By
mikevotes, at 10:49 AM
I agree. If there was a lot of genuine pressure on Democrats it would stop tomorrow. My sense is that people are just numb. They voted for Obama and nothing much has changed.
By
Anonymous, at 11:36 AM
Yes, I have heard animated discussions of the need to get out of Afghanistan. Came immediately after a screening of "Rethink Afghanistan", the new Robert Greenwald / Brave New Films film on the subject.
The film was certainly thought provoking -- suggesting that there is no Al Qaeda presence in Afghanistan (confirmed by Gen. David Petraeus), and we are involved in a civil war betweeen the Talaban (who are not related to Al Qaeda) and the evidently corrupt government in Kabul. Not that we've ever done anything like that before.
I went in as a supporter of the fight in Afghanistan... came out with real questions, leaning toward the thought that we are likely doing more harm than good in Afghanistan. Without a doubt, in any event, we need a clear exit strategy -- we may want to get out sooner than many think.
By
Rev. Al, at 12:35 PM
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