Froomkin patiently explains to colleagues: How The Press Can Prevent Another Iraq

[Rose Siding]

COMMENTARY | February 02, 2007
Journalists, and through us the public, have a grave responsibility to not be complicit in another march to war on false pretenses. So what lessons should we have learned from Iraq?

By Dan Froomkin
[email protected]

Lessons we thought had been learned from Vietnam were forgotten in the rush to invade Iraq. And now, as we cover President Bush’s ratcheting up of the rhetoric against Iran, it’s looking like the lessons we should have learned from Iraq may not have been learned at all. So at the risk of stating the obvious, here are some thoughts about what those lessons were....

http://niemanwatchdog.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=background.view&backgroundid=00156

It's heartbreaking that ANYONE has to bring these elementary truths to others in the press. Froomkin makes his points under the following headings:

You Can’t Be Too Skeptical of Authority

Provocation Alone Does Not Justify War

Be Particularly Skeptical of Secrecy

Watch for Rhetorical Traps

Don’t Just Give Voice to the Administration Officials
Give voice to the skeptics; don’t marginalize and mock them.

and more.

[Reterr]

1. I really like Dan Froomkin

He, Krugman etc. will be the people to have been on the right side of history from the get go.

[Demeter]

2. Question Authority, In Other Words

Any Boomer with a brain could have told you that one, and in fact, those people have been screaming since BEFORE the invasion!

Consider this: when in the history of the world have 80 million people protested a war before it started?

[90-percent]

3. thanks

Thanks Demeter. The World experienced the biggest organized protests in the history of the universe before this War.

that 80 million people Worldwide went out and did this has sooo fallen down the memory hole. THIS MUST NOT BE FORGOTTEN and must be brought to the forefront of the debate on creating even more stupid wars for no good reason.

-85% jimmy

[struggle4progress]

4. K-n-R

[ms liberty]

5. But will they listen?...K&R n/t