Rumsfeld: Terrorists use media to manipulate American people
I think Secretary Rumsfeld is half right again. Terrorists do try to manipulate American public opinion through the media, but does that imply we've running an effective war in Iraq? Does that mean we've made good decisions along the way? No, one thing has nothing to do with the other.Some in the American media are biased, but by in large MOST are not. The whole truth is NOT reaching the American people. That is true. We don't see enough of the good work being done by soldiers in Iraq, but none of it changes the bottom line: we're still losing the war in Iraq. The evidence is everywhere. There's no mistaking it, and while, yes, there has been good done in Iraq, and U.S. forces have done the best with the tools they've been given, but as flawed as the media can be, we cannot overlook the increasing violence in Iraq. It is getting worse, not better, and THAT is why the Secretary of Defense finds himself such a hated man by so many Americans. I guarantee you that had America won the war by now, had we brought our troops home by now, he would NOT be quite as unpopular as he is today. He wouldn't be loved like Mother Theresa or MLK Jr., but he wouldn't be as bad off as his is now.
10/26/2006 - WASHINGTON (AFPN) -- The "center of gravity" in the Iraq war is in America with the American people, not on the battlefield, and the media is a powerful tool that influences the people's will, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said Oct. 24.
"This is the first war that's been conducted in the 21st century with all the new media realities of 24-hour talk radio and Sony cams and digital cameras and news constantly on television," Secretary Rumsfeld. "But the American people have a pretty good center of gravity.
"They've got a good inner gyroscope," he said. "And it may be disorienting for a time; it may blow us off course somewhat, but we tend to re-center."
America's wars always have had critics, but the difference in this war is the prevalence of the media, Secretary Rumsfeld said. Terrorists recognize the influence the media has, so they use their own media committees to determine how best to manipulate the American public through the media, he said.
The terrorists plan their attacks to deliberately dishearten the American people and make them think the cause isn't right or that America makes terrorism worse, Secretary Rumsfeld said.
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- October 27, 2006
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