Washington Post editorial page editor Fred Hiatt wrote a piece today (5/24/10) headlined, “In the Absence of Debate, Iraq and Afghanistan Go Unnoticed.” Hiatt laments the silence surrounding U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and ponders whether “the absence of debate reflects not full-bodied consensus but a wishful averting of eyes.”
Fair enough. But what kind of debate does Hiatt wish the country to have, anyway? His job gives him a chance to affect the national discussion about these wars, and the evidence suggests that he’s done little to provide a forum for dissenting views.
As FAIR’s Steve Rendall wrote in his study of the Post‘s op-ed page and Afghanistan (for the first 10 months of 2009):
In the Washington Post, pro-war columns outnumbered antiwar columns by more than 10 to 1: Of 67 Post columns on U.S. military policy in Afghanistan, 61 supported a continued war, while just six expressed antiwar views. Of the pro-war columns, 31 were for escalation and 30 for an alternative strategy.
At times the Post’s editors seemed unaware that an antiwar position even existed. For instance, in an op-ed roundtable (9/27/09) appearing in its recurring “Topic A” feature, the section’s editors, in their words, “asked foreign policy experts whether President Obama should maintain a focus on protecting the population and rebuilding the country, or on striking terrorists.”Excluding withdrawal from the discussion was a theme echoed by Post columnist Fareed Zakaria, who began a column (9/14/09): “It is time to get real about Afghanistan. Withdrawal is not a serious option.”
Interestingly, Hiatt also had a similar beef with the debate over healthcare reform—writing (from the right) back in October, “Single-payer national health insurance may be the best outcome, but we should get there after an honest debate, not through the back door.” As we pointed out then, the Post had done next to nothing to provide an “honest debate.”
If Hiatt really wants the country to debate these issues, he should start with his own paper.
But single-payer was PROMISED UPFRONT By Obummer, in exchange for DEM control of both Congressional houses, and (HIS) “presidency”!
We will have spent more than 1 trillion tax dollars on the wars in the Middle East continuing to create angst and anger around the world because of our conduct in that region while over 40 million people live in poverty here in our own country.
And then there’s Representative Virginia Foxx stating about the cost of the healthcare bill â┚¬Ã…“we have more to fear from the potential of that bill passing than we do from any terrorist right now in any country.â┚¬Ã‚Â
There is no rational discussion in mainstream media about the influence these wars have on our image globally and the financial costs on our country as a whole. We sink together until we rise as one and demand social programming over the wall street profiteering at the expense of our communities.
Honestly, there is hardly any rational discussion on any important issue in the mainstream media, including in New York, on NPR.