Round one to Kerry

LISTENING to the comments of American journalists and other “informed persons” following the first debate between President George W Bush and Democratic candidate John Kerry on Thursday night, Trinbagonians should have fresh reason for appreciating the quality and integrity of the media houses and their personnel in our little third world country. The level of dishonesty, the lack of impartiality, the apparent fear or inability to condemn or even recognise the deliberate untruths and outright deception of the President by the US media make the practice of journalism in our country, by comparison, something of which our citizens can be proud. The American media response to the debate, in fact, seemed an extension of their shameful performance in covering the American attack on Iraq, content as they were to be “embedded” within the ranks of the invading troops and reporting only on the “victorious exploits” of US soldiers in the “battle” to  topple Saddam.

The extent of the horror which the invading aerial blitz inflicted on that hapless country and its civil population was conveniently ignored by these first world journalists representing “the virtues of America.” On Thursday night, they again failed to see a different kind of horror, that of their president defending his pre-emptive, illegal and unilateral strike against Iraq as a necessary part of his government’s “war against terror.”  And again, their impotence to deal with Bush’s persistent misconceptions and falsehoods regarding this ridiculous “war” presented a truly sad spectacle. In responding to Kerry’s description of the invasion as a stupendous blunder, in which the US had as minor partners the UK and Australia, Bush without a blink declared that the “coalition” comprised 30 nations. The fact is that after the removal of Saddam, a few nations, not wanting to incur the wrath of the mighty US, sent small teams of advisers and consultants to Iraq to help in restoring the battered country’s infrastructure and civil security.

They can hardly be considered part of the military coalition that Bush boasts about and, in any case, it is doubtful whether these “partners” are as many as 30. Whether by fear or by some misguided confidence in his “strong leadership” Bush has been able to mesmerise a large section of the US population, but the rest of the world knows that he has alienated almost the whole of Europe and his place in history as the most hated US president is well secured. Perhaps the most amazing aspect of Bush’s presidency is the image he continues to enjoy as a “strong and decisive” leader. But what is strength and decisiveness if they are guided by stupidity, the attitude of a bully and a gift for mendacity? Still, he gets away with it. During the debate, for example, he insists that the invasion of Iraq was justified and necessary to deal with terrorists because “they attacked us first.”

One would have thought that the point made by Kerry would be unanimously accepted, that it was Osama bin Laden and his al Qaeda network who were responsible for the September 11 bombings in the US and that Saddam Hussein, brutal dictator that he was, had nothing whatever to do with those hijack attacks and, in fact, represented no terrorist threat to any other country. But did this blatant and insistent falsehood incur the condemnation of the US media and other “knowledgeable” commentators? Decisively not. Trinbagonians may also feel proud of the fact that had the leader of their country committed such a “monumental blunder” he would have been relentlessly hounded out of office by both Press and populace. Thanks to Bush’s stupidity, Iraq is now a chaotic and nightmarish hell hole, a ready-made arena for terrorism, in which more than 1,000 US troops have uselessly lost their lives. The idea of imposing a democracy on that divided country is rapidly receding in an orgy of bombs, bullets and human carnage. The fact is that Kerry won Thursday night’s debate by a wide and decisive margin. But the “embedded” media lacks the testicular fortitude to clearly say so.