Media Spins 'Success' of Iraqi Troops in Bush War Plan

Interview with John R. MacArthur, publisher of Harper's magazine, conducted by Scott Harris

The White House, now embroiled in a major scandal involving the most senior White House aids, Karl Rove and Lewis Libby, still struggles to paint an optimistic picture of the war in Iraq. But with the death toll of US soldiers now reaching the 2,000 mark, and a solid majority of the American people believing that the war was a mistake, President Bush has an ever-tougher job selling his "stay the course" Iraq policy.

Despite the apparent passage of a draft constitution for Iraq in the Oct. 15th referendum, the insurgents capitalizing on ethnic and religious polarization continue to launch deadly attacks on military and civilian targets. Three suicide bombs carried in vehicles exploded in quick succession October 24th near the Palestine and Sheraton Hotels, the base for many foreign reporters. The blasts killed an estimated 20, but would have been far more deadly had one of the bombs, concealed in a cement mixer, reached its intended target, the Palestine Hotel.

Critics of the Bush administration's pre-war campaign to win support for the Iraq invasion point to the complicity of the media as cheerleaders rather than skeptics when the policy could have been challenged and reversed. Between The Lines' Scott Harris spoke with John R. MacArthur, author of a book covering the 1991 Iraq War titled, "Second Front, Censorship and Propaganda in the Gulf War." MacArthur, publisher of Harper's Magazine, assesses the U.S. media's coverage of the Iraq War and the unfolding CIA leak scandal.

John R. MacArthur's book, "Second Front, Censorship and Propaganda in the Gulf War," published by University of California Press. Visit Harper's magazine website at www.harpers.org

Related links:

Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting, at www.fair.org

"Iraq War Coverage Reminds Me of Vietnam," by John R. MacArthur, April 5, 2005 by the Providence Journal, (Rhode Island)

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