Fox News' Gibson: Bomb a
Democracy "With Clean Conscience
News Hounds
March 10, 2005
Fox News' John Gibson has gone even farther than other
journalists in falling, hook, line, and sinker, for the Bush
claim that the Iraq elections are related to some Lebanese
demonstrating for the removal of Syrian troops from their
country. Gibson went over the line on "The Big Story" Wednesday
(March 9), however, when he said the U.S. could bomb Lebanon
"with a clean conscience" if it votes democratically to retain
Syrian troops.
The connection between the Iraqi elections and recent Lebanese
demonstrations, of course, is ridiculous. Lebanon has been
holding democratic parliamentary elections for years. They
did not need to see the election in Iraq, where candidates' names
were not even made public until the day of the voting, to learn
about democracy.
Juan Cole, a University of Michigan professor of Middle
Eastern studies, explained the matter on his blog recently. He
wrote:
"Moreover, the anti-Syrian protests were not a signal that the
Lebanese wanted to be like American-occupied Iraq. They were a
signal that the Druze, Maronites and a section of the Sunnis had
agreed to try to push Syria out. It was the US who had invited
Syria into Lebanon in 1976. And it was a sign that Lebanon is
still deeply divided, since the Shiite plurality largely supports
Syria. Given the pro-Syrian sentiment in some Sunni cities like
Tripoli, it may well be that a majority of Lebanese want Syria to
remain in some capacity. If that were true, what would it do to
Mr. Bush's master narrative of the march of democracy?"
Gibson offered up his chilling answer as to what should happen
if "the terrorists" (those Lebanese, including some members of
Hezbollah, who want Syrian troops to stay) get the most votes in
Lebanon.
"Well, fine. At least we'd know; at least we'd know we tried.
And if we have to bomb a democracy back to the Stone Age because
it was sticking with its roots and sending terrorists to attack
us, we could bomb it back to the Stone Age with a clean
conscience," he said.
Lebanese demonstrating in support of foreign troops in their
country is the same thing as "sticking with its roots and sending
terrorists to attack us"? Where does Gibson get off saying that?
Has Hezbollah attacked us? And aren't the Shi'ites the people in
Iraq we're protecting?
Gibson added that bombing a Lebanese democracy would silence
America's critics. His nonsequitur was: "You wouldn't have a
bunch of Ward Churchills on the air saying it was our fault and
that if we'd only given democracy a chance, things would have
worked out. We'd miss those people decrying the American
propensity to attack first and reason later."
Gibson said that democracy may not be perfect and that even
Usama bin Laden might win an election somewhere.
"In fact, in two or three countries we call friends, I think
he'd take the top spot in a landslide," Gibson said. "We would
just have to console ourselves that democracy has given us a
clear picture of exactly where our enemies stand. And we can use
that picture in our targeting computers."
And to think just a few minutes earlier on the same show,
Gibson aired a tape of Bush saying, "Free societies don't attack
their neighbors."
No, "attack" is too wimpy. They bomb them back to the Stone
Age, right Herr Gibson?
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