Wash. Post ignored Republican divisions
over Iraq -- again
Media Matters
August 25, 2005
In an August 25 article about President Bush's most recent pledge to stay
the course in the war in Iraq, The Washington Post failed to report that some
prominent Republicans, not only Democrats, have grown "skeptic[al]" of the Bush
administration's handling of the war. In fact, a number of Republicans,
including potential presidential candidates, have publicly criticized the Bush
administration over Iraq in recent weeks. This is the second time within a week
that the Post has failed to note Republican criticism of the Iraq war while
reporting Democratic criticism.
From the Post article by staff writers Sam Coates and Mike Allen:
Asserting that "the stakes in Iraq could not be higher," Bush contended that
the nation is "achieving our strategic objectives in Iraq." It is that last
contention -- that the United States is moving purposely toward its goals and
an accompanying exit from Iraq -- that has been subject to growing skepticism
by Democrats.
As Media Matters for America has noted, potential presidential candidate
Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-NE) has twice argued since August 18 that the United States
is getting "bogged down" in Iraq much as it did in Vietnam. An August 18 New
York Times article reported that former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, another
potential Republican presidential candidate, focused on what he perceived as
the Bush administration's poor explanation of the war:
"Any effort to explain Iraq as 'We are on track and making progress' is
nonsense," Newt Gingrich, a Republican who is a former House speaker, said.
"The left has a constant drumbeat that this is Vietnam and a bottomless pit.
The daily and weekly casualties leave people feeling that things aren't going
well."
The Times article also documented three Republican House members who have
publicly criticized the administration's Iraq policy and now oppose the
war:
* Rep. John J. Duncan Jr. (R-TN) said that "[t]here is just no enthusiasm
for this war," adding that "[n]obody is happy about it."
* Rep. Wayne T. Gilchrest (R-MD) noted that he has seen "a lot of Republicans
grousing about the situation as a whole and how they have to respond to a lot
of questions back home."
* Rep. Walter B. Jones (R-NC) stated, "If your poll numbers are dropping over
an issue, and this issue being the war, than [sic] obviously there is a message
there -- no question about it."
The August 25 Post report was the second this week to ignore internal
Republican tensions over Iraq. An August 22 front-page Post article on internal
Democratic divisions about the war also omitted any reference to similar
divisions within the Republican Party, as Media Matters previously noted.
— A.S.
Posted to the web on Thursday August 25, 2005 at 4:22 PM EST
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