BAGHDAD BOB TO THE RESCUE!!
Reports that we are paying Iraqi newspapers to run “news” stories intended to put our role in Iraq in a more positive light clearly reaffirm the Bush administration’s commitment to reshaping the Middle East in our image. After all, the Bush crowd had already been doing essentially the same thing over here. From a moral standpoint, I suppose it is marginally better to offer monetary compensation to influence the press than to rely simply on intimidation, as our terrorist insurgents appear to do, but neither approach exactly squares with the democratic aspirations we espoused when we invaded Iraq in the first place.
I’m not sure whether it’s been said too often or not enough, but from the highly suspect initial premise to the subversion of the very ideals we swore to install and secure to the transparently self-delusional search for a face-saving exit strategy, the total debacle that is the war in Iraq fairly screams “Vietnam Redux.” However, if “Vietnamization” soon translated into “wrap your arms around the landing gear and hang on for dear life,” the Saigon scenario may wind up looking like a Sunday School picnic compared to what’s in store when it’s time to boogie out of Baghdad.
In the meantime, however, I wouldn’t be surprised to see us put good old “Baghdad Bob” on the payroll as the star of a series of “Hoo-Ray USA!” infomercials on Iraqui tv. Why not? If this approach can make people buy salad spinners, why not news spinners as well?
