Andrea Mitchell tries to appeal to male bravado to inch America to war
One really wonders if many reporters and journalists are willfully ignorant or simply so gullible that they buy into the defense industrial complex’s war narrative.
Yesterday it was announced officially, though not in these terms, that the United States will have boots on the ground in Syria. The administration twisted itself into knots to explain why it wasn’t the case but one knows better.
The story was broken on MSNBC where the United States plan was outlined.
Richard Engle describes the three prong approach in this latest mission creep.
- Send special operations forces on the ground into Syria working with militia groups
- Base a rapid reaction force in Northern Iraq
- Send more combat aircraft to Turkey including F15s and A10s
In effect it is yet another escalation to war that America does not need but will be participating in. And guess what? The media is falling in line. During the buildup to the war in Iraq, the media in general became a partner with the administration to convince Americans that a war was necessary. They were wards of the military industrial complex via the Bush administration.
Today the scenario is a bit different. Given that the Obama administration is not as belligerent or warmongering as recent administrations, the media have become the partner of a hidden military industrial complex by baiting the Obama administration into war.
Andrea Mitchell erases any doubt of that as she answered a question from Brian Williams. Brian asked Andrea Mitchell why the administration announced the ramp up of military activities hours after negotiations commenced. Her answer left no doubt the angle many in the media are taking. And it should make the neocons and warmongers very happy.
“Frankly, we are not showing the muscle militarily,” Andrea Mitchel said. “the U.S. isn’t that Russia and Iran are. And now you have Iran at the table. Russia pushing this and claiming that they are in the lead here. You have Jordan, one of our lead partners against ISIS having a joint command center with the Russians. We frankly, the United States, looks very weak diplomatically and you need military muscle to back up the diplomacy. Look at those pictures again from that table in Vienna. Lavrov is at the head of the table with John Kerry. We are supposed to be, America is supposed to be leading this coalition against ISIS. And Russia is now claiming joint leadership or primary leadership here because it is the Russian airstrikes that have been a game changer in recent weeks to prop up Assad.”
First of all, it is doubtful that Russia came outright and said they are taking the lead. Secondly why does America need to be in the lead in Syria? The Obama administration was initially smart in cutting its losses. Why would anyone want to be in the lead in what will ultimately be a destabilizing failure. The Middle East issues will be resolved when a steady state Middle East power structure and ideology is adopted by the region. They may ultimately need a war among themselves to resolve it. We do not need western ideologies to be the driving force as it is nothing but fuel to respective Middle Eastern factions.
Brian Williams made an important statement at the end of the clip. “It is harder to kill and idea,” Brian Williams said. “This military campaign, this war against ISIS is going to be very difficult because of their recruitment. Because of the idea of ISIS. Really the face of evil in the modern world.”
Yes. Brian Williams was not hyperventilating this time. He is right.