War, hunh! What is it good for?

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The Veterans Day Edition: Shared Responsibility

“How is the world ruled and led to war? Diplomats lie to journalism and believe those lies when they see them in print.”

—Karl Klaus (1874-1936), Austrian journalist, critic and writer

“Naturally the common people don’t want war: Neither in Russia, nor in England, nor for that matter in Germany. That is understood. But, after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. . . . Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the peacemakers for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country.”

—Gen. Hermann Goering (1893-1946), Nazi commander, 1946

“[The typical] ‘justification’ tactics by proponents of military intervention . . . brought us the entirely false reports, in 1990, that Iraqi soldiers were killing babies in Kuwait City by switching off hospital incubators—brought to us by Washington PR firm Hill and Knowlton. [British journalist] Maggie O’Kane recounted her meeting with nurses at the hospital who were utterly mystified by these stories. The source turned out to be the fifteen-year-old daughter of the Kuwaiti ambassador to Washington, who was presented to the U.S. Congress as a nurse but, in fact, had not been to Kuwait in years. As O’Kane says: ‘There's always a dead babies story.’ The effect is to demonise the enemy and create a sense of urgency which admits no time for diplomacy.’

—The Peace Journalist Option, findings of the Conflict and Peace Journalism summer school,
Taplow Court, Buckinghamshire, UK, August 1997

“Media coverage is integral to shaping the course of events in war & peace. With technology bringing more rapid and intense coverage, the connection becomes increasingly clear.”

—The Peace Journalist Option, findings of the Conflict and Peace Journalism summer school,
Taplow Court, Buckinghamshire, UK, August 1997

“[W]e have found a number of instances of coverage that was not as rigorous as it should have been. In some cases, information that was controversial then, and seems questionable now, was insufficiently qualified or allowed to stand unchallenged. Looking back, we wish we had been more aggressive in re-examining the claims as new evidence emerged—or failed to emerge. . . Editors at several levels who should have been challenging reporters and pressing for more skepticism were perhaps too intent on rushing scoops into the paper.”

—New York Times editorial acknowledging
newspaper’s role in supporting Iraq war, May 26, 2004

Image: Famed WWII front-line reporter Ernie Pyle shares a smoke with a U.S. Marine. (U.S. Defense Department)

• Editorial Comment: Like it or not, remember that we’re all in this together.

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