The Cowards Turned Out to Be Right

THE COWARDS TURNED OUT TO BE RIGHT
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Nicholas Kristof]
[Commentary] For several years, the White House and its Dobermans helpfully pointed out the real enemy in Iraq: those lazy, wimpish foreign correspondents who were so foolish and unpatriotic that they reported that we faced grave difficulties in Iraq. As we try to extricate ourselves from Iraq, a basic lesson for the administration is that it should deal with bad news in ways more creative than clobbering the messenger. From the beginning of the war, the Pentagon has had an incredibly sophisticated news operation (now including its own news channel, carried on some cable networks), but it has often seemed more concerned with disseminating propaganda than with gathering facts. So how about if the administration devotes itself less to managing the news and more to trying to manage Iraq?
http://select.nytimes.com/2006/11/28/opinion/28kristof.html
(requires subscription)