So what is going on here? How can the U.S. media hail Petraeus' "successful surge" and write about "victory at last" in Iraq when it appears that the Bush-Cheney-neocon intervention has created what amounts to a failed state in Iraq?
The answer seems to be a political one. Since nearly everyone who was in a position of authority in Washington in 2003 supported the invasion of Iraq -- including most leading lights of the national press corps -- no one wants to face up to their responsibility for the death and defeat.
To do so would require painful self-reflection. Washington's best-and-brightest would have to admit that they didn't measure up to the moral and intellectual task of resisting the Bush-Cheney-neocon plans for aggressive war, what the post-World War II Nuremberg Tribunals deemed the "supreme international crime."
In an honorable world, there would be resignations in disgrace from the pro-war politicians and pundits. In a just world, there would be international tribunals enforcing accountability on the perpetrators and their accomplices, as the Nuremberg judges promised even for leaders of the victorious Allied nations if they committed aggressive war like the fascist Axis powers did.
Since neither exists -- not an honorable world nor a just one -- Washington political/media establishment simply keeps up a positive spin. Bush and Cheney get to live out their retirements in peace and comfort, Petraeus gets a 17-gun salute, and the neocons retain their influence and their lucrative think-tank jobs in the nation's capital.
There even appears to be a good chance that the neocons will ride back into power in 2013 behind another tough-talking Texan, Gov. Rick Perry.
Cross-posted from Consortium News(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
