MemeWatch: The Case of the Moving Goalposts
I'm waiting for the next "reasons Iraq will fail" meme to emanate from the mainstream media. A couple of candidates are emerging:
1) A successful election won't stop the insurgency
2) The Iraqi leadership will create a theocracy
3) The insurgency will win and Iraq will become Lebanon
Let's check out the track record of the MSM and the International World Community (IWC), with a major hat tip to New Sisyphus:
| The ICW said that the President could not possibly transfer power to an interim Iraqi government in June. They were wrong.
* April 2004: International Doubt on Iraq Transfer of Power Deadline ("Annan Questions Iraq Self-Rule Deadline") |
| The ICW said that the President could not possibly succeed in getting the parties in Iraq to agree to a mutually-acceptable framework for that interim government. They were wrong.
* May 2004: Iraq's Post-Handover Worries (BBC, Global Policy, ...) |
| The ICW said that getting people registered to vote by Jan. 30 was unrealistic. They were wrong.
* January 2005: Calls to postpone Iraqi elections (List: ABC, USA Today, CBC, ...) |
| And the ICW said that the Insurgents were winning and had the Sunni areas of the country so terrified that even if an election were held, it would have no validity. They were wrong.
* January 2005: Voter turnout won't be enough to legitimize elections (BBC, Sydney Morning Herald) |
Maybe the MSM and the ICW will get one right someday, but I wouldn't hold my breath. Unless I was being driven around on Martha's Vineyard by Teddy Jo Kennedy.
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