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NBC made a big push to elevate the constitutional crisis facing President Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan into the Story of the Day, leading with a report from the State Department followed by an interview with a leader of the foreign policy establishment, retired diplomat Richard Haass. Neither of the other two networks took an interest in the upheaval in Islamabad so, again, the Iraq War was the most heavily covered story on all three newscasts combined, with CBS choosing President George Bush's plea for patience as its lead. ABC, like NBC, led with a story neither of the other newscasts even mentioned--continuing problems with the security screening of cargo containers at ports of entry.

CBS' White House correspondent Bill Plante heard the President assert "the importance of giving our military the time they need" and drew the conclusion that the progress report scheduled to be delivered to Congress in September would not contain positive news. "The administration had hoped to show that the troops surge was a success but there now appears to be no way to meet those expectations that soon."

It is time for reporters to find another word than "surge" to describe the US military strategy in Iraq. A surge is defined as a quick, temporary increase, like a rushing wave, followed by reversion to a previous status--think why computers have surge protectors. So when Plante quotes Gen Rick Lynch hoping that his tactics will bear fruit "15 months from now" Plante misspeaks when he paraphrases that soundbite: "The surge can still succeed." Plante predicted that Bush will "very likely" agree to maintaining the troop build-up beyond September. This reinforcement of 30,000 troops--announced in January, completed in June--has been gradual and its concomitant change of tactics seems fated to be longlasting. A surge it ain't.

The other two networks covered the politics of the war. NBC's David Gregory noted how Republican Presidential candidates "have largely remained supportive," perceiving "the first sign of a break" in a quote from Rudolph Giuliani to The New York Times in which he implied that the invasion and occupation of Iraq had detracted from US pressure on al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan. ABC's Jake Tapper (subscription required) told us about the "pointed response" from the Pentagon after Democratic Presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton requested a briefing on its contingency planning for a troop pullout. The Pentagon asserted that any such discussion "reinforces enemy propaganda." Tapper added that "publicly Pentagon officials insist they are focused exclusively on the surge strategy"--there is that misused word again--even as his anonymous sources "close to the Pentagon" told him that general logistical pullout planning is under way. CBS' David Martin already filed an Exclusive about that planning last week.

Andrew Tyndall 7/24/07 5:14:39 pm

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