Read More of the Same Day's Blog

Yesterday the news that Britain would establish a timetable to pull its troops out of Iraq broke so late that the networks provided only truncated live coverage. Following the official announcement in the House of Commons by Prime Minister Tony Blair, all three newscasts gave it the full treatment as Story of the Day. They each led their newscasts from London.

CBS' Richard Roth characterized the "transfer of security to Iraqi forces" as Blair's rationale for the pullout. He quoted one of Blair's qualified claims of success to parliament: "Basra has not faced the orgy of terrorism confronting Baghdad." NBC's Ned Colt quoted another: "There is no Sunni insurgency. There is no al-Qaeda base." ABC's Jim Sciutto pointed out that Blair "faced enormous pressure from his own party to begin the withdrawal before he steps down as Prime Minister" later this year. As for Britain's continuing membership in President George Bush's coalition, CBS' Roth heard "not a whisper, from his own party or opponents, suggesting the British should consider staying and redeploying to bolster American forces."

Andrew Tyndall 2/22/07 4:50:23 pm

© 2010 Tyndall Report