 |
         
|
All three networks assigned their White House correspondents to the President's speech. NBC's David Gregory called Bush's words "measured--a far cry from the certainty with which he launched the war." He noted that the White House now uses "determined" to describe the President's demeanor, rather than "optimistic." White House aides told CBS' Jim Axelrod that "he remains absolutely dug in." Axelrod consulted the Washington Post's Bob Woodward for his reaction: sometimes the White House "treats reality almost as if it is wrong." Woodward called the Commander-in-Chief convinced that he is right. "As we have found before, Presidents work their will. And his will is to persist."
ABC's Martha Raddatz (subscription required) reminded us how hard it is to predict a war's future. She rehashed the Pentagon's original invasion plan: by now it envisaged a total US deployment in Iraq of 5,000 troops. The current level is 170,000.
NBC and ABC closed their newscasts with a broad view of the war. ABC's Bill Blakemore narrated a montage of vignettes to display the variety of personalities represented in the US military dead with the mournful refrain: "It is hard to get to know them all." NBC aired an unnarrated videotape compilation of the sights and sounds of the past four years, including a memento of its own fallen correspondent David Bloom.
CBS' closer was personal instead. Cynthia Bowers visited the lonely wife of an army reserve major, raising a pair of toddlers in an impersonal Illinois subdivision, while her husband is serving at Camp Anaconda in Iraq. The camp is nicknamed Mortaritaville because of its daily bombardment.
You must be logged in to this website to leave a comment. Please click here to log in so you can participate in the discussion.
