Who Controls How We Remember the Iraq War?

By Jeremy Earp

“All wars are fought twice, the first time on the battlefield, the second time in memory.”

— Viet Thanh Nguyen

As mainstream U.S. media outlets pause to remember the U.S. invasion of Iraq, it’s clear that there’s a lot they hope we’ll forget — first and foremost, the media’s own active complicity in whipping up public support for the war.

But the more you dig into mainstream news coverage from that period, the harder it is to forget how flagrantly news networks across the broadcast and cable landscape uncritically spread the George Bush administration’s propaganda and actively excluded dissenting voices.

The numbers don’t lie. A 2003 report by the

Columnists/Reporters Melina Paris Assistant Editor/Arts Hunter Chase Community News Reporter

Fabiola Esqueda Visual Journalist/ Social Media Director media watchdog Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting (FAIR) found that in the two weeks leading up to the invasion, ABC World News, NBC Nightly News, CBS Evening News, and the PBS Newshour featured a total of 267 American experts, analysts, and commentators on camera to supposedly help make sense of the march to war. Of these 267 guests, an astounding 75% were current or former government or military officials, and a grand total of one expressed any skepticism.

Meanwhile, in the fast-growing world of cable news, Fox News’ tough-talking, pro-war jingoism was setting the standard for ratingswary executives at most of the more “liberal”

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