By
Tim McNulty
The cat-and-mouse Edward Snowden/National Security Agency (NSA) scandal has fueled the summertime news cycle with a high tech — though drawn-out — version of a police chase.
Reporters flocked to Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport to search for the contractor who revealed secret NSA surveillance activities, and booked seats on flights to countries where Snowden might find refuge from the long arm of the United States government — only to discover he was a no-show.
Meanwhile, the diplomatic posturing of Latin American officials who feel the U.S. is bullying them into refusing asylum to Snowden added a side drama to media coverage of the actual crime — assuming that the courts will judge his actions a crime.
But the core issues have been more difficult to pursue.
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By
Tim McNulty
Well into a summer of shelling, street fighting and sniper fire, several of the scores of correspondents covering the Israeli siege of Beirut in 1982 would joke, a bit wistfully, about the “courage not to file.”
That summer was long and, despite the Mediterranean breezes, the air was steamy and fear prevailed one day to the next. Fighting between the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Israelis surrounding the western half of the city was sporadic and intense, and from early June to the end of August stories of the destruction and urban warfare dominated front pages around the world.
Writing about military conflict has its dangers, of course, but adrenaline-infused reporting also carries a strange excitement. Some reporters and photographers become known as “war junkies” because they often move from covering one conflict to another. For many, a quote attributed to a young Winston Churchill describes the experience nicely: “Nothing is as exhilarating as to be shot at without result.” Continue reading →
By
Tim McNulty
The argument for releasing photos of Osama bin Laden to confirm his death has merit, but I suspect bloodlust against the man who generated fear in American society for the last decade also fuels the desire for proof positive that “you will not see bin Laden walking on this earth again.”
President Obama’s decision to withhold the images of Osama and his sea burial also has merit. He didn’t want others using them for propaganda and incitement for retaliation. Obama also told CBS’ 60 Minutes: “That’s not who we are. You know, we don’t trot out this stuff as trophies.”
Displaying images of corpses provokes strong arguments on all sides but for administration officials it is never a matter of just taste or civility but a moment of cold political calculation for both foreign policy and domestic politics. Continue reading →
By
Tim McNulty
The Department of Homeland Security’s first director, Tom Ridge, notes that terrorism and the threat of terrorism has become the “new norm,” just as the threat of nuclear war was the new norm for an earlier generation of Americans in the 1950s and 1960s. Ridge, a former congressman and governor of Pennsylvania, has always seemed one of the most level-headed and plain-spoken of government officials.
He takes note in this terrific discussion (video) that during that same era of mutually assured nuclear destruction, the United States prospered socially and economically, as well as engaging in many remarkable events, including the Civil Rights movement, the race for outer space and the Vietnam War.
Earlier this month, marking the eighth anniversary of the Department of Homeland Security, C-SPAN aired this discussion featuring Ridge, his successor, Michael Chertoff and the current Secretary of DHS, Janet Napolitano. Continue reading →
By
Tim McNulty
Muslims around the world look with joy, and more than a little trepidation, at the expressions of freedom underway in the Middle East and North Africa,
The celebration against tyranny began in Tunisia, spread famously for 18 days in Egypt and sparked passionate protests in a half of dozen other countries, including Iran and now Libya.
Lessons about peaceful protest provided hope and enthusiasm; they fueled the imagination of millions who previously believed there was no non-violent way to overcome dictatorship, or no alternative but radical fundamentalism. Instead, their yearning is clearly focused on a more democratic system.
But instead of celebrating that joy and promise, some American congressional leaders are eager to create a different focus in the next few weeks. A controversial congressional hearing aims at American Muslim communities to highlight the threat of the most radical among them.
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By
Tim McNulty
During the recent snowstorm in the Northeast, television journalists ominously reported that some 10,000 airline flights were canceled.
In the immediate hours after two planes crashed into the World Trade Center, reports of the death toll claimed as many as 10,000 killed.
Several years later, the mayor of New Orleans gave the national media the same figure in his early estimate of the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina.
Beware the lure of the 10,000.
Whether a huge terror strike against nation’s security or a natural disaster, authorities in the U.S. and elsewhere are likely to provide the most convenient and usually the largest number that journalists are willing to accept, or at least unlikely to challenge. Continue reading →
By
Tim McNulty
The odd little word “hegemony” was absent during two recent and heavily publicized meetings between the U.S. and China, but that’s only because the leaders were trying to make nice.
Military and economic relations almost inevitably will become more strained in the future, so expect to hear “hegemony” again and again from diplomats and commentators; a word that is always meant in its darkest, most accusatory, sense.
The most common synonym is “dominance,” as in one state being dominant over others. And in the tug-of-war between the U.S. and an ascending China, it represents power, at least perceived power. Continue reading →
By
Tim McNulty
Disclosing the gay-bashing preacher who hires his own rent-boy is a satisfying feeling on a purely personal level; all cultures have a special distaste for the hypocritical and two-faced, especially by the intolerant. On a more professional level, it is … Continue reading →
