Loyal to a Fault
Reported by Melanie - December 23, 2004
Mark Schneider of the International Crisis Group was Brenda Buttner's guest today (December 23, 2004) on Your World w/Neil Cavuto. (Neil Cavuto is on vacation.)
Schneider was on to discuss whether or not there is growing resentment in Iraq toward the United States. Just yesterday his organization released a white paper titled: What Can the US do in Iraq which said there is, and which addresses the issue.
Midway through the interview, Buttner's questions began to sound as if she was representing the Bush administration. It all began when she said that "democracy takes a while for its roots to grow" so would Schneider recommend that we "completely get out" of Iraq and if we did, wouldn't "that hand the insurgents a victory?"
Schneider said, "an immediate withdrawal or an immediate multiplying of several hundred thousand troops is not the right way to go." We need to make an "effort to understand how insecure the situation is." He said the interim Iraqi government shouldn't be pressed to "hold elections at a point when one major part of the population can't participate." He said he thinks the Iraqi government should decide for itself when and how to hold elections because "all major population groups need to participate."
Buttner then asked this question which perfectly follows the Bush administration's spin but which is beginning to sound like a last gasp of its own: "Well, but wouldn't you expect that fighting might intensify as the election date drew nearer, basically, this is the last gasp of the terrorists?"
Scnheider said "it doesn't look much like a last gasp." He said we should think of the "last gasp" as a group which "moves to another part of the country with, to some degree, an equal capacity to do damage." He said the daily insurgent reports show a "substantial increase" in attacks over the past several days, even in Baghdad.
Hanging by her fingernails, as many of those who supported this war seem to be doing, Buttner said: "Right, but there have been many successes there as well," and the interview ended.
COMMENT: In my opinion, Brenda Buttner is one of the most openly biased reporters at Fox News. When I see her in her usual capacity as a business news reporter, she is a faithful supporter of Bush's financial policies, she's adamant about Wall Street's love for him (and disdain for Kerry, by the way), and she crows about the health of the US economy under Bush's watch. When Buttner diverges from her usual role, as she did today, and ventures into the realm of foreign affairs, she appears to be just as loyal to Bush as she is when giving her "fair and balanced" business reports.
