The Washington Post won't provide context even from their OWN newspaper, even when it's from YESTERDAY

god, it's SO-O-O-O-OOO ANNOYING...!

on page one of today's edition, gates says...

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates says that even winning the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan will not end the "Long War" against violent extremism and that the fight against al-Qaeda and other terrorists should be the nation's top military priority over coming decades, according to a new National Defense Strategy he approved last month.

yeah, ok, we're all familiar with the "Long War"/endless war rhetoric... it's been shoved down our collective throats for years as the no-argument excuse for lining the pockets of defense contractors and bush cronies, shredding the constitution, stripping our civil liberties, justifying torture, collecting mountains of private information on everyone and everything, and perpetrating abuses unimaginable in what we thought was the land of liberty and justice for all... but yesterday, in this very newspaper on page 4, it was revealed that the rand corporation, not exactly a bastion of peace-loving, dope-smoking hippies, had this to say...

The Bush administration's terrorism-fighting strategy has not significantly undermined al-Qaeda's capabilities, according to a major new study that argues the struggle against terrorism is better waged by law enforcement agencies than by armies.

The study by the nonpartisan Rand Corp. also contends that the administration committed a fundamental error in portraying the conflict with al-Qaeda as a "war on terrorism." The phrase falsely suggests that there can be a battlefield solution to terrorism, and symbolically conveys warrior status on terrorists, it said.

[...]

"In most cases, military force isn't the best instrument," said Jones, a terrorism expert and the report's lead author.

Addressing the U.S. campaign against al-Qaeda, the study noted successes in disrupting terrorist financing, but said the group remains a formidable foe. Al-Qaeda is "strong and competent," and has succeeded in carrying out more violent attacks since Sept. 11, 2001, than in all of its previous history. Moreover, its organizational structure has adapted and evolved over time, "making it a more dangerous enemy," Jones and Libicki wrote.

The authors call for a strategy that includes a greater reliance on law enforcement and intelligence agencies in disrupting the group's networks and in arresting its leaders. They say that when military forces are needed, the emphasis should be on local troops, which understand the terrain and culture and tend to have greater legitimacy.

very interesting, no...? but did the high potentates who exercise the ever-so-thorough oversight on the news that gets printed in the wapo see fit to mention THAT in the gates article...? of course not... so, the very day after the rand corporation story is published, decrying the entire notion of the "Long War," our secretary of defense bald-facedly declares that we're not only fighting the "Long War," but that it will continue on for DECADES, without ONE SINGLE MENTION of what the very same newspaper published the day before...

yeah, i know... it's not news to anyone that our news media practices propaganda instead of journalism, nor is it news that they pretend that what they reported as news yesterday is somehow irrelevant to today, but it's still shocking to see such a graphic display of dishonesty, to say nothing of a goddam shame...

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