One of the benefits of contributing to C&L is the amount of time I spend researching using non-American media. The difference in coverage is stark. With that in mind, the talking points of the American mainstream media become pretty easy to recognize. John Tirman gives us a good synopsis:
While the news media have finally started to grapple with the colossal amount of killing, a number of misunderstandings persist. Some are willful deceptions. Let's look at a few of them:
1. The U.S. is a buffer against more violence.
2. The killers do it to influence U.S. politics.
3. The "Lancet" numbers are bogus.
4. Syria and Iran are behind the violence.
5. The "Go Big" strategy of the Pentagon could work.
6. Foreign fighters, especially jihadis, are fueling the violence.
7. If we do not defeat the violent actors there, they will follow us here.
8. The violence is about Sunni-Shia mutual loathing; a pox on both their houses.
9. The war is an Iraqi affair, and the best we can do now is train them to enforce security.
10. Trust the same people who caused or endorsed the war to tell us what to do next.
