"And so there are so many good things going on all across Iraq and unfortunately that's not what the American people see on TV or they don't read a lot about it in the newspapers"
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A tidy complaint about the media, delivered as a pressure-release valve for a failing storyline. Donald Evans’ line leans on a familiar Washington reflex: if the public isn’t persuaded, blame the frame. By insisting that “so many good things” are happening “all across Iraq,” he offers a sweeping reassurance without the burden of specifics. The phrase does rhetorical work precisely because it’s unfalsifiable at the scale he chooses; “all across” turns complex, uneven realities into a single, optimistic weather report.
The second half is the tell. “Unfortunately that’s not what the American people see on TV” recasts skepticism as a problem of visibility, not policy. It quietly shifts responsibility away from the architects and managers of the war and onto intermediaries: reporters, editors, producers. “They don’t read a lot about it in the newspapers” adds a mild scolding of the audience, too, implying that if citizens were more diligent consumers, the narrative would resolve itself. The subtext is: the facts are on our side; the public just isn’t getting them.
Context matters. Evans, a Bush-era Cabinet official, was speaking during a period when Iraq coverage was dominated by insurgency, civilian casualties, and the erosion of the “mission accomplished” confidence. His statement is less an argument than an inoculation attempt: preempt bad headlines by delegitimizing the channels that deliver them. It’s political messaging as morale management, aimed at keeping support afloat by reframing the crisis as a PR deficit rather than an on-the-ground one.
The second half is the tell. “Unfortunately that’s not what the American people see on TV” recasts skepticism as a problem of visibility, not policy. It quietly shifts responsibility away from the architects and managers of the war and onto intermediaries: reporters, editors, producers. “They don’t read a lot about it in the newspapers” adds a mild scolding of the audience, too, implying that if citizens were more diligent consumers, the narrative would resolve itself. The subtext is: the facts are on our side; the public just isn’t getting them.
Context matters. Evans, a Bush-era Cabinet official, was speaking during a period when Iraq coverage was dominated by insurgency, civilian casualties, and the erosion of the “mission accomplished” confidence. His statement is less an argument than an inoculation attempt: preempt bad headlines by delegitimizing the channels that deliver them. It’s political messaging as morale management, aimed at keeping support afloat by reframing the crisis as a PR deficit rather than an on-the-ground one.
Quote Details
| Topic | War |
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