Brian Behlendorf's Blog

MSNBC reporter Banfield tells it straight

So, I've not blogged much about the whole Iraq situation. It's been almost entirely because I am, like many people I know, terribly conflicted about it, even now after our supposed victory - perhaps especially now. As someone put it to me recently, "if you're not conflicted and confused, if you think there is a clear position to take, you're not thinking hard enough about it." I can say my own position is equal parts the position taken by the Economist (it was necessary, and look at the humanitarian good we can do) and that taken by most contributors to Salon (look at the damage we've done in the process, politically/socially). If I were to blog much about Iraq it would mostly be links to those two sources.

Every now and then I come across a story, though, that I think is worth spreading around. This one, MSNBC's Banfield Slams War Coverage, is pretty insightful. While not perfect - I can't agree with the portrayal of Hezbollah even to Arabs as comparable to Shriners! - it's pretty refreshing to hear this come from a reporter on a network that, like FoxNews, people pretty much assumed was a soapbox for the U.S. position. I am a big fan of media criticism, and used to love reading Brill's Content for that reason (sadly, no online archive of articles exist, not even the old domain name). Anyways, worth a read.