 both front-paged by the New York Times. In the first dispatch, November 14, headed "Get Out Now? Not So Fast, Some Experts Say" Gordon sought out the now-retired General Anthony Zinni (right) and others, who "say the situation in Baghdad and other parts of Iraq is too precarious to start thinning out the number of American troops".
The next day, November 15, 2006, a second Gordon story was headlined, "General Warns of Risks in Iraq if GIs Are Cut". Gordon cited General Abizaid's warnings that phased withdrawal of troops would lead to an increase in sectarian violence, and that more troops might be necessary temporarily. These stories undoubtedly helped to doom Murtha's bid.
By December 4, with the Iraq Study Group about to issue its report, Gordon returned to General Zinni, writing favourably of the latter's plan for a temporary increase of troops to offset Iranian influence, suggesting that any precipitate would destabilize Middle East and leave Iraq in chaos.
On December 7, Gordon was at it again, |
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| Reporters with a propaganda mission can always find the mouthpieces to say what they want |
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flailing away at Baker and Hamilton's report. Headline: "Will it Work on the Battlefield?" Lead: "The military recommendations issued yesterday by the Iraq Study Group are based more on hope than history and run counter to assessments made by some of its own military advisors."
Precipitous withdrawal, Gordon charged, would leave Iraqi armed forces unprepared to take over security burden.
Reporters with a propaganda mission can always find the mouthpieces to say what they want. Gordon's "troop surge" campaign was particularly striking - and politically much more influential in Congress than the mad-dog ravings of the right-wing broadcasters.
Politicians will always be reluctant to accept the facts of life. They yearn for light at the end of the tunnel. The press's duty is to tell them that there is no light amid the darkness, that quitting time has come. That takes courage and intelligence. 
FIRST POSTED DECEMBER 28, 2006
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