GOOD NEWS

by Travis Prinzi - July 2, 2004

I’ve got some good news for you. You probably haven’t heard it on your local or national news broadcasts. Even when news is good, most of them find some way to twist it and make it bad. A good example, of course, would be the early transfer of sovereignty. But I’m not writing about that. I’m referring, instead, to a barely-noticed part of the 9/11 staff report. Read the following:

Since the September 11 attacks and the defeat of the Taliban, al Qaeda's funding has decreased significantly. The arrests or deaths of several important financial facilitators have decreased the amount of money al Qaeda has raised and increased the costs and difficulty of raising and moving that money.

Some entirely corrupt charities are now out of business, with many of their principals killed or captured, although some charities may still be providing support to al Qaeda.

Moreover, it appears that the al Qaeda attacks within Saudi Arabia in May and November 2003 have reduced - perhaps drastically - al Qaeda's ability to raise funds from Saudi sources. Both an increase in Saudi enforcement and a more negative perception of al Qaeda by potential donors have cut its income.

The same report, Statement 15, has affirmed that Bin Laden’s control over al Qaeda has significantly decreased. Since he has to hide, much of the leadership has been handed over to cell leaders, says the report.

Granted, al Qaeda is still capable of attaining funds and carrying out attacks. Statement 15 says that as well. They still intend to strike America. But it is a splintered organization that has lost many of its major sources of funding, and that’s a critical step in the process of its inevitable demise. It is not the organization that it was prior to 9/11. We have hit it hard and done considerable damage.

Recently, the news channels absolutely erupted over three words taken entirely out of context from 9/11 Commission reports: “no credible evidence.” They brought in the analysts, reporters, congresswomen and men to explain what this phrase meant and why it made the Iraq war unjust. They questioned Bush about it. Both the President and Vice President were basically called fools and liars for continuing to affirm what news analysts inaccurately said the 9/11 Commission report denied. It was beyond frustrating to anyone who understands how to think properly.

Staff Statement 15 was released June 16. Those of us who know how can go ahead and count the days between then and now. Where are the analysts? Where are the reporters? Which congressman or woman has been asked about this? Who has congratulated President Bush as our commander in chief for putting together a war on terror that has caused a once powerful and centralized terror organization to now be significantly damaged, losing a considerable part of its funding? Why hasn’t anyone said that with Bin Laden in hiding, he can hardly even run his own terror organization anymore? All we hear is, “We haven’t caught him yet.” All we hear is, “No credible evidence” taken out of context to put the Bush administration in a bad light.

Many (including myself) were afraid that the 9/11 Commission was simply going to reflect a partisan bias against the Bush administration. But this report comes from that very commission. Perhaps it will turn out that the 9/11 Commission is really doing its job, but that the news media is simply going to make it look like its findings are all contra Bush. If this continues, the media has the potential to do a lot of damage. I can think of at least two realms in which this damage may occur:

1. They will ruin confidence in a commander in chief who - in reality, if we understand Statement 15 - is not doing all that badly. In fact, you might even be bold enough to say his war on terror has been quite effective thus far. Bin Laden’s group has been hurt and decentralized, and Zarqawi’s is focused not on America’s homeland, but on Iraq. But the media would never say such a thing. Bush is a republican. He’s a conservative.

2. They will spoil confidence in the 9/11 Commission. If all we ever hear about are the things that might hurt Bush’s reputation, many will simply throw their hands up in the air and conclude the report is nothing more than a partisan document meant to overthrow Bush in an election year. It may just be that there will be much in their report that needs to be taken seriously, but the media’s partisan spin on the report may damage its credibility.

We can also include the damage done by the media included in the last paragraph of Statement 15. Check this out:

Al Qaeda and other extremist groups will likely continue to exploit leaks of national security information in the media, open-source information on techniques such as mixing explosives, and advances in electronics.

Woops. Turns out the liberal media is (as many on the conservative side have suspected) actually helping the terrorists do their job (though I’m sure it’s not on purpose). Like it or not, leaking information and creating a general negativity towards our current administration and its fight against terror is helping the terrorists.

I know that good news is almost never reported. I understand that. There’s that little phrase about how no one wants to hear about all the banks that didn’t get robbed today. I get it. But when many Americans are living in fear of more terror attacks, maybe…just maybe…it would be a good idea to also report the victories we are seeing in the war on terror. This report establishes that we are indeed, at least a little bit safer as a result of Bush’s war on terror. Al Qaeda has been hurt. Americans should know this, and the media should be discussing it, analyzing it, and reporting it. We need to hear the good news.

Contact the author at

www.collegeconservative.com