Harvard Study Illustrates Correlation Between Negative Media Stories And Increased Attacks In Iraq
Meaning, in plain terms, that negative media stories about the war seem to embolden terrorist attacks. Which means that a lot of the defeatist rhetoric coming from the Democrats and the media has only been feeding our enemies’ desire to kill us.
Are insurgents in Iraq emboldened by voices in the news media expressing dissent or calling for troop withdrawals from Iraq? The short answer, according to a pair of Harvard economists, is yes…
The paper “Is There an ‘Emboldenment’ Effect in Iraq? Evidence From the Insurgency in Iraq” concludes the following:
* In the short term, there is a small but measurable cost to open public debate in the form of higher attacks against Iraqi and American targets.
* In periods immediately after a spike in “antiresolve” statements in the American media, the level of insurgent attacks increases between 7 and 10 percent.
* Insurgent organizations are strategic actors, meaning that whatever their motivations, religious or ideological, they will respond to incentives and disincentives.
The problem, of course, is how do you solve something like this? We have freedom of speech and freedom of the press, so you can’t stop the defeatism and bias coming from the media. And why would we want to? Destroying that which makes America great - our very freedom to communicate - would be like cutting off our noses to spite our faces.
But I think this does illustrate just how hurtful a lot of the partisan rhetoric from the left about the war has been. When the Senate Majority Leader stands up and says that the war is “lost” - when someone like Barack Obama calls for precipitous withdrawal from Iraq - that could potentially cost some our soldiers their lives.
Which means that our politicians need to be a lot more careful than they have been when talking about the war. Words mean things, and we should never forget that our enemies are listening.
