Truth, Fiction, Hype

On war and rumors of war: In 1950, the United States got involved in a war and called it a police action. We are now involved in a police action and we’re calling it a war. The semantic confusion is having unfortunate effects on everyone.

As we bomb Afghanistan, Secretary of State Colin Powell is waging a diplomatic offensive in the region, including plans for a broad-based future government to include “moderate elements of the Taliban”--an arresting concept. This must be as confusing to the Afghans as it is to us. However, it makes perfect sense in the context of a police action with limited aims and a substantial humanitarian commitment.

On anthrax and rumors of anthrax: Television is showing symptoms of the Condit Syndrome--a story with little news and a lot of speculation. After the Sept. 11 attacks, John Leonard wrote in Salon.com, “After a couple of days of doing what they do best, which is grief therapy, the television networks and cable channels reverted to what they do worst, which is to represent the normal respiration of democratic intelligence.” According to others, that judgment may be a trifle harsh--networks apparently strained to get it straight before the logos and tom-toms of war took over.

As is always true in the these cases of media semi-hysteria, the only people keeping their heads are the people. The media report great numbers of ghastly anthrax hoaxes, but they don’t report the wry jokes and splendid examples of gallows humor coming from regular citizens. I spent 21/2 hours standing in a security-check line Sunday at Logan Airport in Boston. A whole line culture developed in no time, as strangers chatted with one another, held places for those who needed a bathroom break and gave advice to those who hadn’t even made it around the first bend. “What line is this?” asked an appalled late arrival. A cheerful blond replied, “We’re the 10 Items or Less.”

Seems to me there’s enough news these days to keep reporters busy; hype is inexcusable.

Perhaps the most valuable resource America has in the coming struggle is Arab Americans, but we surely aren’t behaving as though we realize this.

According to some reports, these people are scared, depressed, afraid to go out. The case of the Saudi doctor in San Antonio, who was held for two weeks not as suspect but as a material witness, not allowed to see a lawyer, then released without comment or explanation, is but one of these. The anecdotal accounts of both official and unofficial abuse are already piling up.

During World War I, excited patriots went around kicking dachshunds on the grounds that they were “German dogs.” What a blow for freedom that was. Rumors are particularly apt to circulate in a climate of fear. The downside of the Internet is there’s no way of checking the reliability of what appears there. Although if you hear something strange you might want to run it by www.truthorfiction.com.

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Excerpted from Molly Ivins’ syndicated column.