JOHN MOORE THINKS PEOPLE ARE OVERREACTING TO THE PRISONER STORY:

The values I see being displayed are an initial appropriate reaction of dismay at the behavior of a few, followed by inappropriate hand-wringing and self flagellation.

Yeah, I think that’s right. It’s a scandal, to be dealt with. The people who want to make it the whole war are misguided, at best.

MUDVILLE GAZETTE, which scooped the New York Times earlier, has doubts about Seymour Hersh’s integrity:

Seymour Hersh has had an amazing story dropped into his lap. A group of American GIs, caught on camera, abusing and humiliating Iraqi prisoners. Heinous acts. The wheels of justice were certainly turning, but nailing the abusive guards is not enough for the intrepid reporter. Indeed, since evidence indicates that one of those guard’s attorneys most likely provided that information to Hersh, it follows that getting the higher ups was likely part of the deal. . . .

Hersh has embarked on a televised disinformation campaign, recently appearing on the “O’Reilly Factor” in an effort to sow additional confusion in a public already stunned into incomprehension by the graphic photos he helped make famous worldwide.

The campaign relies on two main points, neither of which is completely factual: 1) the Army did nothing, and 2) it’s the superior’s fault, not the troops. Point one is a lie. Point two is true, but there’s a level where it becomes ludicrous. Given that point one is a lie, that level is low.

Read the whole thing, which has extensive transcript excerpts.

UPDATE: Lead and Gold is comparing it to the Ramparts scandal in L.A., which turned out to be rather less than initially thought.

JAY ROSEN suggests that Big Media failed the country before 9/11. And after, I’d say.

It’s not just the slant of their coverage — it’s also what they choose to cover, and what they choose not to cover. And he’s right about this: “This summer, with Michael Jackson and Kobe Bryant on trial, but also an election and so much at stake in the world, the descendants of Murrow, Friendly and Cronkite will be tested.” So far it’s not looking good.

UPDATE: Roger Simon: “You can see this will to look the other way being played out all over again in the lack of coverage of the UN Oil-for-Food scandal. The majority of our media just don’t want to go there, because to go there they would have to question a great many long held deep assumptions.”

JAMES DUNNIGAN:

Talk of reviving the military draft, to supply enough troops for the war on terror, is just that, talk. More accurately, it’s clueless and opportunistic politicians fishing for headlines. But the draft “controversy” has become a popular media story in the last few months, even though the military says it has more volunteers than it needs and is even laying off people.

Read the whole thing. And note that there seem to be a lot of “clueless and opportunistic politicians fishing for headlines” these days. It’s as if they don’t know there’s a war on. Or don’t care.

KEITH BURGESS JACKSON writes on the war over the war in Iraq. Michele Catalano looks at even more wars of this sort. So, in a related way, do Andrea Harris and Victor Davis Hanson. And Lt. Col. John Lutkenhouse reports on Frisbees in Fallujah.

UPDATE: The Jackson link was broken before. Fixed now. Sorry.