U.S.
public sentiment against the occupation of Afghanistan is strong. According to
a recent poll conducted by the Washington Post and ABC News, around 51 percent
of people here believe that the Afghanistan war is “no longer worth fighting.”
Despite
increased sentiment against the criminal war in Afghanistan, anti-war voices
have been silenced in the mainstream media. A Fairness and Accuracy in
Reporting study recently showed that two leading U.S. papers, the New York
Times and the Washington Post, have marginalized the voices of opposition to
the war.
Almost 84 percent of New York Times
editorial articles regarding the Afghanistan war were in favor of continuing
it. Over 91 percent of Post articles
published during the study supported the war. Two of the country’s most
recognized newspapers have silenced anti-war voices in favor of echoing
imperialist sentiment.
Even though
over half of the country supports an end to the Afghanistan war and a
significantly larger proportion is opposed to the war in Iraq, the ruling-class
media has chosen to silence progressive voices that speak out for an end to the
occupations.
Most of
these newspapers and other media claim to present a balanced and fair
perspective. If that were true, they would at least represent the majority
voice in this country and print articles against the war. However, capitalist
media purposely prevents the opinions of the masses, especially those of
revolutionaries, from ever appearing on their pages. The New York Times and
Washington Post, like all other capitalist media, are mouthpieces for the ideas
and interests of the capitalist ruling class. They exist to fashion a
propaganda campaign in support of not only the war but the entire bankrupt
system of exploitation and oppression—capitalism.
