thedrifter
03-11-07, 07:33 AM
Ted Koppel's Placid Appraisal Of Unending War
By Tom Shales
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, March 10, 2007; C01
In his latest report for the Discovery Channel, Ted Koppel has matters of grave urgency to discuss. If only he didn't seem intent on understating them.
In "Koppel on Discovery: Our Children's Children's War" (debuting tomorrow night), he reports, convincingly and alarmingly, that even if Republicans and Democrats alike were to find a way for the United States to pull out of Iraq by, say, Thanksgiving, the free world's war on terror, and its war on us, could well continue for years, decades, maybe a century to come.
Because we erroneously consider the war in Iraq as retribution for the terrorist atrocities of Sept. 11, 2001, we tend to think, at least subconsciously, that an "end" to hostilities in Iraq will somehow bring closure to what should be called the war of terror, not the war on terror -- and that peace will break out in the Mideast, one of the unlikeliest places on the planet for that to happen.
Over footage of Marines doing clockwork maneuvers, we hear the voice of President Bush saying, "The war began on my watch, but it's going to end on your watch." If then. We forget how long the Cold War lasted, Koppel notes, and the Terror War could easily last longer than that. Military and political experts speak of the war lasting "a generation or so," speculating that it could continue "as long as people believe in extremist ideology," a reality that has survived centuries.
Koppel, looking uncomfortably posed at a global military observations center in Tampa, Fla., says that the war will continue to be "a widespread, long-term proposition" no matter what happens in Iraq, and that the war will be "unlike anything the U.S. military has ever faced before."
Koppel is painstaking and persuasive about making the case, but he is not passionate. We don't want our news anchors to melodramatize things, and it would hardly be Koppel's style to shout in alarm like Professor Harold Hill decrying the arrival of a pool table in River City, Iowa (in "The Music Man"). But throughout most of "Our Children's Children's War," he comes across as surprisingly academic about the nightmarish possibilities that lie ahead, as if he were warming up for some sort of exercise in rhetoric at the Harvard Debating Society.
Perhaps Koppel was not pleased at how "Children's Children's War" was coming together during production; he appears to be lacking enthusiasm even though the topic is provocative and bravely dismaying. During the brief segment in the Tampa observations center, we can see him looking down at cue cards or some other prompting device as he reads off a doomsday scenario (or close to one), which basically says that the ugly, daunting threat of global terrorism will continue so far into the future that no one can hang a date on it.
A new kind of war needs new kinds of warriors. Koppel looks at "the role of military contractors" -- among them, an outfit called Blackwater USA, whose vice president, Cofer Black, decidedly does not want his men and women referred to as "mercenaries," even though they might get paid more than volunteer military personnel. Fighting a war with the private sector is one way things are changing, Koppel says -- one way the war against terror will be fought unlike all the other wars, high-tech and low-tech, that have preceded it.
Koppel and his colleagues attempt to shine light on the dark world of terrorism and what its tactics are. "Overreaction is exactly what terrorism is designed to produce," Koppel says -- such acts of overreaction as, to cite a possible example, sending troops to Iraq as a response to the abhorrent terrorist attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
Koppel also visits West Point; the sons and daughters of this year's graduating class will probably still be fighting the terror war when they graduate years from now, Koppel says.
"Our Children's Children's War" is full of strong stuff; thus, it's disappointing to find the delivery and the production rather weak. Maybe Koppel was having a bad day. Everyone's entitled. But it's too bad he had his when preparing what should have been one of his most important projects since he left "Nightline" and ABC News.
Koppel on Discovery: Our Children's Children's War (one hour) airs tomorrow night at 9 on the Discovery Channel.
Ellie
By Tom Shales
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, March 10, 2007; C01
In his latest report for the Discovery Channel, Ted Koppel has matters of grave urgency to discuss. If only he didn't seem intent on understating them.
In "Koppel on Discovery: Our Children's Children's War" (debuting tomorrow night), he reports, convincingly and alarmingly, that even if Republicans and Democrats alike were to find a way for the United States to pull out of Iraq by, say, Thanksgiving, the free world's war on terror, and its war on us, could well continue for years, decades, maybe a century to come.
Because we erroneously consider the war in Iraq as retribution for the terrorist atrocities of Sept. 11, 2001, we tend to think, at least subconsciously, that an "end" to hostilities in Iraq will somehow bring closure to what should be called the war of terror, not the war on terror -- and that peace will break out in the Mideast, one of the unlikeliest places on the planet for that to happen.
Over footage of Marines doing clockwork maneuvers, we hear the voice of President Bush saying, "The war began on my watch, but it's going to end on your watch." If then. We forget how long the Cold War lasted, Koppel notes, and the Terror War could easily last longer than that. Military and political experts speak of the war lasting "a generation or so," speculating that it could continue "as long as people believe in extremist ideology," a reality that has survived centuries.
Koppel, looking uncomfortably posed at a global military observations center in Tampa, Fla., says that the war will continue to be "a widespread, long-term proposition" no matter what happens in Iraq, and that the war will be "unlike anything the U.S. military has ever faced before."
Koppel is painstaking and persuasive about making the case, but he is not passionate. We don't want our news anchors to melodramatize things, and it would hardly be Koppel's style to shout in alarm like Professor Harold Hill decrying the arrival of a pool table in River City, Iowa (in "The Music Man"). But throughout most of "Our Children's Children's War," he comes across as surprisingly academic about the nightmarish possibilities that lie ahead, as if he were warming up for some sort of exercise in rhetoric at the Harvard Debating Society.
Perhaps Koppel was not pleased at how "Children's Children's War" was coming together during production; he appears to be lacking enthusiasm even though the topic is provocative and bravely dismaying. During the brief segment in the Tampa observations center, we can see him looking down at cue cards or some other prompting device as he reads off a doomsday scenario (or close to one), which basically says that the ugly, daunting threat of global terrorism will continue so far into the future that no one can hang a date on it.
A new kind of war needs new kinds of warriors. Koppel looks at "the role of military contractors" -- among them, an outfit called Blackwater USA, whose vice president, Cofer Black, decidedly does not want his men and women referred to as "mercenaries," even though they might get paid more than volunteer military personnel. Fighting a war with the private sector is one way things are changing, Koppel says -- one way the war against terror will be fought unlike all the other wars, high-tech and low-tech, that have preceded it.
Koppel and his colleagues attempt to shine light on the dark world of terrorism and what its tactics are. "Overreaction is exactly what terrorism is designed to produce," Koppel says -- such acts of overreaction as, to cite a possible example, sending troops to Iraq as a response to the abhorrent terrorist attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
Koppel also visits West Point; the sons and daughters of this year's graduating class will probably still be fighting the terror war when they graduate years from now, Koppel says.
"Our Children's Children's War" is full of strong stuff; thus, it's disappointing to find the delivery and the production rather weak. Maybe Koppel was having a bad day. Everyone's entitled. But it's too bad he had his when preparing what should have been one of his most important projects since he left "Nightline" and ABC News.
Koppel on Discovery: Our Children's Children's War (one hour) airs tomorrow night at 9 on the Discovery Channel.
Ellie