ABSTRACT
The most powerful method of demonizing Saddam Hussein was the Adolf Hitler analogy: Again and again, Hussein was equated with Hitler, Iraq with Nazi Germany, and the ’90s with the ’30s—a metaphor that seemed intended to silence any debate or critical thought. Hussein’s crimes had been well known—and underreported—for years, while Iraq was supported by the United States in its war against Iran. The media’s performance in the Gulf War prompted extensive self-analysis by journalists—much of it focused, in self-congratulatory fashion, on whether the press is too independent, too aggressive, too willing to present both sides. Most of the media downplayed the George W. Bush administration’s rejection of negotiations as an option. Despite the pro-administration puffery that characterized coverage of the Gulf crisis, some critics actually suggested that the media had been too “pro-Iraq.” Newsweek “balanced” Bush’s call for “objective reporting” instead of “Iraqi cheerleading” with a CBS executive’s claim that “the reporting has been very fair and very accurate.”
