Fox News ‘Unwilling To Fall Into…Tender Trap’ Of Calling Iraq A Civil War
Fox News ‘Unwilling To Fall Into…Tender Trap’ Of Calling Iraq A Civil War
Fox News has declared that it will not use the phrase “civil war” to describe the current violence in Iraq.
Fox’s Senior Vice President John Moody — whose infamous politically-slanted internal memos have gained notoriety — said in a statement that “some are using the term civil war to indicate failure, not inside Iraq, but on U.S. policy in Iraq. We’re unwilling to fall into that tender trap. We’re not using the term because there are non-Iraqis in the fray and that makes it something different.” Watch it:
Fox News is right, Iraq is not simply a civil war. ThinkProgress noted in October that Iraq has devolved into at least four distinct violent conflicts. But that does not mean that one of those conflicts is not a civil war. Indeed, according to scholars surveyed by the New York Times, not only is Iraq in the midst of a civil war, the current level of bloodshed “already puts Iraq in the top ranks of the civil wars of the last half-century.”
Full transcript:
WILSON: The debate over terminology has become a media issue following NBC’s formal decision to use the term civil war, a decision first announced on Monday’s Today Show.
MATT LAUER, THE TODAY SHOW: NBC News has decided a change in terminology is warranted, that the situation in Iraq, with armed militarized factions fighting for their own political agendas, can now be characterized as civil war.
WILSON: And NBC correspondents have used the term several times since.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Iraq’s worsening civil war will dominate –
WILSON: Other news organizations have not followed NBC’s lead. For example, the executive producer of the CBS Evening News said, “to be honest with you, I think it’s a political statement, not a news judgment.” At CNN, an official statement, “CNN will continue to report on what is happening in Iraq on a day to day basis and we will also report on the on- going debate in academic and political circles about what constitutes a civil war.”
The senior V.P. for editorial here at Fox said today, “some are using the term civil war to indicate failure, not inside Iraq, but on U.S. policy in Iraq. We’re unwilling to fall into that tender trap. We’re not using the term because there are non-Iraqis in the fray and that makes it something different.”
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77 Responses to “Fox News ‘Unwilling To Fall Into…Tender Trap’ Of Calling Iraq A Civil War”
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Propagandist liars.
December 1st, 2006 at 3:13 pmSo its an “Uncivil War”?
December 1st, 2006 at 3:20 pm“We’re not willing to fall into that tender trap.”
Yes, and that’s why FOX News is a joke. Your viewers are the most ignorant people in the country. Your lawyers and writers came over from the National Inquirer, fer gawdsake.
FOX is just pablum for hicks and idiots. To hell with them all, useless filth.
December 1st, 2006 at 3:23 pm.
December 1st, 2006 at 3:24 pm
So….. it is now down to the entire world calling it a civil war with Faux News and Dubya not so much, HMMMMMMM, wonder who is right on this one?
December 1st, 2006 at 3:25 pmhttp://www.youtube.com/profile?user=seeprogressWatch Joe Cirncione share his thoughts with ABC (and directly with you in our new exclusive self-produced videos) see PJ Crowley make sense out of leaks from the Iraq Study group on CNN or learn how crdit card debt will kill you.
Watch SEEPROGRESS: the YouTube revolution gets smart here.
http://www.americanprogress.org
December 1st, 2006 at 3:27 pmUm, wouldn’t other networks be calling it a civil war because it is a civil war? According to Moody, “some are using the term civil war to indicate failure, not inside Iraq, but on U.S. policy in Iraq.” Well, Moody just came out and added his own political judgment to the situation. Moody is discussing the term as a way to shape other people’s opinions. He has a motive. The term ‘civil war’ is merely accurate.
December 1st, 2006 at 3:28 pmI honestly think that Fox and BushCo are confused about the civil war in Iraq because it isn’t about black people.
December 1st, 2006 at 3:33 pmTender Trap? What a completely wrong term. I wonder if they know that the Tender Trap is a strip club in Vegas. Could be they’re subconsciously breaking the rules about ‘what stays in Vegas…’ But, you know, I’m happy the guys at Fox are above going there–although with Dick Morris in that mix, you never know.
December 1st, 2006 at 3:35 pmErh, if I recall correctly, there were foreign governments fighting along with both sides of our “civil war,” and that didn’t mean we had to call it something else…. Typical obfuscatory drivel.
December 1st, 2006 at 3:38 pm… and yet they have no trouble reporting on the CIVIL WAR in Sri Lanka, can somebody tell me (or them) the difference?
December 1st, 2006 at 3:40 pmIsn’t John Moody of Faux the same guy as Baghdad Bob (There are no American tanks in Baghdad while an M1 was rolling in the background)
December 1st, 2006 at 3:41 pmlalalalalala — i can’t hear you; oh, look at the pretty bunnies….
December 1st, 2006 at 3:42 pmThose fools are so stupid; they won’t call it a Civil War until Iraq divides itself into a battlefield of North and South and rolls up some 1800s cannons with their opposing armies dressed in blue and gray.
December 1st, 2006 at 3:43 pm“pablum for hicks and idiots”
December 1st, 2006 at 3:43 pmHar har. Awesome.
#9 - I believe that “love is the tender trap.”
December 1st, 2006 at 3:45 pmGolly
if I recall correctly, there were foreign governments fighting along with both sides of our “civil war,â€
Care to name a few?
December 1st, 2006 at 3:53 pmDoesn’t Fox News have more important issues than who and who doesn’t proclaim civil war in Iraq!
December 1st, 2006 at 3:53 pmI mean, geez, there’s that all important WAR ON CHRISTMAS!
Oh, and what masquera Nancy Pelosi is wearing!
and didn’t John Kerry flub up a joke somewhere, endangering our troops worldwide?
18. France and Spain had a big interest in keeping the textile industry in the south going. As for actual troops I’m not sure but ships and money were provided the south.
December 1st, 2006 at 3:55 pmThis is unbelievable.
These guys actually do not use some substantives in order to not criticize their government. This is, along with Pravda and III World countries media, the most shameful statement any media across the world could have made. They, at least, are being straightforward about it:
We dont care about informing. We are cheerleaders of US government.
And this is a I world country.
December 1st, 2006 at 3:55 pmWhat the hell is a tender trap???????
If it ain’t a “civil war” what is it ?
December 1st, 2006 at 3:57 pm#17 Tender Trap being both a strip club and a Sinatra tune, what’re the chances of that in Vegas? — http://tinyurl.com/ydlqz9 *
December 1st, 2006 at 3:59 pm__________
* I’m a Vegas native, but I’ve never been there. Cross my heart and hope to cast a snakeyes die.
Fox News Unwilling To Fall Into…Tender Trap of facing reality
December 1st, 2006 at 4:00 pmhellinabucket
but ships and money were provided the south.
To my knowledge no ships were ever provided, and the only money was as a continuation of trade that existed before the war, the largest actual foreign influence on the war that I can think of would be the Trent Affair, and even then it was just diplomatic pressure to allow Southern diplomats access to France and England, due to the Union boarding an English ship to capture the diplomats.
December 1st, 2006 at 4:03 pm25. I stand (actually sit) corrected. I knew the textile industry was vital to Europe but a search on the web could not come up with any direct involvement.
December 1st, 2006 at 4:19 pmFox is playing a game of semantics because they don’t want to offend their boy-king.
December 1st, 2006 at 4:19 pmThey call themselves a news channel - this is proof of their status as government propaganda channel.
25. I stand (actually sit) corrected. I knew the textile industry was vital to Europe but a search on the web could not come up with any direct involvement.
Comment by hellinabucket — December 1, 2006 @ 4:19 pm
Great now you have done it. You justified Squegee’s existance. He’s going to be like that Uncle Bob everyone has, that just never leaves.
December 1st, 2006 at 4:25 pmI knew the textile industry was vital to Europe but a search on the web could not come up with any direct involvement.
IIRC, getting Europe involved because of textiles was a southern hope, but the Brits developed new supplies of indigo and cotton in India.
December 1st, 2006 at 4:26 pm.
huh… i always thought the “tender trap” was the vagina…
December 1st, 2006 at 4:27 pm: ]
Right. Don’t fall for the “civil war” terminology. Only people using that terminology are liberals hoping to criticise Bush. The truth is there is no violence in Iraq and we have ALWAYS been greeting with dancing and rose pettals!
December 1st, 2006 at 4:28 pm#30, Katy
December 1st, 2006 at 4:32 pmYou’re right, of course.
In fact, many men spend an entire lifetime trying to get back in where they came from.
I love me some “tender trap”
December 1st, 2006 at 4:36 pmi always thought the “tender trap†was the vagina…
: ]
Comment by katy
TP, will you please delete the message above so Daryll doesnt get a heart attack so young?
December 1st, 2006 at 4:39 pmMr John Moody needs an appointment with his Dominatrix, Mistress Ruby. She’ll bring him back in line……eventually.
December 1st, 2006 at 4:40 pmThe tender trap is what a male falls into when he buys a top of the line BMW and lives in an apartment building with a bunch of professional women. I stopped doing gratis electronic jobs when the gal two over walked into her living room wearing nothing but a smile, lipstick and mascara. I was installing a HiFi for her. She appeared to be upset when I shunned her and she relocated about a month or two later.
December 1st, 2006 at 4:42 pmWe’re unwilling to fall into that tender trap
and if what katy says is true…
i always thought the “tender trap†was the vagina…
: ]
Comment by katy
Then Fox News has admitted they are unwilling to “fall into that…..VAGINA??”
December 1st, 2006 at 4:45 pmSounds like something St.Daryll would say.
Friends (Flaco included), Do Not Fear the Vagina! The Vagina is Your Friend!
She appeared to be upset when I shunned her.
And you call yourself walt the man.
December 1st, 2006 at 4:45 pm#38 - squegeeboo,
December 1st, 2006 at 4:49 pmYes, I am very careful of where I place my fluid assets. I was not a virgin at te time.
Comment by katy
TP, will you please delete the message above so Daryll doesnt get a heart attack so young?
Comment by Juan C — December 1, 2006 @ 4:39 pm
I DARE THEM… after what i’ve read on the FAST thread…
(btw - that really cracked me up, juan… very funny)
December 1st, 2006 at 4:49 pmComment by WaltTheMan — December 1, 2006 @ 4:42 pm
If I had standards, I would have Shunned her too.
December 1st, 2006 at 4:50 pmThey can all it whatever they want; that doesn’t change the carnage on the ground.
Clue to the clueless: you need to recognize reality if you want to deal effectively with it.
December 1st, 2006 at 4:50 pmYou guys have me laughing out loud.
December 1st, 2006 at 4:56 pmLook how deep of a hole Fox has dug. semantics is what they are fighting over now. Pathetic.
December 1st, 2006 at 4:56 pmNobody cares what Fox News calls it because we all know what it is. Have you ever had your toilet back up and overflow into the bathroom?
December 1st, 2006 at 4:59 pm#43 - Marie,
December 1st, 2006 at 5:04 pmWhat guys?
Iraq is falling apart and these people are worrying about semantics?
I have to say, I love how delicate they are: “A tender trap”. Ah, the tender sensibilities of them wallflowers.
And why do they insinuate the civil war is not a failure of US policy? How did the civil war happen to start, I wonder?
December 1st, 2006 at 5:42 pmYeah Fox, the non Iraqis wern’t there until we got there. We’re the magnet that draws them. The civil war that they started is taking the majority of lives there, however. The hatred of the Shiites and the Sunnis exhibit toward each other won’t cause them to follow us here when we leave. That will be left up to al Quada, which is in over 60 countries and has become much stronger since we invaded Iraq.
December 1st, 2006 at 6:50 pmJohn Moody has agreed with the White House position……what a surprise! Since Fox News is nothing more than a political outlet for republican positions and views it would only be news if he disagreed. John Moody and Fox News are a disgrace!
December 1st, 2006 at 6:53 pmThis is further proof that FNC is imploding.
December 1st, 2006 at 7:04 pmWell, I wonder if Lincon had that problem with the so called sectional violence of the times?? At lease we see it for what it is..”"We are not willing to fall into that tender trap”.. It it is shame.. What a trap that Fox weaves itself into
December 1st, 2006 at 7:17 pm..I guess that Moody admits that he is not interested in the trap of “truth.”
…So…Moody hasn’t got no clothes either???
…At least he is willing to show himself to all………….sun
Attn: squegeeboo and hellinabucket
Non USA and CSA forces did indeed fight in the US Civil War. Several Indian nations fought for each side during the course of the hostilities.
The last Confederate General to surrender was a Native American (Cherokee, I believe).
Native Americans did not become US citizens until 1924.
December 1st, 2006 at 7:26 pmThis is just FOX (SUBVERSIVE PROPAGANDA) NEWS spinning the vocabulary because their right wing base is threatened by the idea that a civil war and not “the war on terror” the sold the public to justify going there in the first place.
It’s simple … anything that does not remind the American public that we are fighting terror in Iraq and even suggests that another dynamic is happening has to be labeled as false. It’s FOX NEWS purpose to support the right wing neocon agenda and to break up any cohesive thought that might alter that agenda.
FOX NEWS is not a news organization but a subversive propaganda organization developed, designed, and implemented by the right wing global elite. It was built as a weapon against the truth in order to install and support disinformation. Part of it’s mission was to facilitate the installation the Bush/Cheney regime.
This was the beginning and primary step towards a fascist society run by corporations and the elite. Central to their New World Order doctrine are the fundamentals of control and manipulation techniques to insure the steady accumulation of power and wealth.
FOX NEWS is directly responsible for the lies and disinformation that led us to this illegal war. Even now they dare to lie and distort information as their agenda is in terrible peril.
John Moody is nothing more than a criminal liar and distortionist in the employee of the elitists who want to bring about a New World Order by destroying our Republic .
FOX NEWS = SUBVERSIVE PROPAGANDA
December 1st, 2006 at 7:38 pmFox is the eiptamy of BIAS (don’t check the spelling). FACT!
December 1st, 2006 at 7:49 pm“…We’re not using the term because there are non-Iraqis in the fray and that makes it something different.â€
How about “Civil War with Features?”
December 1st, 2006 at 8:03 pmComment #54, by “Mike”, was elegantly stated. The truth, plain truth, and nothing but the truth. Fox is the fascist arm of the GOP. Tush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter, Charles Krauhammer, and george Wills are operators of flank attacks.
December 1st, 2006 at 8:09 pm“We’re not using the term because there are non-Iraqis in the fray”
Non-Iraqis? Like… Americans?
Also…. There were plenty on non-Spaniards fighting Franco ‘36, but I’ve never heard it called anything other than “Spanish Civil War”
December 1st, 2006 at 8:34 pmWell, heck — why argue over whether it’s a civil war or not? Let’s just all agree to call it “Bush’s War” and have done with it…
December 1st, 2006 at 8:51 pmI can see where Moody is coming from. The term “civil war” is associated with the defeat of the southern redneck midset. Why remind fox viewers of past losses?
December 1st, 2006 at 10:29 pmWell lets see. So far we’ve been told this is not a civil war because not all parts of the country were at war. Ok! On that basis we did not have a civil war either, Maine did not have any battles during the Civil War. And we were told by our military leaders that because there is still a fucntioning central government in Iraq we do not have a civil war. Well Ok! Then once again we did not have a Civil War because Lincoln and his government were in power the whoe time. And now lastly we are told this is not a civil war because some outsiders are taking part in the war. Ok I can buy into that too. But on that count ours then also was not a Civil War because among others who fought in our war were a number of Canadians who were opposed to slavery. So, all you text book writers out there scratch that from the books, NO CIVIL WAR happened in the US. We failed that mark by several different tests. Kids, remember on the SAT, NO CIVIL WAR IN THE US. And if you are marked incorrect on that we have the proof.
December 2nd, 2006 at 12:13 amMy god, yes, it’s a civil war, irregardless of what foreign powers might be promoting the violence. Okay, I grant you, we don’t necessarily have to call it a civil war, but doing so does serve a great purpose. By changing the nomenclature we effectively remove control of the discussion agenda from the Bush people and we begin to be able speak more openly - freely about the war. Dissent is good. More of it prior to going into Iraq would have been better. (understatement)
I, for one, am tired of hearing our Lionhearted Liberal brethren denounced as unpatriotic traitors because we might have a useful idea or two, or a list of fifty. We do not have to let the neocons frame the discussion in their own pious censorial terms.
The media has been sanitized for too long, remember the embedded reporters? Did you get any information real information from them? About all you got from the embeds was a sense of how it felt over there.
Remember Wolf Blitzer talking to Lynne Cheney a month or so ago? He kept asking her the wrong questions that she did not want to hear, and she asked him, “Wolf, do you want the U.S. to win the war in Iraq?” (paraphrased)
It’s impossible to have an intelligent conversation with people who control the dialogue, the nomenclature, and with whom once you disagree will call your patriotism into question. Why can’t we ask things like: Is this a revolutionary war? Is this a religious war? Is this genocide? Is this a holocaust? My answer would be a partial yes to all of the above, as well as YES to civil war.
Above The Fold
December 2nd, 2006 at 1:19 amComment by Juan C
Stealing names now, coward?
Meet me, wimp.
December 2nd, 2006 at 4:57 amWell it looks like the name-stealer’s tucked his tail between his legs, and redeployed to a less hostile environment. I guess his mommy wouldn’t let him stay up any longer.
December 2nd, 2006 at 5:12 amComment by juan c.
Now, having read this on-and-on-and-on defense of Republican clarity, actually it’s more of a lamentation, I haven’t any idea where the party stands or those so enambored with it.
It’s what it’s always been, a pastiche of greed and mumblers who never get to the point and who deserve the ridicule they’ve been getting ever since Hamilton got shot.
December 2nd, 2006 at 7:45 amAnd if the other networks had any gumption, they would call their rival to task for NOT behaving with journalistic precision or accuracy. Sometimes the media IS the story. It was the story when Rather was Foxed. Why isn’t it the story now?
December 2nd, 2006 at 8:33 amMr. Moody appears to be as ignorant as his on-air talent and audience.
December 2nd, 2006 at 8:40 amFor more than a 100 pages of discussion of the roels of tens of thosuands of foreigners in the American Civil War see Ellan Lonn’s books Foreigners in the Confederacy and Foreigners in the Union Army and Navy.
For background on tens of thousands of foreigners in the Spanish Civil War read a book by Ernest Hemingway or look up the Abraham Lincoln Brigade.
Fox is right but only because it’s worse than a civil war. How about we call it a “maelstrom of anarchic violence”?
December 2nd, 2006 at 9:53 amWould he prefer “Revolution”?
December 2nd, 2006 at 12:14 pmThe Native Americans and the French were involved in the Revolutionary War. I am sorry, we just cannot call it a revolutionary war when there were those involved who did not directly benefit from the colonialist stuggle. Sorry, that changes everything. Re-write your history books.
December 2nd, 2006 at 12:25 pmYes, and you won’t call a terrorist a terrorist.
December 2nd, 2006 at 12:58 pmI don’t understand why righties hate the term “civil war”. Would it make Bush look any more like an idiot? We already know he is.
December 2nd, 2006 at 7:55 pm…and tender trap…sounds vaguely gay. Is Fox in the closet?
December 2nd, 2006 at 7:56 pmFox is right.
It cannot be a civil war.
Once the occupiers leave, then it will probably be a civil war, unless, of course, they have learned something from Rumsfeld; never tell the truth when a convenient lie lurks available.
And, they are soooo looking forward to cleaning up the radiation from the military use of DU (Depleted uranium, “U238″). After a billion years, they might start to have normal babies again.
You know, if the dumb-asses had just prevented their murdering leader from participating in 911! You might ask, which dumb-asses and which leader. Personally, I am very sure Hussein had nothing to do with it!
December 3rd, 2006 at 6:52 amFox is right.
It cannot be a civil war.
Once the occupiers leave, then it will probably be a civil war, unless, of course, they have learned something from Rumsfeld; never tell the truth when a convenient lie lurks available.
And, they are soooo looking forward to cleaning up the radiation from the military use of DU (Depleted uranium, “U238″). After a billion years, they might start to have normal babies again.
You know, if the dumb-asses had just prevented their murdering leader from participating in 911! You might ask, which dumb-asses and which leader. Personally, I am very sure Hussein had nothing to do with it!
December 3rd, 2006 at 6:53 amMain Entry: civil war
Function: noun
a war between opposing groups of citizens of the same country
Above is the Merriam-Webster on-line dictionary definition of a civil war.
To Fox News and all their wild eyed, slavering moronic supporters—- READ IT!!
December 3rd, 2006 at 10:27 amFaux News is nothing more than a propaganda wing of the Republican right. They shouldn’t even be called a new organization. There idea of fair and balance is a one sided view for and by Republicans. I compare them to the TASS News Agency of the old Soviet Union. They put out the Republican talking point and position on every issue without question. I’ve never seen a more parisan organization anywhere. If the President or a Republican says it, it’s true. If a Democrats says it, it’s not true or you can’t trust it.
This country is being subjected to a propaganda war and Faux News is actively trying to brainwash the American public into thinking a certain way. They along with so called evangelicals will be the undoing of this country. They have suceeded in undermining everything the founding fathers stood and fought for. The sad part about it is that a moron from Australia is behind the undermining of American. Mr. Rupard Murdouck wasn’t borning here and is no friend of democracy. He is a facist in American clothing.
December 3rd, 2006 at 12:37 pm[…] Fox News have always been a favorite target of mine, and it’s things like THIS that are the reason why. Admit it already, you are in a civil war. And if you are going to say that Iraq is not in a civil war give some reasons and don’t be so bias about it. An guess what, Iraq IS a failure. The administrations policies have failed. They have failed since the first boot touched the ground. Iraq being in a civil war is the ultimate example that the policies have in fact failed. […]
December 4th, 2006 at 9:41 am[…] “Tender Trap” Posted on 12/1/2006 3:56 PM by brianrApprove (6) | Reject (0) | My vote: None Think Progress… Fox’s Senior Vice President John Moody — whose infamous politically-slanted […]
April 2nd, 2008 at 12:55 pm