E.M. Zanotti ZP on the Bush/Stephanopoulos Tet tete a tete:

The Tet offensive was not any type of military victory for the North, but a propaganda victory bestowed upon them by the press. And that is exactly what al Qaeda wants desperately to achieve. There is no military victory al Qaeda can hope for, only a defeat of American will. Their sole aim in driving up the body count is to wear us down to the point that we’ll just give up. It’s the only way they can win. The President has been saying this for a while now. And al Qaeda has been saying this for a while now too – heck and they’ve even thanked journalists for helping to enhance the jihad. Yet the press never seems to recall this.

Don’t they? Front page of CNN, right now:

There’s nothing wrong with showing enemy propaganda. We’ve done it here before and we’ll do it again, for the simple reason that it tells you something about the guy in the other trench: his motives, his methods of persuasion, and how far he’s willing to go.

What does this tell us, though? What did CNN hope to accomplish by showing it?

And why will they show snipers when they won’t show beheading videos? Or the Mohammed cartoons?

E.M. has a hunch, I’m sure. As does Blackfive:

Bottom-line: CNN knowingly plays into the hands of the enemy.

There was a news angle here for CNN if they had wanted it. As it is, you’ll have to read Confederate Yankee for that.

It all reminds me of the “controversy” over Ted Koppel reciting the names of fallen soldiers on Nightline. There’s nothing intrinsically objectionable about that either; on the contrary, it’s noble — if the motive is noble, to honor the dead and not hurt morale. Plain and simple, I don’t trust their motives anymore.

On the upside, though, if we do pull out, stuff like this will help CNN earn the good graces of the new regime. Plus ca change…

Update: It’s 12:06 as I write this. They’re re-airing the sniper segment on CNN right now.

Update: The left will defend this for the same reason they post photos of coffins being unloaded at Dover. Ostensibly, it’s because it “puts a human face” on the war, which the wingnuts can’t stomach and scrupulously avoid. Actually, it’s because it does lower morale among waverers and helps them accomplish their political goal of defeat. Enemy propaganda is a many splendored thing.

Update: Also today on CNN…

Update: Whoops — turns out E.M. Zanotti didn’t write that post I quoted. It was ZP of Zero Point, guest-posting for her. My mistake.