GOTCHA journalism winning

Norman Spector sums it up nicely: "Dump the Defense Minister cuz some journalists blew the story". There is no there there, as the Toronto Star grudgingly recognizes, in the supposed contradictions between Minister of National Defence O'Connor and Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Hillier over training the Afghan National Army:

In the latest Afghan-related mishap, O'Connor and Hillier have recently appeared to be openly at odds over the Afghan army's combat ability. A week ago O'Connor made headlines when he seemed to tell CTV news that the weak Afghan army may be ready to take over much of the fighting from Canadian troops by the time Quebec's Royal 22nd Regiment, the Van Doos, end their rotation in February. Then, in another CTV interview, Hillier appeared to contradict his boss. "That would certainly be a significant challenge for them," he said.

In fact, O'Connor and Hillier weren't at odds. They just seemed to be.

What O'Connor said was that by the time the Van Doos move out, Ottawa hopes to have 3,000 Afghan army troops operating in Kandahar, which will let the Canadians "continue to withdraw ... put more emphasis on training and at some stage basically be in reserve." No mention of February there. Hillier's assessment is much the same.

Still, this latest public relations mishap...

Dear Star editorial writers: It was no PR "mishap"; it was misleading media coverage--either deliberate or negligent--aimed at discrediting the government. Shameful. And it looks like the damn media are getting their man, regardless of the evidence:

After his encounter with the media at the Conservative caucus in Charlottetown on Wednesday, O'Connor's effectiveness as defence minister is pretty much kaput. For his own sake, as well as for the sake of the mission in Afghanistan, he needs to be taken off the firing line. He has become the story, or rather, the space between Rick Hillier, the chief of defence staff, and O'Connor, the defence minister, has become the story. Yesterday's Globe and Mail headline, "O'Connor insists he and Hillier of like mind," pretty much makes

There comes a time when perception is reality, and the perception of cleavage between the defence minister and his top general has become reality.

When O'Connor tried to blow it off as media hype, insisting "it's the way you interpret our words," that became the story, too...

What a bloody hatchet job our media have done.

See also:

Media create fake war: Hillier et al. vs. O'Connor
Globe really has its guns out