http://cct.georgetown.edu/thesis/WadeeDeeprawat.pdf
However, in fighting the current war on terrorism, the target and objective of the war was not so clearly defined. In the weeks following the air assault on Taliban targets in Afghanistan, there were numerous reports by the American media of mistaken bombs landing on Afghan civilians. It was evident that images of innocent civilian deaths fueled criticism and weakened support for the U.S. led campaign around the world (Sullivan, WP 11/7/01, A1). As the Bush administration has repeatedly announced that the bombing campaign was primarily aimed at the terrorists and it was clearly not a war against the Afghan people, the bombing of residential areas discredits this claim. Walter Isaacson,
the chairman of CNN, a leading U.S. news network, issued a statement to his staff to balance images of civilian casualties with constant reminders of the Taliban “harboring murderous terrorists” (Kurtz, WP 10/31/01, C1).
The support of the government agenda reinforces the media’s guard dog role. According to interviews of executives in other news organizations, many agreed with CNN’s directive. This reflects the media’s need to maintain cohesion with the policies made by authorities as they cover the news.
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The enemy can also be constructed as an “enemy of God.” This was more
apparent in the case of September 11 than was the case with the Japanese during World War II. Because the September 11 enemy lacks a definite geographical boundary, the religious connotation in characterizing the enemy takes on more significance. This was obvious in President Bush’s proclamation of the war on terrorism as a “crusade” and his desire to rid the world of “evil-doers”; the dichotomy of good vs. evil is apparent (WP 9/17/01, A1).