Thursday, September 08, 2005

House of Mirrors

The title and lead off paragraphs give the wrong impression of Iran's so-called offer to help Hurricane Katrina victims:


In a gesture that mirrors American aid offers after a devastating 2003 earthquake in Iran, Tehran's envoy to the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries said his government would ship up to 20 million barrels of oil, state radio reported late Tuesday.

We said no thank you. We look downright mean spirited for turning down this generous offer, right?

Read a little deeper and you see that Iran requires us to lift sanctions in order to get the help.

This really isn't a mirror of our shipment of aid in response to the 2003 Bam earthquake. We di not require Iran's mullahs to stop supporting terrorists who kill Americans or to stop driving toward a nuclear weapon capability.

Typically, the article tries to leave an impression that reduces our image, leaving the relevant facts that undermine the title and early paragraphs further down.

I should be grateful they mentioned the circumstances at all, I suppose.