Laura Bush: Media’s Drum Beat About Iraq “Is Discouraging”

In an interview with Norah O’Donnell on MSNBC Thursday afternoon, Laura Bush blamed the media for the public’s disapproval of the Iraq war.

“I do know that there are a lot of good things that are happening [in Iraq] that aren’t covered,” Bush said, according to E&P. “And I think that the drum beat in the country from the media, from the only way people know what is happening unless they happen to have a loved one deployed there, is discouraging.

There are also good things going on that people don’t have a chance to see….Schools that are being built. There are parts of country that are rebuilding….So I’d like to see the media give a more balanced view of it.”

A few hours later, on the NBC Nightly News, Brian Williams noted her comments, then said: “Mrs. Bush went on to say she hopes for what she called ‘more balanced coverage’ in the future. The recent report from the Iraq Study Group, however, specifically found that there has been significant under-reporting of the violence in Iraq.”