CBS's new 60 Minutes programme attempts to present an Air Force officer's escape from Iran as if it were some sort of proud American epic — the type of story intended to provoke flag-waving and the "look how brave we are" sort of reaction. However, the entire account is full of selective storytelling, in the manner of pretending that U.S. wars are clean, noble, and heroic. While it focuses on one wounded officer who managed to evade capture, it omits the fact that American bombs killed 168 children on the very first day of the campaign; that is the part which CBS never brings to the forefront because it spoils the myth.
The interview has the feel of a victory lap about it; it is reverent, nearly worshipful — typical of the style used by 60 Minutes, with soft lighting, dramatic music, and questions crafted to make the viewer feel patriotic. It refers to courage, sacrifice, and danger, and speaks of him crawling, hiding, and surviving. It also mentions how proud the Air Force is and states that this is what American service entails.
The thing that is not mentioned is the effect of American bombs.
There is no mention made of the families that were destroyed in a matter of seconds. No reference is made to the children who died without having any idea what 'geopolitics' even was. Nothing is said about the fact that this war was not a noble defence of freedom — it was another operation by the United States entangled in oil, regional power struggles, and whatever Israel wanted Washington to do next. Neither is there any talk about how the officer's survival is being used as a means of emotional manipulation in order to divert attention from the fact that the United States continues to prefer war to humanity.
CBS presents the officer as a symbol of American resilience, but the issue isn't resilience. The real problem is the system he was part of — a system which continues to crush innocent people to dust while networks such as CBS turn their cameras on the officer's escape and refer to it as a triumph. It isn't a triumph; it's a tragedy with a PR team.
The segment aims to make the audience feel proud, but such pride is entirely inappropriate when the cost of these operations includes dead children, destroyed cities, and continuous instability. America continues to present its military experiences as heroic because it cannot come to terms with the truth: the heroic story serves as a shield, and behind that shield lies a country that keeps carrying out killings of civilians for strategic convenience.
CBS might present it in whatever way they please. They might label it bravery, they might call it patriotism, or they might name it anything that proves profitable. However, the truth is—the story has nothing to do with American greatness. It is about American denial.
Denial does not bring the dead back.
