April 26, 2008
To the Editor
Your article on the propagandistic role played by TV’s military analysts offers a look at the orchestrated linkages within the military-industrial-media complex.
Yet, the exposé cloaks a more fundamental problem. Why are only retired military brass considered experts when violence flares or troops surge? These analysts clearly represent only one approach to resolving conflicts. In featuring such experts to the exclusion of others, nonmilitary strategies are inherently discredited.
Many experienced nonviolent peacekeepers, conflict resolvers, mediators and peace builders are at work around the world. If the media included these experts when analyzing war, the public would have a much deeper understanding of the range of options that truly exist.
Mel Duncan
Executive Director, Nonviolent Peaceforce
Minneapolis, April 20, 2008