The terrorist attack inside Russia’s Domodedovo airport killed at least 35 people and injured another 180. While dozens of investigators are will combing the crime scene, US media outlets are spinning the story in several different directions.
It was an explosion heard around the world.A massive terrorist attack in Moscow instantly became an international story, with many US media outlets presenting inconclusive facts and fearful analysis. Over at Fox News, pundits and presenters hijacked the tragedy to garner support for US foreign policy. “Is that going to help us in places like Iran? Get more Russian co-operation in Afghanistan, with al-Qaeda, things like that. Are they gonna wise up and help us a little bit?" said Fox News Host, Bill O’Reilly. No official has connected Iran to Moscow’s deadly bombing, and Russia does remain a key US ally in the Afghan war, through its transshipment of goods to the war torn region. A fact, analyst said, Mr. Bill O’Reilly purposely neglected to mention."In his view Russia is bad because they don’t automatically support the US and all our foreign policy decisions so he’s trying to use this. Manipulate this to anger his viewers to get them upset with Russia,” said Media Analyst, TJ Walker.Over at CNN, the fear-mongering switch was flipped on, with some presenters warning about a possible destabilization of the Caucuses region. “And the worldwide price of oil, which is already high, could get even higher,” said CNN host, Wolf Blitzer.As Russian President Dmitry Medvedev prepared to leave for the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos, a talking head on the Fox Business Network warned the world that more deadly attacks are on the horizon. “I’m sure the terrorist are already in place in Davos. Whether they make an incident occur, the Swiss police is very tough. It’s problematic. But they’ve been there every year for several years, and my guess is they’ll try something of some nature,” said Robert Dilenschneider during an interview with FOX.The terrorist bombings in Moscow caught the world’s attention, and within 24-hours media in the US spun the story in several directions. From fear to frantic analysis, American narratives spanned far and wide, but fell short of delivering facts on a story still developing.Mark Adomanis, a columnist with INOSMI said the US media often entertains thoughts of justification and rationalization for attacks in Russia, but they would never do so regarding attacks against the United States or the west. “Last March when there were the bombings on the Moscow Metro, it was a problem, I wrote a couple pieces about it, the double standards at work were wrong and glaring,” he added.It’s not wrong, he argued, to look for reasons these types of attacks occur. Seeking why is not the same as justification. “It’s pretty clear these sorts of acts are not justifiable,” Adomanis remarked. “To try and understand why they occur and why the people that carry these out are motivated to do them is very important. I think to a large extent the western media neglects to do that when they are problems that we face; they are very willing to look at the problems Russia experiences.”