Philippe Cayla of EuroNews says that the American media created the impression that war was the only option.

Question: Is the media responsible for the war in Iraq?

Philippe Cayla: Certainly it was. I don’t remember how long it lasted, but CNN titled it “War on Terror” for a while. I suppose they don’t do it anymore now, but it lasted at least for one year, I think. And then there’s the fact that there is war on terror. It’s simple wording. Everybody understands what it is, but it creates the idea that you have to wage war in order to solve the terrorist problem, which is not conspicuous to say the least. And that there is no other possibility that the … have no way … . So it’s certainly created in the U.S. the feeling that war was the only solution. And after that, of course, they had war. It was easy for … to wage war, since everybody thought they had to make war. Because an alternative was not presented, so I think it is the responsibility of media to … possibilities and … the one that maybe they would like, or they think would be good. And there was at the time – and I don’t know if it is the case now – a lack of alternatives in media coverage in the U.S. And I think if I can preach from my perch, your news presents such alternatives. In some way, … the U.S. And we are the only international news channel other than the U.S. Because the CNN you have is not CNN International. As far as I know, it’s CNN National, CNN U.S. And Fox News is very national. Euro News is the only international news channel. And so we hope we … We hope we have some audience in the U.S. in the future as well.

Recorded on: 7/2/07