Internet chats with reporters are an underrated chance to prod activist/reporters with a different perspective (and a neat way of learning how reporters think). In Newsweek’s live chat with somewhat slanted reporter Michael Hirsh this week, a questioner (who deserves a medal, or at least an Oreo) asks didn’t we face occupation problems in other wars? We haven’t seen those comparisons in the news, have we?

Hirsh replied: “During the occupation of Germany after WWII, attacks on U.S. soldiers continued into at least 1947, I believe. The difference is that Germany and Japan were countries already decimated by 3-4 years of war. In Iraq the outcome was so quick that people remember that their lifestyle was often better a few months ago, when Saddam was still in power, than it is now. That contributes to further hostility.” Ah, the leisurely lifestyle of Baathist Iraq. Wouldn’t you miss it?

PS: If you look this up, enjoy the question which charges the media’s calling Bush a liar, and Hirsh responds with “no, our reporting may undercut his credibility, but that’s entirely different.” Read: “No, our reporting may be forcefully intended to undercut his credibility, but we need to be a little subtler than Al Franken.”