11 years after the invasion of Iraq, viewers could be forgiven for thinking it was still 2003, given the seemingly endless stream of hawkish pundits and politicians who appear to be far outweighing their counterparts in the debate about the country's latest crisis.
The Sunday shows were heavily tilted in favor of guests who had supported the Iraq invasion or who supported current military intervention.
"Meet The Press" was a veritable parade of hawks and war supporters. First up were Mitt Romney and Democratic senator Joe Manchin, who said he would support airstrikes in Iraq.
David Gregory then turned to David Ignatius—who has apologized for his support of the Iraq War—New Yorker writer Dexter Filkins, Republican congressman and hawk Peter King and, last but not least, Paul Wolfowitz, one of the main architects of the war in the Bush administration. Gregory asked Wolfowitz if the administration had underestimated the sectarian divide in Iraq. Wolfowitz ducked the question. The conversation then moved on.
CBS's "Face the Nation" brought on senator Lindsey Graham, always an enthusiastic hawk, and Tom Donilon, President Obama's former national security advisor. (For good measure, the show also turned to Lara Logan, back on the air for the first time since her discredited reports on the Benghazi attacks.)
Graham also appeared on CNN's "State of the Union," where he called for airstrikes and for an American-backed reorganization of Iraq's government. He was followed by Paul Eaton, a general during the war. "I'm sitting here watching you listen to that, somebody who spent so much time, so much effort trying to change things, and you left thinking that things were much better," host Dana Bash lamented to Eaton. The show then featured a discussion between two congresspeople who had served in Iraq. One, Tulsi Gabbard, opposed further military intervention.
ABC News had a slightly more balanced panel than other shows, with anti-war Rep. Luis Gutierrez squaring off against famously unrepentant hawk Bill Kristol.
The pattern continued on Monday, with Paul Bremer, the de facto post-invasion ruler of Iraq whose strategy has been blamed for much of the current crisis, appearing on both "Today" and "Morning Joe." Though he got a bit of a rough ride on the latter show, he was surrounded by fellow hawks such as Max Boot, who has said he is unrepentant in his support of the war, and Ed Royce, a Republican who voted to invade in 2002.