Posted on 10/22/2007 5:17:47 AM PDT by shrinkermd
All describe the bizarro-world contrast between what most Americans seem to think is happening in Iraq versus what is really happening in Iraq. Knowing this disconnect exists and experiencing it directly are two separate matters. It’s like the difference between holding the remote control during the telecast of a volcanic eruption on some distant island (and then flipping the channel), versus running for survival from a wretch of molten lava that just engulfed your car.
I was at home in the United States just one day before the magnitude hit me like vertigo: America seems to be under a glass dome which allows few hard facts from the field to filter in unless they are attached to a string of false assumptions. Considering that my trip home coincided with General Petraeus’ testimony before the US Congress, when media interest in the war was (I’m told) unusually concentrated, it’s a wonder my eardrums didn’t burst on the trip back to Iraq. In places like Singapore, Indonesia, and Britain people hardly seemed to notice that success is being achieved in Iraq, while in the United States Britney was competing for airtime with O.J. in one of the saddest sideshows on Earth.
No thinking person would look at last year’s weather reports to judge whether it will rain today, yet we do something similar with Iraq news. The situation in Iraq has drastically changed, but the inertia of bad news leaves many convinced that the mission has failed beyond recovery, that all Iraqis are engaged in sectarian violence, or are waiting for us to leave so they can crush their neighbors. This view allows our soldiers two possible roles: either “victim caught in the crossfire” or “referee between warring parties.” Neither, rightly, is tolerable to the American or British public.
Today I am in Iraq, back in a war of such strategic consequence that it will affect generations yet unborn—whether or not they want it to. Hiding under the covers will not work, because whether it is good news or bad, whether it is true or untrue, once information is widely circulated, it has such formidable inertia that public opinion seems impervious to the corrective balm of simple and clear facts.
Good point!
Maybe it’s just me, but the MSM seems to be reporting less and less on events in Iraq. In the absence of bad news, I think they’re not reporting much at all.
Its not that there is less coverage from Iraq, its just that Brittney has done so much more that needs coverage.
Yes, since The Surge has worked, they have simply decided to ignore events in Iraq.
The MSM writes the script, creates the storyline, removes or adds facts for history, sets templates, cooks up moods and opinions.
They are our greatest enemy.
PING
This man has plainly earned a Pulitzer Prize.
It is a plain indictment of the media bias that he won’t get it.
Don’t just complain. Help him out! I have sent an e-mail to our local talk shows trying to get them to enocurage their listeners to call our local paper and DEMAND that they use Yon’s dispatches to counter the lefty AP trash they now print about Iraq. Also, encourage your friends to send $ to YON to help support his work. With a lot of help from the Freeper community, we can make a difference.
The MSM-in-denial-about-Iraq ping.
That must be it. I'm not seeing much US news media these days, but it doesn't surprise me that they've gone quiet on Iraq.
Iraq has gone quiet. It started about three months ago and none of us dared mention it for a while. Then, we began in hushed voices and comments made quickly, followed by a change of subject. "It's getting quiet here. Haven't heard an explosion in a while."
During past lulls in violence (none has ever lasted anywhere near this long), it was considered taboo to mention it, very much like saying "no-hitter" at a baseball game when one is in progress.
This one's not a lull. This one is a turning point. I know it pains the liberals to hear this, but the tide turned when the tribal leaders began joining our side. The people finally saw the light and realized that groups like al Qaeda and the Mahdi Army were not doing any good for Iraq. They also realized that the coalition's intentions were good.
The Iraqi Army has improved in leaps and bounds. The Iraqi Police have a way to go, but they are now moving forward and their training programs are vastly improved.
Sorry, defeatists. This thing is working whether you like it or not. Now, get out of the way and let us finish the job.
A thousand Amen to your post.
Truth to power!
Actually, there needs to be a prize equal and opposite the Pulitzer to acknowledge superior fact-based objective reporting, not best ad copy.
Yall keep up the good work! Go USA!
Maybe it's a failing of my character, but I really can't wish for enough misfortune to befall the media elites of this country.
At some point in the next year, GWB needs to have a victory ceremony - complete with a giant “Mission Accomplished” banner. All liberals world-wide would be apoplectic, and I would be LMAO!
They are our greatest enemy.
America has three identifiable enemies.
1. Islamofascist terrorists
2. Liberal Democrat politicians
3. The Mainstream Media
And, of these, the most dangerous is clearly the Mainstream Media. For, without the media's support, the other two would collapse within weeks.
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