Posted on 03/28/2003 7:56:22 AM PST by Stand Watch Listen
While there have been many complaints about the Arab media, especially Al Jazeera, damaging the Americans efforts with misinformation, Al Jazeera isn´ t the only world news source planting misinformation. The Washington Post yesterday printed a lead article front-page pessimistic commentary that suggested “The combination of wretched weather, long and insecure supply lines, and an enemy that has refused to be supine in the face of American military might has led to a broad reassessment by some top generals of U.S. military expectations and timelines. Some of them see even the potential threat of a drawn-out fight that sucks in more and more U.S. forces.”
I am not a military strategist, however it does appear to me that, in the guise of news, we are being subjected to a lot of disinformation from America´s own “elite” news sources.
The Post even “quoted” Secretary of State Colin Powell, who was Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff during Desert Storm, as supporting the unnamed “top generals” who were pessimistic about Operation Iraqi Freedom. The Post claimed Powell “seemed to break” with the Pentagon view “The plan has moved almost exactly with expectations," and claimed that in an interview with National Public Radio Powell had said “it was becoming evident that the war may take a little bit longer, don't know how long."
Actually, this is an almost total reversal of the point Colin Powell made repeatedly in that NPR interview with Juan Williams who tried with almost with every question to get Powell to say something pessimistic or discouraging about Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Williams asked: “Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz said on National Public Radio last month that, ‘When Saddam's regime is removed we will find one of the most talented populations in the Arab world.´ And in fact he said, ‘People will complain that the French, you know, have blocked this and why did it take us so long to get there?´ But yet, it seems that the Iraqis have mounted fierce armed resistance to U.S. and British troops. Powell responded by saying, “This war has only been on for six days. For the first two days everybody was euphoric. ‘Goodness, it's going to be over on day three.´ But then on day four, people saw that the Iraqis were going to put up some resistance and they said, ‘oh, it was going to go on for much longer.´
But this war is only in its early stages and I think our troops, the coalition troops are doing a magnificent job. In just the first five days of this conflict, they've advanced 300 miles inside of Iraq. They are on the outskirts, 50 miles or so outside of Baghdad. That's remarkable.” “Now, there are pockets of resistance. There are some places that have been bypassed that we now have to go clean out. But the remarkable thing is how successful we have been.
And the other thing I would point out is that Iraqis are not putting up a coherent, coordinated defense. I mean we're not facing trench warfare across the width of Iraq. We're seeing pockets of resistance -- sometimes regular army, sometimes Republican Guard, sometimes these Fedeyeen suicide people. But none of it is going to stop our advance. It may take a little bit longer, don't know how long. The point is we have had a good battle plan, and it's a battle plan that will succeed.” Powell responded to most of Williams pessimistic questions with “No.”
Some of those pessimistic or downright insulting questions Powell said “no” to were: Williams: “When you saw the pictures over the weekend of American soldiers being held as prisoners of war, some of them executed, did you feel as if this effort at liberation had gone astray?” Williams: “The French have said that they will not authorize any U.S. control of a post-Saddam Iraq. Doesn't that place an unmovable obstacle in your way?
Williams final question was: “Bill Keller with The New York Times wrote over the weekend that you should resign if you really are not in keeping with this Administration's way of thinking with regard to this war. How do you feel personally?” Powell replied: “Personally, I'm very much in sync with the President and he values my services. I also have to take note of the fact if you would consult any recent Gallup poll, the American people seem to be quite satisfied with the job I'm doing as Secretary of State.”
Most of us, especially those of us who had someone IN Desert Storm, are tremendously impressed with the speed of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Contrary to what some in the media now claim, we didn´t win in Desert Storm in a matter of a “few days.” My son Guy Grooms was battalion Surgeon for the 1st Battalion of the 7th Marines that liberated Kuwait City after SEVEN MONTHS of dodging Saddam´s Scud missiles in sand storms and 120 degree weather, from August 1990 to February 1991. I learned from him, incidentally, that sand storms are not all bad, especially when the winds are blowing towards the enemy. That, and the speed the Marines were moving, kept Iraqi troops from using the chemical weapons they had, since the wind would have blown the chemicals back to the Iraqi troops. In the one week of Operation Iraqi Freedom, the “wretched weather” the Post mentioned was a 55 mph wind blowing TOWARDS Baghdad.
The troops are now literally at the door of Baghdad and the winds died down to 13 mph by Wednesday which allow our helicopters to operate, but may well indicate American troops are now too close to keep any chemical weapons used by the Iraqis from being killed. Of course, if the Republican Guard do use chemical weapons that blow into Baghdad and kill people, we can expect Al Jazeera and probably the Washington Post, the New York Times and National Public Radio to report Americans “appeared” to use the chemical weapons on unarmed civilians in order to seize Baghdad.
Chemical Weapons - No. Another inconvenience, more so than the dust storms. When the Iraqis use their chemical weapons, they wil inflict losses on us, but they will also move the war to a whole new level, one that the Iraqis are ill-equipped to deal with. The response to such an attack will be overwhelming, and a lot of the current restrictions in place on air attack targetting will vanish.
Lying Media - Maybe. Like it or not, President Bush needs political support for this war, and right now he has it (and more!). The media could sour the public's perception of the war, but I suspect that would take several months. By the time the media gets any momentum going, the war is likely to be over or well on its way to a successful completion. The fly in the ointment (IMHO) is the chemical weapon thing - the media will play up any losses we suffer from them, and will paint the massive response to it from our forces as 'barbaric', and that might give the media a little more momentum in trying to brainwash the American public.
But in any event, this war is ours to lose. The Iraqis can and will resist, and sometimes will score victories against us, but the only way they can win is by defeating our resolve, and I just do not see that happening anytime soon. The clock is running out for Saddam et al.
Related ArticlesIs The Mainstream Press Watching The Same War The Rest Of Us Are?
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Fox continues doing a superb job and msnbc has been good too.
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