Tuesday, March 07, 2006
Take The MSM Antidote
If you can't find any good news about the Iraq campaign, the reason is probably what you read or see on TV; or, rather, what you don't get a chance to read or see.
For a review of some good news and the links to find more, check out this article by Bill Crawford on Iraq on National Review Online:
"Coverage of the Iraq war continues to be overwhelmingly negative. If anything, the pessimism of the mainstream media has increased since the attack on the Golden Mosque in Samarra. This isn't because of any dearth of good news, though. For whatever reason, the abundant good work and progress accomplished each day in Iraq are either not reported or underplayed here at home."
...............
"As the polls show, Americans are getting pessimistic about our mission in Iraq, and the mainstream media bear most of the blame for this. Responsibility for reporting the other side of the story in Iraq has fallen to the blogosphere. The following stories highlight the progress we have made in Iraq over the last two months, and the incredible work being done by the men and women of our armed forces, in concert with their coalition allies and the Iraqi Security Forces.
USAID now has a webpage listing some of our successes in Iraq. The entire list is here,USAID."
There really are too many examples in this article to copy them all. but two more points are worth noting.
This :"The mainstream media reports on every terrorist attack in Iraq daily, no matter how insignificant, but what they don't report are the stories of every day Iraqis who are putting their lives on the line to help secure their country.
During a recent operation, two shepherds located twelve munitions sites for Iraqi and American forces:
'Two local sheepherders did just that, directing one search team of Iraqis and Americans to more than 12 sites, where munitions were discovered within a two-mile radius. High-explosive, phosphate and mortar rounds were among those discovered, which have all been used as weapons against Soldiers and Iraqis alike.' "
And this :"The media also can't be bothered to report on operations that prevent attacks, such as this one in Baghdad that led to the discovery of eleven roadside bombs before they could be used:
'Baghdad Soldiers found and destroyed 11 roadside bombs and three weapons caches in the last 24 hours as well as conducted two major offensive operations resulting in the detention of 29 suspected terrorists.'"
Both those examples involved action by Iraqis against the insurgents; and they are not atypical. So, I'll end on this note of media-driven frustration from Ralph Peters, who is touring Iraq and asking here: "DUDE, WHERE'S MY CIVIL WAR?"
For a review of some good news and the links to find more, check out this article by Bill Crawford on Iraq on National Review Online:
"Coverage of the Iraq war continues to be overwhelmingly negative. If anything, the pessimism of the mainstream media has increased since the attack on the Golden Mosque in Samarra. This isn't because of any dearth of good news, though. For whatever reason, the abundant good work and progress accomplished each day in Iraq are either not reported or underplayed here at home."
...............
"As the polls show, Americans are getting pessimistic about our mission in Iraq, and the mainstream media bear most of the blame for this. Responsibility for reporting the other side of the story in Iraq has fallen to the blogosphere. The following stories highlight the progress we have made in Iraq over the last two months, and the incredible work being done by the men and women of our armed forces, in concert with their coalition allies and the Iraqi Security Forces.
USAID now has a webpage listing some of our successes in Iraq. The entire list is here,USAID."
There really are too many examples in this article to copy them all. but two more points are worth noting.
This :"The mainstream media reports on every terrorist attack in Iraq daily, no matter how insignificant, but what they don't report are the stories of every day Iraqis who are putting their lives on the line to help secure their country.
During a recent operation, two shepherds located twelve munitions sites for Iraqi and American forces:
'Two local sheepherders did just that, directing one search team of Iraqis and Americans to more than 12 sites, where munitions were discovered within a two-mile radius. High-explosive, phosphate and mortar rounds were among those discovered, which have all been used as weapons against Soldiers and Iraqis alike.' "
And this :"The media also can't be bothered to report on operations that prevent attacks, such as this one in Baghdad that led to the discovery of eleven roadside bombs before they could be used:
'Baghdad Soldiers found and destroyed 11 roadside bombs and three weapons caches in the last 24 hours as well as conducted two major offensive operations resulting in the detention of 29 suspected terrorists.'"
Both those examples involved action by Iraqis against the insurgents; and they are not atypical. So, I'll end on this note of media-driven frustration from Ralph Peters, who is touring Iraq and asking here: "DUDE, WHERE'S MY CIVIL WAR?"
