Posted on 07/12/2007 8:58:52 PM PDT by lowbridge
Right now, all the talk in DC is whether there has been any progress in Iraq. No one can wait till September. They need to know now. Primarily, it appears, because they need to kill the war for their own domestic political reasons before it kills them. Most people, of course, already have the answer they want.
But how come, if this is the pressing issue of the day, we've seen no serious effort whatsoever among our leading news organizations to tell us or our political leaders what is actually happening?
We've seen how the New York Times deals with Iraq. Pathetically inadequate. We talked about the AP. Shamelessly biased. Both of NYT and AP, along with the Washington Post, as the most influential U.S. news organizations, deserve to be more closely examined on exactly what they are contributing to our understanding of this situation.
Where is the comprehensive look at the execution of George Bush's counterinsurgency strategy, this thing that everyone keeps disparaging?
Here's the Washington Post's listing of recent articles on Iraq. You won’t find it there. The Washington Post is attending press conferences and reading the tea leaves in DC. One visit to a tragic bombed village.
NYT’s Michael Gordon, who’s gotten some praise from Yon for being there, has this from June 30, 12 days ago, on GIs working with Sunnis against al-Qaeda, some of the same people and places Yon is talking about. Good work.
But NYT’s list of recent Middle East articles leading up to this much-anticipated week in mid-July offers nothing but the same DC bickering and Green Zone press conferences.
Maybe I’m missing something. Maybe they hid it somewhere else. Maybe it’s tucked in with all the other award-winning series in some special section.
The AP doesn’t offer a simple link to a comprehensive list. I just scrolled through the last couple of days’ worth with the access my newspaper gives me, and didn’t find it there, either. The elusive effort to understand what is happening in Iraq. I read what the AP sends us every working night, and scan it on my off days. You’ll have to take my word for it. This is as good as it gets. Despite the fact that the AP, these days, prides itself on putting together series and conducting special projects and in-depth looks just like a real newspaper. It’s been all over the problems war widows and the war wounded face, for example.
But the AP, as the primary source of international news for most American newspapers, deserves a closer look at its efforts on the ground in Iraq. The AP probably shapes more readers’ views about what is happening in Iraq than any other organization, and its performance there remains abysmal.
Here’s one from the AP yesterday about a contested village north of Baquba. The story is all about failure. The failure to control this village. The failure of Iraqi forces to provide follow-on security in areas U.S. troops have cleared. It tells us, “Fleeing insurgents appear to be trying to capture more territory farther north in Diyala, where Iraqi security forces are fewer.”
It doesn’t say why. Because they have been run out of Baquba, after being run out of Baghdad and Anbar. The three-week operation to clear Baquba has been highly successful, with the loss of one soldier, according to Michael Yon. Can this possibly be true? One soldier killed in three weeks of what is routinely described as bitter fighting in Baquba, fighting that has run al-Qaeda out of the much-vaunted IED-saturated stronghold where al-Qaeda was executing people in the city square. How is that not a screaming headline?
Simmins at Terrorist Death Watch helpfully updates with the MNF-I press release on that village. Turns out it was a disaster. For al-Qaeda.
The AP elsewhere questions whether the focus on al-Qaeda is some kind of propaganda ploy designed to bolster the war in Iraq back home. That’s not what Iraqis are telling Yon. Hey, check this out: Yon took a photo of the AP’s Robert H. Reid in Baquba, there with every opportunity to see what Yon sees and speak to the ones he speaks to. But what does Reid report about al-Qaeda in Iraq?
Bergner said the U.S. command expected al-Qaida in Iraq fighters lash out and stage spectacular attacks to reassert themselves after U.S. troops’ gains in their stronghold of Baqouba, located northeast of Baghdad.
A number of private security analysts have questioned the U.S. military’s emphasis on “al-Qaida in Iraq,” saying it is one of many Sunni and Shiite groups threatening Iraq’s stability. Some have suggested that the emphasis on al-Qaida is to link the fight in Iraq to the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks in the United States at a time when the American public is turning against the conflict.
But Bergner insisted “al-Qaida in Iraq” and its allies were the main focus because they were the main accelerant in sectarian violence and the greatest source of these spectacular suicide attacks that are killing Iraqis in such large numbers.
U.S. officials maintain that violence in Anbar province, long the focal point of the Sunni insurgency, dropped by 50 per cent after local Sunni tribes joined U.S. and Iraqi forces in fighting al-Qaida last year.
Words like “maintain” and “insist,” by the way, are often journalistic code for “I believe the speaker to be full of shit.” I don’t know if that’s the case here. I alsoÂdon’t know who or where are the “private security analysts” to whom Reid refers. I take that to be journalistic code for “people I agree with.” I’m wondering where in Reid’s reportage I can find the people who live and fight in and around Baquba?
Here’s what Reid wrote when he was in Baquba a few days ago. He quotes exactly one person. Petraeus, whose tour he was accompanying.
The turning of the Sunni tribes against al-Qaeda is one of the great successes of the past year. Helping them is a bad idea. It will make things worse when we abandon them.
Here’s what could be a moderately useful article from a couple of weeks earlier. He spoke to a couple of other generals. It would appear they’re making great progress, because the concern isn’t whether they have managed to drive out al-Qaeda. It’s whether the Iraqi forces can hold the ground they take. The lede tells us to settle in for another Bush strategy failure. The key quote, the one that might help influence perceptions, the one that tells us this is a problem that might be successfully addressed by Congress, is left for last:
“A lesson learned is … do not draw down too quickly when we think there’s a glimmer of success,” Brig. Gen. Dana Pittard, a former battalion commander in Diyala, told reporters this week.
Pittard, who heads the day-to-day effort to train Iraqi security forces, estimated that it will take “a couple of years” before the Iraqis are ready to take full control of their own security.
So, the way to ensure American lives are not wasted is to show some commitment to people who are relying on us. One must be very patient and willing to slog through a lot of Bush-bashing to learn that.
Back to this question of comprehensive war coverage at such a critical time, and where the heck a concerned reader might find it.
It may be that some other prominent newspapers, the LA Times, the Chicago Trib, are doing it. If so, it hasn’t come my way and I’m sorry, but I don’t have the time to scroll through all of them. I can assure you the Boston Globe isn’t doing it. They pulled out of Baghdad years ago and have now shuttered all their foreign bureaus. My own paper has never had the resources to do more than parachute into foreign trouble spots for a couple of weeks or a couple of months at a time, and these days, we aren’t doing that any more. That may well be true of your local newspaper, too. Which makes the work of organizations like the Associated Press, the New York Times and the Washington Post that much more important.
So please let me know if you find it: An actual, meaningful, in-depth look at the execution of the counter-insurgency strategy in Iraq by someone who has taken the time to understand what its goals and methods are, and isn’t just interested in kicking the crap out of it from a distance. An effort to understand and report fairly on what may be the last chance to prevent a bloody humanitarian disaster on a scale not seen since Cambodia, quick, before the opportunity is thrown away.
I was going to wrap this rant up right there, but I read back over it and still can’t believe it. It is absolutely stunning in its absence. A screaming vacuum. I wonder how it is this possible.
Do the Washington Post, the New York Times and the Associated Press really need someone like me to tell them how to report on what’s happening in Iraq? With cadres of news editors and phalanxes of reporters at their disposal, on the biggest story of our time they can’t figure out how to do more than the most superficial and distorted reporting. That’s pretty embarrassing. Are they going to fall back on that “it’s too dangerous to travel” thing? Their own people, like the NYT’s Chris Hedges liked to mock “war correspondents” who prefer press conferences to actual war. I don’t have much time for Chris Hedges, who decided to take a powder in the middle of the war against Islamic extremism to launch his own jihad against the true threat to western civilization … Christianity. But hotel vs. frontline war coverage is one thing he is right about.
Clearly, it’s possible to move around with troops and talk to locals. Yon is doing it. Roggio is doing it. With your support. News reporters have done it by the hundreds when they and their organizations chose to do it. I can’t think of a good reason why these leading news organizations are not doing it in large numbers. It is well-established that embedding is a practical, comparatively safe way to get unfiltered information. The critics, like Hedges back in 2003, have been shown to have grossly misjudged the goodwill of the United States military and the incredible access embedding provides.
Nor is there really any good excuse for not understanding the goals and methods of this strategy, for serious news reporters, editors, politicians and even everyday readers who want to.
So the question is, are these leading news organizations lazy, or stupid, or is it that they just don’t want to know?
Confederate Yankee: Uh, Jules, they’re doing it … make that not doing it … on purpose.
MVDG, re Friedman, with the damned-if-we-do view from Europe of precipitous withdrawal. Next step, Michael, talk your fellow Euros into stepping up to the plate. It’s a small world, after all. Michael continues operations on Friedman here.
Gateway: Dems like numbers. Here’s some.
Surber on the Byrd-Clinton Capitulation Plan. It’s a renege.
Ignatius at RCP: Bush may have broken it, but Congress owns it, too. There will be a warrant issued if the Dems try to bolt for the door now. How about we all sit down and work this out like grownups.
Tigerhawk and Dadmanly on wishful thinking.
Welcome Newsbusters, Pajamas, the Moderately Voiced, Gateway and ConfYank readers, etal. Related links: Dearly Departed. Premature Obit. But if, like me, you’ve had about as much of this nonsense as you can manage, take a breather, celebrate an ‘appy occasion with Mrs. bin Laden. Hey, what are those women doing in uniform! Feel the need to make a statement? Say it with (Islamic) Rage (Boy)!
Personally, I vote for ‘lazy, stupid, and willfully ignorant.’
The three aren't mutually exclusive.
They are simply running a 24/7/365 political campaign against Republicans.
They were against the war and couldn’t stop it. The next best thing, in their world view, is to lose the war. No need to make it more complicated than it is.
Or ‘lazy, stupid, willfully ignorant, and running a 24/7/365 political campaign against Republicans.’
Treasonous would be my choice!
I think you got it.
bump for later
“Lazy, Stupid or Willfully Ignorant? (Liberal Media)”
Yes.
They are energetic, deviously clever, and brilliantly evil.
They know exactly what they are doing, and will spare nothing to achieve their dastardly objective.
Today’s mainstream Media is dominated by Democrats, and a large percentage are GAY.
The people that run The New York Times call THEMSELVES “The Gay Mafia”....
If you recall the last 2 decades or so, the “Gay Rights” movement has forced itself into nearly every segment of society, but most especially, MEDIA.
Even before 9/11, it was the the right’s opposition to “Gay Civil Rights” that earned us the most hatred from the press.
Lazy, stupid, and willfully ignorant? Just call the news media what they are, the Three Stooges: Moe, Larry and Curly.
Democrat Majority Press, their ‘agenda’ driven. Just heard one question from President’s press conference yesterday, reporter asked about getting out of Iraq because the surge wasn’t working, how ill informed can a reporter be? Our Troops have been dominating the battlefeild,
http://www.mnf-iraq.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=category§ionid=1&id=4&Itemid=21
Press Releases
Date Item Title
Friday, 13 July 2007 MND-B aircrews destroy homemade explosive factory, cache
Friday, 13 July 2007 Dragons’ Operation ‘Hammers’ enemy
Friday, 13 July 2007 Coalition Forces Capture Special Groups Cell Leader, Return Fire in Self Defense
Friday, 13 July 2007 Coalition Forces kill two terrorists, capture 19 suspects
Thursday, 12 July 2007 MND-B troops detain 31 at suspected Al Qaeda meeting in Rashid District
Thursday, 12 July 2007 Ubaidi, Anbakia tribes sign peace agreement in Diyala
Thursday, 12 July 2007 Firefight in New Baghdad; US, Iraqi forces kill 9 insurgents, detain 13
Thursday, 12 July 2007 IA, 2-7 Cavalry find IED factory, detain 18 during raid
Thursday, 12 July 2007 Salute to Americas Heroes: Fallen and Wounded Warriors
Thursday, 12 July 2007 Baghdad neighborhoods hit, MND-B forces hunt down insurgents
Thursday, 12 July 2007 Insurgent leader captured during Operation Grenada
Thursday, 12 July 2007 Paratroopers capture cell leader
Thursday, 12 July 2007 19 suspected al-Qaeda detained in Coalition raids
Thursday, 12 July 2007 Two Suspected Secret Cell Terrorists Detained by Coalition Forces
Thursday, 12 July 2007 Detainee dies at Camp Bucca
Thursday, 12 July 2007 2 captured during Operation Geronimo Strike III
Thursday, 12 July 2007 Task Force Marne unit attacked
Thursday, 12 July 2007 ISF, Coalition Forces conduct operations to bring security to Ad Diwaniyah
Thursday, 12 July 2007 Safe haven disrupted, Iraqi Forces detain ten
Wednesday, 11 July 2007 Iraqi Police detain alleged mortar, sniper cell leader in Samarra
Wednesday, 11 July 2007 Extortion network shut down in Rawah, insurgents detained in Hit
Wednesday, 11 July 2007 Suspected Secret Cell Terrorist Detained by Coalition Forces
Wednesday, 11 July 2007 Two terrorists killed, 20 suspects detained
Wednesday, 11 July 2007 Rockets, mortars seized in Rashid
Wednesday, 11 July 2007 IED factory discovered, specialized in ‘curb-shaped’ bombs
Wednesday, 11 July 2007 IA, CF discover al-Qaeda safe house north of Baqouba
Wednesday, 11 July 2007 MND-B Soldiers seize cache, detain suspects
Wednesday, 11 July 2007 20 terrorists killed, 20 detained during Operation Saber Guardian
Wednesday, 11 July 2007 Targeted raid in Sadr City kills eight insurgents
Wednesday, 11 July 2007 MND-B Soldier dies from non-battle related cause
Tuesday, 10 July 2007 Tipsters lead to capture south Baghdad’s most wanted terrorist, cache
Tuesday, 10 July 2007 Three insurgents killed, four detained in attack
Tuesday, 10 July 2007 Iraqi Special Operations Forces capture twelve suspected insurgents
Tuesday, 10 July 2007 17 suspected terrorist operatives, bombers detained in Coalition raids
Tuesday, 10 July 2007 Detainee dies at Camp Cropper
Tuesday, 10 July 2007 Operation Four Brothers nets detainees, weapons
Tuesday, 10 July 2007 Insurgent targets police checkpoint
Tuesday, 10 July 2007 Six Iraqis wounded in separate attacks
Monday, 09 July 2007 Air Cav pilots complete daring rescue
Monday, 09 July 2007 New Coalition Outpost opened in Ameriya
Monday, 09 July 2007 3-1 Cav. Soldiers complete Operation Safe Teach
Monday, 09 July 2007 Newscast – Air Force brings big guns to fight
Monday, 09 July 2007 Radiocast – Air Force provides air power, rescue helicopter
Monday, 09 July 2007 Two-day clearing operation in Mansour nets cache, community support
Monday, 09 July 2007 Khadra opens new National Police Station
Monday, 09 July 2007 Iraqi Forces repel attack, kill nine insurgents in Diwaniyah
Monday, 09 July 2007 Suicide car bomber strikes MND-B patrol
Monday, 09 July 2007 Five EFPs uncovered in eastern Baghdad
Monday, 09 July 2007 EFP cell detained, insurgent attack thwarted in Doura
Monday, 09 July 2007 Car bombs in Rusafa: Eight Iraqis killed in two separate attacks
Full articles for Democrat Majority Press at;
http://www.mnf-iraq.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=category§ionid=1&id=4&Itemid=21
None of the three.
The liberal media's malice is quite deliberate.
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