What about our “hearts and minds”?

Hearts and Minds is passe on FR these days! It is giving way to a "nuke 'em all" approach.

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We are losing the media and opinion war and I'm afraid might lose the election.

I sincerely hope I'm wrong but..

We are bombarded daily with how many soldiers are killed, how many Mosques we have bomb today, interviews with "innocent" crying Iraq's asking why the U.S. is doing this. We have the dems and the willing media bombarding us from all sides. Now the terrorists have learned from Spain how weak people are and are now kidnapping people from countries that support us to blackmail them into withdrawing.

Let's face it a few weeks ago, Bush was known as being much stronger that Clinton on terrrorism. Now after the hearings and Clark, the anti-Bush 911 widows being paraded on TV many in the country think that Clinton is the one who protected us. Who would have believed that just a few weeks ago?

I only wish the dems and media were as good and aggressive in fighting terrorism as they are in uniting in bringing down Pres. Bush.

I hope I'm wrong but I don't think the American people have the guts to see this through.

Do you?

Sky

A new low in journalistic standards was also met with the fictitious allegation that US missiles had struck a mosque in Fallujah, killing some 40 worshippers inside.
And no sign of a retraction from any of the main offenders; the liberal media has turned into a freak show.
What we are doing in Iraq is universally right, and there is no reason for us to feel any shame about aggressively implementing our concept of society. When the Iraqis have earned their government, whether it's June 30th or later, they can decide how to manage their nation, but in the meantime, it's our responsibility. If we run away now, we'll be opening a globally destructive can of worms.
And denying that the situation in Iraq has changed for the worse will also probably lead to failure. Paramount to victory is a firm and unshakable self-belief that the future we offer Iraq, is far better for the majority of its citizens, than that which is offered by the gangs, terrorists and thugs. We shouldn't be afraid of sending more troops to Iraq, if that is what is required, and if it makes the situation safer for those already in the country.
The Coalition's second worst problem at this moment -- after the spotty Al-Sadr -- is potential paralysis in acting directly and forcefully against him, his Shia radicals, and the Sunni insurgents. Indecisiveness due to issues of political correctness will only lead to more casualties in the long term; our enemy has no such qualms, and will ruthlessly take advantage of our Western "queasiness."
We are operating in Iraq after all, not the US or Britain. Dragging along our Western sensitivities with us - as we fight the fanatics - constrains our ability to be effective. Unfortunately, we are operating in a part of the world where strength is respected, and signs of weakness are violently exploited.
The new video footage of the three Japanese hostages being held by the so-called Mujahideen Brigades -- though explicitly disturbing -- acts a window into the mind of the enemy we face. It may be difficult to watch, but it's important for everyone who is sane in this world to witness the mentality being exhibited by the enemy. The actions of these thugs, terrorizing their captives, brandishing long medieval swords and holding them to their victim's necks while chanting medieval slogans, should be seen by all the world's appeasers.
How can anyone, no matter how liberal, be so naive to think that it's even remotely possible to win the "hearts and minds" of cretins such as the Mujahideen Brigades? The idea is obscene and should be treated with the contempt it deserves.
The concept of "hearts and minds" in relation to the Iraqis, is a big fat red herring, cynically pushed by the liberals and the left-sided media, in order to infect those who have to get their hands dirty with a sense of guilt. The Iraqis who are uprising were never with us from the beginning; they have just bided their time before striking against the Coalition. Those Iraqi "hearts and minds" which we are capable of winning have already been won.
But the real battle for "hearts and minds" is being waged against us in the West, by our own press, in a concerted effort to highlight all that is wrong in Iraq, and ignoring any news that is perceived as positive.
It is classic psy-ops war programming, directed by media executives who think that they know what is best for everyone else.
Yesterday, at the 9/11 hearings, Condi Rice said something that can also be applied to the situation with the liberal media.
She mentioned how Al-Qaeda declared war on us back in the early 90s, and we just ignored it and sat back until the tragic 9/11 wakeup. The liberal media have undoubtedly been at war against the Coalition since the start of hostilities, if not longer. They are methodologically hampering, lying, and generally denigrating the whole effort to bring peace and stability to Iraq.
That's a very strange thing for so-called liberals to be doing – effectively campaigning for a miserable Iraqi future.
Yes, we must win the war for "hearts and minds" – those of our own.
Michael Morris is our London correspondent

I suppose they are frustrated and indulging in wishful thinking that there was a simple way out. Personally, I think things are going just fine in Iraq, if we can just manage not to lose the propaganda war. Lord, I wish we could arrest the enemies within. I suppose that's MY wishful thinking.

It never ends with Democrats and their hallucinations of grandeur. Remember this?

Now it's this: Click a pic

Hi Sky,

I wouldnt say we are losing. I would defintiely say we are in that battle for our "hearts and minds", and we need to stay strong mentally to win it.

Whenevr you feel your morale lowering because of all the negative brainwashing on the liberal news, just know what it is and why its making you feel that way.

It's exactly what they want.

Best Regards,

Coldcall.

I agree coldcall, and I'm hanging tough but it's hard not to see what is happening around us.

I know we are doing the right thing, I know our military can defeat our enemy (if we let them)

But as we know so often it's not reality it's the perception of what's going on that wins wars and elections and on that front, I've don't think I've seen a more (and I hate to say well done)coordinated attack by the terrorists, media, dems.

Sky

I hope I'm wrong but I don't think the American people have the guts to see this through.

I think its a question of goals.

Destroying Saddam's regime is one thing.

But we are currently embarked on a Globo-Socialist Nation Building Fantasy.

That's not worth American lives.

I would argue that the most serious "enemy within" is not in the U.S. but in Iraq: namely the native army and police of the "New Iraq" which seems to run like scared rabbits during any serious fight. At this rate, they will make even the ARVN seem like a potent fighting force by comparison.

Morai,

The fiction that this war is for oil is ridiculous. It's going to cost way more money than any return in oil for the US. There are way better and cheaper ways to get oil if that was the primary objecive.

Like it or not, this war is about ideology. Its about creating some momentum in ME, for once, to attempt to democractise the region. You may not agree with it, or you may think its a bad risk - thats understandable.

It may be a lost cause but I believe a noble one. We will certainly find out within a couple of years whether its all been worth it.

America has a legal system to deal with Halliburton abuses; it should do so if wrongdoing can be found.

I'm personally more interested in the long term situation in the middle east. We either engage or we go home and shut shop.

Ya right, Sadr and his clan are real compatriots; he's Irans boy and will turn that country into a medieval crapheap.

You really think thats a better alternative for the Iraqis?

Regards,

Coldcall

I'll give you this. You did a good job hiding your troll nature. Your big words fooled some folks, but not me. Now, back to your liberal arts department, I'm sure there are kids who aren't fully re-educated yet.