Back from Baghdad (Part 1 of 2)

The American Legion Magazine | 11/01/2004 | Alan W. Dowd/Karl Zinsmeister

[writer33]

Karl Zinsmeister is more than editor-in-chief of The American Enterprise, a national magazine of politics, business and culture that gets its name from it’s parent think tank, the Washington-based American Enterprise Institute. He is a throw back to the early days of journalism, when news was the focus—rather than the newsman—when reporters worried more about the story than their image, when war correspondents understood that telling the whole story meant reporting good news as well as bad.

The Syracuse, N.Y., native has reported plenty of both in a pair of pivotal books on the Iraq war and postwar Iraq: “Boots on the Ground: and “Dawn over Baghdad.” Together, the books chronicle the rapid overthrow of Saddam Hussein’s regime and arduous reconstruction effort now under way. They have earned acclaim from such diverse sources as the Military Book Club, The Financial Times and National Review. PBS has invited Zinsmeister to translate the books into a documentary film.

The books serve as something of a bridge between Iraq and the American people—and a stiff dose of fact for Zinsmeister’s cynical Beltway peers. That’s because these initial drafts of history are first hand accounts. As an embedded reporter with the 82nd Airborne in 2003, Zinsmeister lived the lightning invasion that swept aside Saddam’s murder machine in three weeks. He then did what few reporters had the stomach or integrity to do: re-embedded during America’s simultaneous counterinsurgency and nation-building operations in 2004. When The American Legion Magazine interviewed Zinsmeister, he was preparing for yet another tour inside Iraq.

The American Legion Magazine: How has the embedding experiment changed the U.S. military and the press?

Karl Zinsmeister: I really don’t think it changed the military much. The military was already way ahead of the rest of the country in terms of its willingness to let us stare over its collective shoulder. I observe and report on all kinds of people and organizations—cities, government agencies, corporations—and none of the places I’ve studied has been as open as the military. The military has nothing to hide. They are confident about themselves, and it shows. I saw few adjustments made by the military to accommodate this invasion of reporters. They allowed us to see them as they were.

As to the press, I saw a lot of people who wasted their entire embedding experience. I moved from unit to unit and got in with the infantry. I didn’t expect to be babysat; I wasn’t looking for an escort. Others were. Some say the media was hypnotized by the access and led around by the nose. Nonsense. The military didn’t even know where I was and didn’t have any control over what I was seeing or doing—or what I was going to write. And those ground rules applied to every embed.

Q: You write about the hardships caused by the WMD threat. In light of the Senate Intelligence Committee’s report on shoddy prewar WMD intelligence, what are your thoughts on Iraq’s chemical and biological weapons programs?

A: In my view, it really isn’t that relevant whether or not Saddam had active WMD programs immediately before the invasion took place. We had to assume he had them or could quickly reconstitute them. This is a man who used WMDs on 42 different occasions, and he had the motivation and personality to use them again. As long as he was in power, WMDs could pop up again on very short notice in his inventory or in the hands of someone he might choose to give them to. The scientists were still there, the labs were still there, the knowledge was still there, the factories that made the WMD shells were still there, and the markets were still there. In the post-9/11 environment, it no longer makes sense to risk that. It only makes sense to err on the side of safety. Saddam Hussein was a human WMD, and removing him was the only prudent course of action.

Q: In “Boots on the Ground,” you detail, the connection U.S. Troops make between Sept. 11, Iraq and the wider war on terror. How did Baathist Iraq fit into the web of terror? And why was it important to face this threat?

A: Most of the soldiers I was with would say that the real monster behind 9/11 was actually not Osama bin Laden. The deeper problem, the real root of the problem, is the incredibly incompetent and cruel governments that prevail throughout the Middle East and produce only one thing in bumper-crop quantities: homicidally frustrated young men. There are 22 Arab nations and zero democracies. Iraq will be the first. Until we fix this democracy deficit, we’re not going to be able to win the war on terror. We can’t do it with police on our border or metal detectors at airports. To choke off that supply of angry young men, we have to overturn these dreadful governments in the Middle East.

Iraq was the right place to start because A. There was no tyrant crueler in that region than Saddam Hussein. B. Iraq had a greater ability to hurt its neighbors and American than others in the region. C. It had a history of attacking its neighbors and U.S. interests. And, D. Iraq has a better upside.

Iraq is not like Afghanistan or Saudi Arabia. Those places are medieval, pre-modern cultures. Iraq has a history, pre-Saddam, of learning and an openness to modernity. I have met Iraqi engineers and physicians and literature to professors who are anxious to grab the reigns of a different society and make it a pioneering country for the region.

[writer33]

It is an opinon that I share and I believe will happen as a turning point in history. I believe this year the partisan polls will prove to be wrong in regards to a close election. And it will shape America the better for it.

Thanks for the great graphics.

[Enterprise]

Aw shucks, enough of us have been around to not worry about minor typos. The message is too important. Thanks for the ping on this. I look forward to reading part two.

[writer33]

It should be up in a couple of hours.

[MeekOneGOP]

Thank you.

I think that it not going to be close, also. I have been saying that for a while as well.

My prediction is:

• Bush 53%

• Kerry 46%

• Nada 1% (Nada, Nader, same thing!) :^)

Turnout has been BIG here in Texas. A record early voting turnout with almost 30% of registered voters having already gone to the polls. I think that has been the story nationwide where early voting is allowed.

I already voted:

Early voting begins in Texas today 10-18-2004
BUSY polling place this morning!

Here is an interesting site that tracks Early Voting in Texas.

Go, Dubya, go !!

[PGalt]

Karl Zinsmeister is outstanding! Thanks for the post.

[Ragtime Cowgirl]

Most of the soldiers I was with would say that the real monster behind 9/11 was actually not Osama bin Laden. The deeper problem, the real root of the problem, is the incredibly incompetent and cruel governments that prevail throughout the Middle East and produce only one thing in bumper-crop quantities: homicidally frustrated young men. There are 22 Arab nations and zero democracies. Iraq will be the first.

~*~

Good post. Thanks, writer33.

Many who are there will tell the story and keep the history, and we will pass it on.

It is a new media day in post-911 America.

[Alamo-Girl]

Bump!

[TexKat]

Thanks writer33. Good read. Awaiting part 2.

[writer33]

Great news!

[writer33]

It's a great interview. I completely agree. You're welcome.

[writer33]

Thank you, Ragtime Cowgirl. Keep up your great posts.

[Former Military Chick]

That will be down right groovy, thank you kind sir.

[writer33]

You're welcome. I should have the next part up within the hour.

[writer33]

You're welcome, ma'am.

[Valin]

PBS has invited Zinsmeister to translate the books into a documentary film.


ALL RIGHT!!!

Please flag me of Ragtime Cowgirl when you post the 2nd part. Thanks


Give yourself an attaboy
ATTABOY!

[kellynla]

I disagree.
The real monster behind 9/11 is hatred.
Hatred of Jews, hatred of Americans, hatred of anyone who is not Muslim and even hatred of some Muslims who are different than the terrorists. If people don't like their "incompetent and cruel governments" they can what Americans did and what every country in history has done sooner or later. Rebel and revolt!

Semper Fi,
Kelly

[international american]

"The deeper problem, the real root of the problem, is the incredibly incompetent and cruel governments that prevail throughout the Middle East and produce only one thing in bumper-crop quantities: homicidally frustrated young men. There are 22 Arab nations and zero democracies. Iraq will be the first."

I have been telling my friends in Asia, that we must take Iran and Syria, and then hope for a domino like topple of the rest .

[Valin]

Moral Clarity alert

Q: In “Boots on the Ground,” you detail, the connection U.S. Troops make between Sept. 11, Iraq and the wider war on terror. How did Baathist Iraq fit into the web of terror? And why was it important to face this threat?

A: Most of the soldiers I was with would say that the real monster behind 9/11 was actually not Osama bin Laden. The deeper problem, the real root of the problem, is the incredibly incompetent and cruel governments that prevail throughout the Middle East and produce only one thing in bumper-crop quantities: homicidally frustrated young men. There are 22 Arab nations and zero democracies. Iraq will be the first. Until we fix this democracy deficit, we’re not going to be able to win the war on terror. We can’t do it with police on our border or metal detectors at airports. To choke off that supply of angry young men, we have to overturn these dreadful governments in the Middle East.

[writer33]

I believe that's what we're trying to do here in Iraq.

[Valin]

I have been telling my friends in Asia, that we must take Iran and Syria, and then hope for a domino like topple of the rest .


If the Iraqis are even remotely successful in establishing a free democratic Iraq we won't have to invade. Iran is on the brink of collapsing now.