'Job Is Getting Done' in Iraq, Despite US Press, Veterans Say

GOP USA/CNSNews.com ^ | 3-10-06 | Randy Hall

[smoothsailing]

'Job Is Getting Done' in Iraq, Despite US Press, Veterans Say

By Randy Hall

CNSNews.com Staff Writer/Editor

March 10, 2006

(CNSNews.com) -- A group of veterans from Operation Iraqi Freedom said Thursday that U.S.-led coalition forces are getting the job done when it comes to defeating insurgents and helping Iraq establish a democratic government -- despite the U.S. news media's negative portrayal of the conflict.

"I am not here to debate the choices that were made, only to tell you that today, the job is getting done" in Iraq, Marine Corporal Richard Gibson said during a news conference hosted by the conservative group America's Majority at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.

Gibson based his optimistic assessment of the situation in Iraq on several factors, including the strength of coalition forces. "The old Iraqi army was no match for what we, the Marines, had to offer and neither is the insurgency," he said.

However, "we were not there as conquerors but as liberators," Gibson stated. "That was our mission."

Gibson also pointed to what he called two "tipping points" in the ongoing conflict that took place during 2005. "These junctures are decisive indicators of coalition victories over the insurgency," he said. "Most Iraqis understand them, but most Americans do not."

The first "tipping point" occurred last March, when the number of Iraqi security forces on the ground surpassed those of coalition troops, he said. Then on Dec. 15, Iraqis elected their first national four-year legislature with a turnout that was impressive even in the central and western areas of the country, where rebels are the strongest.

"This obviously strengthened the government, but more subtly, it splintered the insurgency," Gibson asserted, noting that the two primary insurgent groups -- leftovers from the Baathist Party of former dictator Saddam Hussein and members of the terrorist al Qaeda network -- have different political goals.

"The Baathist diehards simply want power. They hope to wait the coalition out; then re-assert their traditional dominance over the Shi'a and the Kurds," he said. "But al Qaeda in Iraq wants an Islamic theocracy.

"As long as the coalition remained the primary target, the Baathists and al Qaeda could operate together, but that has changed with the growth in the numbers and confidence of Iraqi security forces," Gibson added. "The insurgents are no longer dealing with an occupation army but with the forces of an elected government -- and these forces are extremely popular."

Gibson found another sign of progress in Iraq in an unlikely place: the daily death toll in that nation. Human rights organizations that have counted civilian deaths in Iraq since January 2003 estimate that between 25 and 28 people are killed each day, he said. While that total may sound horrific to Americans, it is a huge improvement over the 70 to 125 deaths that took place daily when Saddam Hussein ruled the country.

"A lousy day under the coalition yields a body count far under the Baathists," Gibson stated. "In Baghdad today, terrorists may kill you with an ill-timed IED (Improvised Explosive Device), but the Baathist secret police no longer comes to your door, takes your relatives, puts them in a cell, tortures them, kills them and then bills you for the bullets."

Also, American casualties are declining as U.S. troops are withdrawn and Iraqis step up to defend their country, Gibson said. "According to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, U.S. military deaths declined from 714 in 2004 to 673 in 2005. The number of U.S. wounded declined from 7,990 to 5,639. That's a 27 percent decrease in U.S. casualties over a one-year period.

"And this year, U.S. casualties are running 62 percent lower than 2005," he added.

Richard Nadler, president of America's Majority and host of Thursday's news conference, agreed with Gibson's analysis of the Iraq war.

"In both tactical and strategic terms, coalition troops and Iraqi patriots are winning the war," Nadler said. "A terror-sponsoring, totalitarian apparatus state is being replaced, piece by piece, by the elements of civil society -- free speech, free association, democratic elections and a market economy."

"And if the press will not report it, then the men who accomplished it will," he added.

The news media's depiction of events in Iraq was the focus of another speaker at the event -- J. D. Johannes. The Marine sergeant noted that the history of wars is usually told by the victors, but the story of Iraq "is being written by the losers."

Johannes, who has served as both a soldier and a reporter in Iraq, said that the terrorists' main battlefield is America and to win here, they need help from an unusual ally: the U.S. news media.

One method insurgents use to manipulate reporters is to intimidate them into staying in their hotels, he said. Unwilling to risk venturing out into combat, the journalists are forced to rely on local "stringers," who often pass along hearsay or propaganda instead of confirmed facts.

Johannes cited the example of a minor battle that lasted only 30 minutes but was reported as a major conflict that caused high coalition casualties. The general who was involved in the fighting later said that he and his forces had been victorious on the ground, but the terrorists "had won it on CNN."

Nadler said that such instances of lazy or inaccurate reporting are what led his organization to initiate its "War on Words Project" to help veterans get out the message about "the war they, along with Iraqi patriots, were clearly winning," even though it is regularly portrayed by the news media "as a quagmire or another Vietnam."

Copyright © 1998-2005 CNSNews.com - Cybercast News Service

[jazusamo]

Great post...You gotta hand it the warriors over there and the ones coming home like these and telling it like it is, their the greatest.

This has been going on since shortly after the invasion itself ended. The MSM were not listening then and their not listening now. And the worst thing is, the Dems keep parroting the media for their own political gain.

[Brimack34]

Rats in MN. would call this guy UN-American like they did to those Iraq vets and family members who ran ads in MN.

[smoothsailing]

The old media knows the truth will eventually emerge.They're playing it for time.

In the hope that American will here at home diminishes to the point that Congress is unwilling to continue funding.

It's happened before and they're trying to make it happen again.

[Old Sarge]

I'm reminded of that recent DU thread, where the returning Marine got nuked because the things he told them didn't jive with the MSM.

They also accused the Marine of cowardice, for not risking court-martial by telling "the truth".

It was surreal to read it.

[ChessMan]

We used to call it yellow journalism. The msm wants to make things look bad, not good - the question is, what will they gain?

I wonder if a dem gets in the whitehouse and things are still brewing in Iraq if the coverage will change?

[smoothsailing]

This is the first I've heard of that.That's a pretty sick bunch at DU,from what I hear.I've never gone there, and only know of it from those brave Freepers who venture into that cesspool and report it here.

What miserable lives those DUers must have.

[smoothsailing]

The coverage would change to a cheering squad if the dem was a "cut and runner".

[Old Sarge]

Here's that thread...

[bilhosty]

The more the MSM slime liars convince the American public we are in a quagmire. The Bush will appear to have done the impossibile when this is over.

[Cementjungle]

The old media knows the truth will eventually emerge.

They make the "truth", so it won't emerge.

[nopardons]

bttt

[opinionator]

Why is the MSM conducting psy-ops against our citizens?

[Lakeshark]

The more troops that speak out on these matters, the better. The Dems and the dinosaur media no longer control information technology and the word is slowly getting out. Thank God for the character of our troops.........and yes, they are getting it done, and eventually it will be known by a lot more people than know now.

[Fruitbat]

The troops have done a remarkable job to be sure!! But their job is only one of several that has to be done if success as it is now being defined is to occur.

Military success has been achieved and long ago!

Our troops cannot do part of the overall task of what is now being defined as "success" however. That component will necessarily have to stem from Iraqis and their government.

While we have influence, we don't "control" the outcome there by any stretch. That's the reality of the situation.

[smoothsailing]

I understand what you mean by surreal.The DUers had a golden opportunity to acquire firsthand knowlege and it was just too much for them to handle.Solution:Attack the messenger.

I certainly hope that Marine is enjoying his time home now, especially seeing his 7-month old son for the first time (How wonderful!).He, hopefully, hasn't wasted another minute of his precious time at DU.

[Tennessean4Bush]

Has there ever been another war so mis-reported as a loss by a victorious nation?

[FlashBack]

The libs and the media are as big of an enemy as the terrorists...they are attacking us here at home while the terrorists can only blow themselves up around women and chidren in the ME.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

They are part of the Cabal that David Horowicz talks about in his book:

Unholy Alliance : Radical Islam and the American Left (Hardcover)

**************************************************

Reviewer:

Kat Bakhu (Albuquerque, NM United States) - See all my reviews

I had long wondered why people on the Left had the propensity to speak more positively about people who would slit their throats than they do about their own country, which affords them more freedom and opportunity than anywhere else. David Horowitz has answered that question thoroughly and convincingly in his Unholy Alliance. Where I felt bewildered and confused, I now feel crystal clear. Unholy Alliance is such a great book.

It begins with the leftist movements at the beginning of the 20th Century, and works its way up to the present day, exploring the anti-American attitude of these movements in detail. Horowitz shows that the enemies of the US back then are largely the same group today, operating under the same misperceptions, making the same mistakes, and pursuing the same impossible utopia.

Individual chapters are included on the Patriot Act (I was persuaded that it is a GOOD thing); the democratic flip-flop on Iraq once G.W. Bush implemented what they agreed with Clinton needed to be done; the driving components of the current anti-war movement; as well as chapters on individual personalities who are major spokespeople of the Left. Horowitz covers a lot of ground, and he covers it concisely and clearly. Unholy Alliance is richly informative without ever being boring or plodding.

This book is so illuminating that I simply cannot do justice to it here. I love people who reason so clearly that they help me get my own reasoning clear. Horowitz is just that type of person! In the terrain of mindless clichés (no-blood-for-oil, etc.), he is a breath of real fresh air.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

This might be of interest:

what America doesn't do in the field of information warfare.