A good soldier.
Posted on 01/03/2007 4:17:03 PM PST by pissant
We re all waiting for the other shoe to drop on the Iraq war. After reviewing a commission of former politicians and bureaucrats put their recommendations together, the President is expected to make some decisions soon.
Are we winning? If you listen to the U.S. media, we aren t. Iraq is out of control they say, and the insurgency is killing Iraqis in mass while the government is powerless to do anything about it. We don t have enough troops some say, while others argue we have too many. What do the soldiers say? We don t know. No one asks them anymore.
Only six reporters are now embedded with our military forces. The rest (more than 500) are running around the country seeking anti-American stories. Everything we get from our media in Iraq is negative.
You've heard the naysayers out there claiming the war is not going well.
We hear that Americans are hated and the Iraqis want us out of there. It seems our reporters are turning into advocates for the insurgents.
Major Gen. William Caldwell is one soldier who is speaking out, but the press apparently doesn t care what he has to say. During an interview on KPAY Radio Caldwell said we are winning the war.
He also argues allegations that Americans are no longer wanted in Iraq are not true. He can't understand how reporters can get things so wrong about a war he is witnessing.
Gen. Caldwell told KPAY American troops are concentrating on putting an Iraqi Army together Iraqis can be proud of and support.
He says the Iraqi police, much maligned by the American media, are in fact doing a good job. He points out 12,000 Iraqi police officers and recruits have been killed by the insurgents since recruiting started, yet in spite of Al Qaida's aggressiveness more Iraqis are signing up for the jobs.
Caldwell says the Iraqi public wants a free society, respect the American military, many of whom have volunteered their off duty hours to making life better for the public working in the school system and helping to construct new hospitals. Military medical people are treating injured civilians on their own time.
Gen. Caldwell says we are winning but the insurgents are bolstered by an American media that loves to over-exploit American mistakes while overlooking accomplishments.
Because of our press, the insurgents know if they just hang on Americans will quit, just like we did in Vietnam.
On the rare occasion one of our soldiers is actually interviewed, that soldier will say we are winning. Yes, mistakes have been made. Name a war where mistakes have not been made. You expect that in war. War means you kill people and break things, and no one does this better than the United States military.
Military people keep their mouths shut and do what they are told. When asked to speak, they are usually candid. The few soldiers that have been interviewed all seem to believe we are winning. I guess winning is no longer news.
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One of the big problems is our Executive Branch. It needs to be candid about what s going on and what we are doing to bring this thing to a close. President Roosevelt made many mistakes during World War II.
So did Churchill. We still won.
All the reports we got at home were mostly positive about our soldiers and their progress. During that war, the press was embedded with American Forces. If they printed news some of the reporters do today, they would have quickly been sent home. I ve heard radio reports from none other than Edward R. Murrow canonizing our bomber pilots.
During World War II, Roosevelt talked to us during his weekly radio fire side chats, while President Bush has remained largely silent. He makes a few remarks in several places but he does not talk to the American people about our progress.
We are at war, and the President needs to update us on any progress being made if he wants our support.
There are two sources of information at the present time: The media, and those who are fighting the war. The media is says it's not going well, the government of Iraq is falling apart, and they tell us how many of our soldiers died today. They do not say, or even quote, estimates of how many of al-Qaida and their sympathizers are killed during confrontations.
This is the same thing that occurred in Vietnam.
Our press originally was embedded with our troops and reported we were whipping the enemy. Then repoters started going out on their own and began reporting we were losing. The draft was on, and universities started screaming about the war, which was picked up by the media. There were draft dodgers during WWII, but then the press considered them cowards.
Yes, many went to other countries, but the media only told us about the brave guys that went overseas to wipe out the Third Reich.
Bush needs to use the bully pulpit about what is going on in Iraq and what we are doing to win the battle. He s given up the pulpit to naysayers who argue "run away, we can t win, all is lost!"
Based on the information I ve obtained about the war (mostly from those who have been there), Gen. Caldwell is right and the media doesn t get it. The media needs to be embedded with our troops just like they were in WW II. Maybe they would learn more about what our troops are doing and not what the propagandists in Iraq are saying.
A good soldier.
I am sure he is a good soldier. But American's know when we are winning and when we are losing. We aren't exactly winning in Iraq right now. There is no point in not being honest about it.
Interesting read
with all due respect, Scott Ritter was saying we had lost the war the day we invaded. Other than reading it in the media, how do "Americans know when we are winning?"
Scott Ritter is a traitor and most Americans know that.
I will email Pres. Bush when I am finished to suggest a page on the White House web that will give us the numbers they have about all the good that has been accomplished. Before and after, etc. Also, couldn't this site also have a place for a Progress in Iraq and Afghanistan topic so we could read posts either by soldier or parent or doctor or contractor or teacher, etc.? We talk and read about everything else! :) Thanks!
true; but aren't most Americans saying he was right?
Second, whatever mistakes we've made---and I think we need a little more time and space before analyzing those, because often your first impression is wrong---in WW II, neither FDR nor Churchill EVER acknowledged making ANY mistakes while the war was going on. It just didn't happen. The closest we came to that was the Pearl Harbor inquiry that sought to rescue Kimmel and Short.
Just that we are not winning right now. Not that we can't win. We can win. We just need the right plan, and the President needs to show he can has such a plan and intends on implementing it.
My estimates are that we've killed 60,000 terrorists since 2001 (both Iraq and Afghanistan), probably 300,000 wounded---many of whom will never fight again---and still thousands more permanently deterred from ever taking up a weapon against us.
In terms ow willing young men we have wiped out an entire generation of jihadis, and the long-term impact on the Middle East of their demise will be profound.
So did Churchill. We still won.
Great post. A quibble: Roosevelt and Churchill made many mistakes, and they were not candid about them in the least. Properly so. Why telegraph to the enemy what's working and what isn't?
In a war, the President is Commander-in-Chief, and we report to him. It's his job to win, and yes to keep up informed on progress and get out spirits up. But as to his mistakes, those should be classified info until the war is over.
That is, if you want our side to win. The press doesn't (or they think they don't), so their only interest is admissions of failure. I agree the Prez needs to confidently update the people, over the heads of the mediots.
As you say, "A good soldier."
Then, we have Richard "Howdy Doody" Lugar, who yesterday came out against training the Iraqi military if it just makes them better killers!
Heck, the media was saying we had lost, immediately upon invading Afghanistan, let alone Iraq.
Remember the "brutal Afghan Winter" that was going to eat up our troops?
I disagree. We set out to topple Saddam...we did. We decided to govern Iraq while they wrote a constitution....we did. We decided to help them with their elections...they were successful each time. We said we would train an Iraqi army...they are up to 200,000 men and growing (and in many cases- not all, performing admirably). We said we would continue to stay until the Iraq gov't can run things and defend itself...and we will.
We have accomplished much, and will finish the mission.
Could you please explain the basis for your naive statement. Most Americans have no clue about what is actually happening in Iraq or any war for that matter.
Would anyone who posts good news please ping me? I'm am collecting links for good news, and proof of wmds. I will compile and post these lists at some point.
Dan
It isn't a naive statement. We see what is happening every day. Most people I talk to are very patriotic but also very frustrated that we are not making progress. My son just came back from Baqubah and pretty much echoed the reports that are hitting the news this week about the place. We need to face facts: we are not winning in Iraq, the American public either wants us to win or get out. Most of us know that getting out is not an option. It is time that Bush made some McClellan decisions, and fast. I only hope and pray, he has it in him to do so.
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