Media and American Society -- What we weren't told about Iraq

SF Chronicle ^ | 5-4-03 | Peter Y. 'Sissyman'

[Oldeconomybuyer]

There is more shock than awe among Iraqis these days. Social disarray and increasing anti-Americanism (or "anti-occupationism") in Iraq have confused and dismayed the Bush administration as well as the American public. This is certainly not what we expected when we "won" this war.

[Oldeconomybuyer]

Mr. Sissyman and his Society of Professional Gerbalists [sic] were aparently pulling for Saddam.

[MEG33]

Oh,Barf.

[microgood]

Let us hope that journalists can save us from similar grief in the future

I don't know about this. I thought it was great to actually see what was going on in the war rather than listen to their expert analysis. No grief here. I am happy not to hear their drivel.

[captnemo1]

Some were even Peter Arnet.(sp)

So, this guy is actually saying that journalists are the only voice of reason?

Fascinating!

They (the media) were wrong about every aspect of the "war", but, now feel "ok" to point out where we really did go wrong?

I know I'll sleep better knowing these guys are on "my" side!

But then again and after all, I did get to see Mr. "liberal", Mr. G, wearing a .45 LIVE on CNN! Quite a change from his midnight radio show days. :)

Democrats figure they will lose 4 more seats in the next election. Look for it to get sureal in the near future.

I don't think they quite understand what happened yet.

;)

[libertylover]

Mr. Sissyman has trouble with enemy recognition, but with a name like that.....[fill in the blank].

[battlegearboat]

Mr. Sissyman hasn't met a "Girlyman" he hasn't liked.

[NoControllingLegalAuthority]

Translation: "It's far better to be popular than to liberate 25 million people from a murdering tyrant."

The reality is quite different. It is better to be feared than loved. It's the only hope for peace in a cutthroat world. Dictators and murderers are only deterred by a certain knowledge of their own destruction if they reach too far.

[alloysteel]

The shifting focus of the "anti-(Bush)war" crowd is moving to deny that there are any positive benefits to the deposing of Saddam Hussein. It was really better for the average Iraqi, they will argue, under the Ba'athist regime, because only a very small percent of the population were being rounded up and put in prison or "intensively questioned" at any one time. And that was sort of stable. Not at all like having the American soldiers out there as targets, and getting return volleys of gunfire into crowds of "civilians". And what about all these museums that were looted, where were the coalition forces THEN? And what about destroying the religious freedom of the Shi'ites? Has the US occupation no sympathy for the troubles the ayatollahs had to go through all those years under Saddam? It is their turn to run their own variety of despotism. Americans, busybodies that they are, shouldn't be looking over the ayatollahs' shoulders and poking their noses in where they aren't wanted.

[Tripleplay]

Wonder what the author thinks of CNN, who traded the right to transmit for Sadaams priviledge of censorship.

[ImpBill]

Let's assume for a moment that "we" are an occupying force, which of course we are not. The point that Sissyman fails to realize and admit is that, if we are (an occupying force) we are far more a benevolent force than the occupation of the Sadamn regime of the last 30 years.

His article here really goes to the heart of the mind set of the intellectual and journalist elite (self proclaimed) in the nation.

They love hating America! And they really do believe they are the only people capable of thinking for themselves and that some power has anointed them as the saviors of the universe.

Put a cork it in Sissyman! That's what I think.

[ricpic]

"Has the US occupation no sympathy for the troubles the ayatollahs had to go through all those years under Saddam? It is their turn to run their own variety of despotism."

Although you write this tongue in cheek, many, if not most ayatollahs, do represent the greatest obstacle to the establishment of a non-despotic government in Iraq. To this day, the Wahabi message of pure hatred for the infidel and his ways (us, in other words) is being broadcast by the Saudis into Iraq in the form of both clerics and cash. The US, for "diplomatic reasons", is doing nothing about this infusion of poisin into an already wounded society. What chance is there for the establishment of an even moderately westernized country under these circumstances? We STILL are not facing the Islamic threat squarely.

[ThanhPhero]

I really don't think anyone in the administration is confused or dismayed. These are smart folks and the immediate aftermath was surely taken into account. No one expected the desert to suddenly bloom with flowers when Baghdad fell. The left expected the administration to expect that or hoped it would or would like Americans to believe that it would.

[auggy]

"Democrats figure they will lose 4 more seats in the next election. Look for it to get sureal in the near future. "

I think they are dreaming with that figure. I expect it to be much higher. Let's say, 14.

[SkyPilot]

Rest easy folks---the only people who read and believe this garbage are fellow morally-challenged raincoat wearers in San Francisco.

[angkor]

What an amazing hypocrite Sussman is.

In addition to the several blatant lies in his article (e.g., "Journalists underplayed domestic and international opposition to the war"), he's also a profound idiot (e.g., "[Reporters] were not nearby when those shells landed.")

I wonder when he'll actually visit Iraq to report on the "social disarray and increasing anti-Americanism" he's convinced exists (with no proof).

Maybe after he's finished lecturing his peers on his wierd brand of journalistic "ethics."

[bert]

....Yet the outcome has failed to meet our expectations.....

That is just the tip of the iceberg. The Left Wing San Franciscans have destroyed a once great city and state with unrealistic utopian expectations.

Life is tough when reality intrudes into the dope haze.