I, like the rest of most of the Lavender Room weirdos, read as much of the coverage on Iraq in the Post and other newspapers as I can. I have also read a lot of the commentary in blogs and from various posters regarding how the “MSM” does not offer the real “truth” as to what is going on in Iraq. Many people commenting on MSM coverage state that journalists are not reporting on any of the good aspects of the war, and you also hear this sentiment in letters and blogs of US service people who have or are serving in Iraq.
I am hoping that we can generate a list of questions/topics that we would want to be answered regarding Iraq, and then take the time to do something that might actually be positive and email/mail the questions/topics to various newspapers, journalists, editors, ombudsmen, opinionists, and bloggers to see if we can get them to either cover the issues or at least put more pressure on people to cover them. And, maybe my merely generating this list we can also help each other out and share resources that actually answer some of these questions.
Groundrules: We are not doing this to tell someone that their question is stupid or spend much time arguing about if a question is good or not. This is a brainstorming activity, and we can all use questions/topics that come up in this thread as we see fit. I’d ask that anyone who bothers to read past this sentence in this thread not resort to name calling, and keep any limited commentary on questions/topics on a civil level (and by this, I mean that even stating “That question is ridiculous” is not civil enough to be helpful).
Here is a short list of questions/topics I came up with in 30 seconds (29.7 to be exact):
How do the elements of the infrastructure of Iraq compare to their status 2 years ago (electrical, telephone, sewer, water, television etc)?
How many Iraqis sign up to join the military or police forces on a monthly and yearly basis? Of those that join, how many get trained? Of those that train, how many actively serve?
In as best a poll possible, please ask everyday Iraqis to report on their feelings of the US involvement in their country, whether it has improved their lives in the short-term, and if it will improve them in the long-term.
Please ask these same Iraqis about their feelings of the “insurgents”.
Please ask these same Iraqis if they feel the Sharia should be the basis for a free Iraqi country.
How has the economy developed, if at all, since the removal of Saddam Hussein?
Do Iraqis feel the US lead redevelopment efforts have gone well? What changes do they feel should be made? Do they feel that there has been too much foreign labor brought into Iraq?
Please report on any and all stories possible that relate the involvement of US troops in the development of the local, regional, and national government and economy.
So in keeping with the groundrules, if you don’t like my questions fine, just ignore them. If you have suggestions, please share them. If you are aware of any resource that might have some insight into my suggestions, please share that as well.
I’ve already sent my short list of questions to a few members of the “MSM”. It will take you no more than 5 minutes to figure out what newspaper or blogger you want to send this to, find their contact info, copy/paste questions/topics you think are important, and email it to them. It really can be that simple.
Your questions are good. I would also add questions about schools at all levels. I would ask about the media coverage inside Iraq. I would ask about the establishment of small business. I would add road construction to your list of infrastructure.
I hear nearly nothing about the things on your list. Media, as usual, is missing the entire story.
According to the numbers the White House keep feeding us, there are almost 100,000 Iraqis armed and in uniform, in various stages of training, willing to fight the insurgents.
Also according to the numbers there are only several thousand active insurgents in the country and their numbers are dwindling.
If these figures are true why do you keep telling us that the Iraqis are not yet ready to defend themselves? Seems to me like they have the enemy heavily outnumbered.
There have been active ongoing armed rebellions, terror campaigns, call them what you will, around the world…Northern Ireland, Palestine, East Timor, Sri Lanka, Colombia etc etc etc…and they all share one commonality…support from the general populace from which they emerged. According to pretty much every counter terror expert on the planet you can’t maintain a campaign such as the on in Iraq without broad based popular support and even active participation by the majority of the people among whom you are fighting. The Pentagon keeps telling us the insurgency has little or no support from the people…how is this possible?
Roads, a good one to add. Schools are so important, I can’t believe I left those off.
I haven’t fully decided how I feel about certain topics in Iraq not being covered. I think I’m 34/33/33 on saying it is because there is a lack of access outside the various Green Zones, and because reporting about infrastructure etc isn’t what wins awards nor gets lots of viewers/readers enthralled, which is the fault of viewers/readers not demanding certain things being covered or not watching/reading about them when they are.
Are these the same sources that brought us the Jessica Lynch hero story and the Pat Tillman died while saving his squad story?
Inflammatory statements I know and really not meant to offend. I just distrust any “source” of information any more.
Not sure any “government or Army” source will provide you the truth as you want to hear it. It is ironic you mention Pat Tillman. Here is a recent official re-release of the incident and the follow on investigations. http://www4.army.mil/ocpa/read.php?story_id_key=7445
Thanks for the CSIS link. I was an intern at CSIS during the fall semester of 2000 (during the election), it was a great experience. I was very impressed with the talent there. CSIS is pretty non-partisan when compared to other think tanks and is a solid resource.
I finally got through the Army War College piece, WOW, that’s scary.
Do you have any idea how often papers like this are put out and then not really acted upon? Obviously it isn’t as easy as setting a strategy and it happens, but to me it reads like a lot of what was common lay person and military sense did not get incorporated into what we’ve been doing over there.
I finally got through the Army War College piece, WOW, that’s scary.
Do you have any idea how often papers like this are put out and then not really acted upon? Obviously it isn’t as easy as setting a strategy and it happens, but to me it reads like a lot of what was common lay person and military sense did not get incorporated into what we’ve been doing over there.
Yea its a pretty amazing piece. I honestly don’t know how often papers like this are put out and not acted on. From my foxhole it was a very well thought out plan that certainly should have been implemented.
I thought I would revive this thread to call attention to something I guess I knew but hadn’t really thought about.
We got excellent news coverage during the invasion from the embedded reporters. I was very impressed.
The news coverage we are getting now is just terrible. The reason is that the reporters basically do all their work in the confines of the Palestine Hotel. For the most part they seldom leave the hotel and almost never leave the green zone. I say this not to take a shot at them since the news media is one of the targets of the so called insurgents. There are legitimate safety issues involved, and a lot of reporters have been killed already.
I say it rather to note that of course the news coverage is absolutely terrible. The reporters aren’t seeing anything that is going on in the country. A common report from a troop that returns is that he would be pessimistic too if all he ever saw was the news coverage.
We hear about killed and injured soldiers because the Pentagon reports that reliably and the media run with it because they have nothing else to say.
I don’t think your picture is at all accurate. We simply aren’t getting the big picture from the media.
By way of analogy, the same thing applies to the public image of the US economy. By any measure, the economy is doing very well. News coverage on the MSM is four to one negative. It is usually along the lines of things are going well but could fall apart at any time stories.
As a result, the public has a negative feeling about the positive economy.
I’ll offer some input on this subject which you may or may not judge relevant. I currently command TF KONOHIKI and we are charged with training the Iraqi Army’s 4th Bn, 1st Bde, 4th DIV. We live and fight with our Iraqi soldiers–the Iraqi battalion numbers over 700 men. Our operational area encompasses several hundred square miles and includes some middle sized cities–the largest of which is about 30,000. So I’ve some insight, albeit thru a soda straw view, of the overall war here such as it is right now. I cannot speak to the war overall–I’m not in charge of it
We’ve had one civilian media team come live,visit and report on us and what is going on in our area of Iraq. They are the only ones I’ve seen. You can read their stories in the Honolulu Advertiser. William Cole was the reporter. The stories are fairly representative of TF KONOHIKI’s struggles and successes. I couldn’t tell you why more media doesn’t come up from Baghdad and go out with us. From my foxhole they’re more than welcome to come live with us and go out on patrol with. We go where we want, when we want–so we can take any media traveling with us along. We took Mr Cole on some operational missions; to a local City Counsel meeting; and I ensured he got to talk to as many Sheik’s, Immam’s, citizens, US Soldiers, Iraqi Soldiers–and the Iraqi Battalion commander who is my counterpart.
The Iraqi Soldiers in our counterpart Bn run the gamut. Most joined for the money. Many, however, are motivated by patriotism and a strong desire to see Iraq standing on its own. They are receptive to our coaching and eagerly learn the skills and standards we’re working to instill in them. The battalion overall has shown tremendous improvement over the past six months. And they fight. They’ve taken casualties and they continue to fight. In one instance we had a KONOHIKI vehicle disabled by an IED–all my guys were wounded and for a few minutes were unable to directly fight back while they recovered from the blast. In those minutes the simple Iraqi Soldiers with my men deployed and fought back. The Iraqi Bn is split almost down the middle between Sunni and Shia. Interestingly, I’ve heard the battalion commander state on numerous occasions–“I am not Sunni–I am not Shia–I am Iraqi Army.” He also has flatly refused all attempts to bring an immam into the battalion. I know his tribal and religious affiliation but it’s not relevant. We are simply Soldiers. I cannot speak to the overall condition or state of the Iraqi Army–I’m not in charge of it. The little part I’m responsible for however is making tremendous headway and well on its way to being able to function on its own.
I spend all day with my Iraqi Soldiers and we are out constantly on patrols engaging local population, village and city leaders. The issues are too complex for some pithy email and I’ve only interacted with several hundred individuals and leaders on a localized area of Iraq, but overall I’d say that your average Iraqi citizen wants what all citizens want. To make a living and raise his family in peace. We’re very busy trying to set the conditions up for exactly that here in our little part of Iraq.
When I get the time I think mostly about my family and how much I miss them. But what we’re doing here is worth the sacrifice. I do wish our story got out more. I would welcome any media that showed up. What these Citizen Soldiers of the Hawaii Army National Guard are doing here is magnificant and noble work. I am in awe of them daily. As for the Iraqi Army-we are making progress every day but you simply cannot build an effective Army in a short amount of time.
The Honolulu Triathlon and the Honu Triathlon are in my comback plans. Hope to see some of you there.
Thanks for the SITREP. Its very much appreciated. I only hope it will get through to some here that what we are doing is very important and we must see it through. Nobody ever said it would be easy or short. This is going to take a loooong time but we have to stay focused and committed to the mission.
