That’s What We Believe, Too
"My personal opinion is that the only way we will lose this war is if we pull out prematurely," Colonel Jeffrey Snow, Commander of the 1st Brigade of the 10th Mountain Division is quoted by AFP.
"I would hope we get the time and support we need to finish this mission," he said in a video conference from Iraq.
Snow, whose own troops have come under stepped-up insurgent attacks this month, criticized media coverage as too focused on insurgent roadside bombings, kidnappings and assassinations.
"Our soldiers may be in the crosshairs every day, but it is the American voter who is a real target, and it is the media that carries the message back each day across the airwaves," he said.
"So when the news is not balanced and it's always bad, that clearly leads to negative perceptions back home," he said.
Which mirrors exactly what this blog - and an awful lot of others in the blogosphere - have been saying all along. Omar at Iraq the Model has some information about how the reconciliation plan is working. I see it as being a work in progress, but there does appear to be progress. We must give the Iraqi government time to work this out internally. There is an information war being fought. Our media has to stop cooperating and decry terrorist propaganda spin as heartily as they decry US attempts at controlling the news.
By beth, Saturday, 1 July , 2006 @ 5:32 pm
Boy that’s the truth! I couldn’t agree with you more.
By Roland Hesz, Monday, 3 July , 2006 @ 6:58 am
An interesting interview by a US soldier.
Who knows what would be better.
He has some interesting remarks.
Okay, okay, I know, he is a traitor, a leftie, he’s lying, shaming the uniform, etc.
But read it anyway.
By Gaius, Monday, 3 July , 2006 @ 7:02 am
Roland,
There have been repeated false stories about Iraq and the falsifiers always claim to have been special forces troops. I have posted to one such incident. There have been more.
Anonymous sources are always problematic, you should know that.
By Roland Hesz, Monday, 3 July , 2006 @ 7:28 am
Yes I know.
It’s just here I always see the shining side of the story
I understand you, partly, but still, on your blog this whole Iraq business seems like it was a glorious victory march of knights in shining armour, bringing freedom and happines.
Besides, the guy did not tell a negativ story.
He did not smear his comrades.
He only said - we don’t win the hearts of iraquis.
Big difference.
Still, I accept your wish to present this was a glorified, honourable and selfish act of goodwill on part of the United States.
By Gaius, Monday, 3 July , 2006 @ 7:32 am
Roland, I have never said war is glorious. It is not. It is sometimes necessary, however. When it is necessary, it is also necessary to try to be fair in presenting what is happening in the war, would you not agree?
I do not think the media in general has been fair or honest.
By Roland Hesz, Monday, 3 July , 2006 @ 7:41 am
No, I don’t think it’s either.
What I saw in that article is that it voices problems, points out difficulties, and it does not say that the US. soldiers are at fault.
It simply says, that the war does not have the desired effect.
Have you read it through?
By Roland Hesz, Monday, 3 July , 2006 @ 7:42 am
I mean, I don’t think that the media has been fair or honest.
By Gaius, Monday, 3 July , 2006 @ 7:45 am
There are always problems, Roland. That is war. WT Sherman said it best: War is cruelty, you can not refine it.
By Roland Hesz, Monday, 3 July , 2006 @ 7:53 am
Thing is, will the number of insurgents decrease, or they will multiply because of the “cruelty of war”, that is longer now than WWII has been.