What got me was when it was reported that the news from Iraq was there was no news from Iraq....

More incompetence from the incompetent press.  You don't even have to pay attention to see it anymore.

 

I was thinking about Iraq the other day when I had seen yet another misleading and screamin' headline from the inferior officer on the subject.  I was reminded a bit of a few movies and shows I've seen over my lifetime.

The Longest Day - made at a time when Hollywood somewhat glorified military service and the heroes of our Wars.  Seems to me, if I recall correctly, that movie included quite a bit of FUBAR-edness to it.  Paratroopers were dropped miles off target, completely disoriented, away from their commanders, and in many cases away from other members of their outfits.  Many men died from mistakes made along the way there.  Far too many men.

Flags of Our Fathers - made recently, made by Clint Eastwood (director).  Showed much of the mistakes that were made on Iwo Jima.  Paired with Letters from Iwo Jima.  Both showed mistakes made during the fighting at Iwo Jima.

Saving Private Ryan.  How many mistakes were made along the way in the events depicted there-in?

The Green Berets. Oh yeah, life in 'nam was a piece of cake, wasn't it??!

Ken Burns' (no right winger himself) The War.  Watch the FUBAR episode of same and then talk about how life in the military back during WWII was better than now.  How our leaders did such a great job back then.  How FDR made such great use of the military.

Point being anyone that has ever paid attention should recognize that war is not easy, and not an easy thing to win.  Mistakes get made along the way, and a good Commander and Commander-in-Chief learns and adapts.  Bush has learned, and he has let his leaders do their jobs.

It could be argued (probably pretty well) that Rumsfeld did a poor job, and that Cheney has as well, but Bush tried to do the right thing and have them do their jobs.  If he fired either or demanded resignations from either too quickly he'd have signaled that he had no confidence at all in those men, and their plans.  He'd have possibly picked up morale among some troops, but at the same time he'd have been signaling that the leadership didn't know what it was doing and providing a boost to the morale of the people we are fighting.

He was slow, patient, and methodical and he took his time finding a new Defense Secretary who has slowly but surely changed the course we are taking and is working towards bringing real security and stability to the situation in Iraq.

That is assuming journalism has any idea what is news and what isn't.

Reply By: Dr GuyPosted: Friday, November 16, 2007 they focus on much more important matters like what color dress Britney Spears is wearing or will O.J. Simpson go to trial You forgot the horror story of Lindsay Lohan spending 84 minutes in jail. But I know what the responses will be if any one from the left does answer your question. "Dying is news. Not dying is not news." That is why you never hear about how traffic deaths going down, or murder rates going down. Never, right?

One word docG.. exactly!

Walter Chronkite is my poster child for biased reporting, but it probably started long before him.

  

The Job is DONE. Time to bring our troops home!!!!!

Me and Joe Liberman. Sigh. Those were the good old days.

You just won a convert from MM!

And you response validates you are center.  Albeit one that is endangered.

So you are acknowledging that Iraq has been a success?

Reply By: joe-pro-photographerPosted: Sunday, November 18, 2007 Hmmm. I think this is a little rosy, and Col Gene, you might just fall into the "Mission Accomplished" trap. Why not dust off that banner? The problem is, there is a huge mess still in Iraq. Things are better, thank God, but who wants to take a stroll outside the Green Zone? And, one reason things are better is the Sunnis are coming on board, something that's been a real problem. It's the coming together, finally, of disparant groups in Iraq that is the real victory here, (and also the fragile trap) not necessarily the surge -- though I will give Bush credit for the surge. Further, I supported in when most liberal leaning people did not. Me and Joe Lieberman. Sigh. Those were the good old days.

I love Joe, he might be the last Democrat with any brains in his head,. The Mission accomplished sign was not flown at GWB's request is was flown at the request of the Admiral in charge of the Carrier that was part of the fleet the Admiral oversaw.

You forget, Gene would gladly sit with a bowl of popcorn and a beer, celebrating the slaughter of 2 1/2 million people, as long as he could Blame Bush.

Well, of course he didn't say "I know, yee-all, let's have a big ass banner right over my head that saz 'mission accomplished!' and i'll fly in on a jet and stand right under it."

Oh, I'm going to come off as a prick on this. But one time I was covering Elaine Ciao (Sec. of Labor) and there was a sign on the stage she didn't like. Her minions went into over drive to get it down before the press got wind of it. The sign was something like, "driving the economy now for tomorrows future". To this day I don't know what her problem was -- but she was clear she had a problem. No politician stands under any sign (especially in a carefully crafted press event) they don't like. If you think they do, you are really underestimating the power of the press secretary.

But thanks for the brains comment. I think. Hmmmm. Yeah, thanks.

"BRAINS ACCOMPLISHED!"

I'll give you that. Still, it proves my point (and I think we are on the same page here): it's easy to think we're done with a job long before we are. And I am prone to suspect the violence numbers (as I was when they were bad). I think, no matter what your stance on whether we should have gone to war, we are stuck in Iraq until, at least, the situation is stable. At worse, until we build a nation (you see where that's gotten us in the past). Somewhere in the middle, I think, is when we can start to move out.

The Iraqis have to "step up". And perhaps, finally, they are. As one very republican senator put it recently in something I covered, "we are not the Iraqi's nanny". No, we are not. But like it or not, we are the current truant officer. (or, more accurately perhaps, Blackwater is...)

No argument here. I was surprised when Bush I pulled out. However, at the time I was a bit more left wing and worked for an actual newspaper just out of college, so my record on this ain't stellar. However, I HAVE CHANGED MY OPINION BASED ON HISTORY AND NEW FACTS PRESENTED.