Media's dark cloud a danger

[demdave]

Falsely bleak reports reduce our chances of success in Iraq


News media reports about our progress in Iraq have been bleak since shortly after the president's premature declaration of victory. These reports contrast sharply with reports of hope and progress presented to Congress by Department of Defense representatives -- a real disconnect, Vietnam déja vu. So I went to Iraq with six other members of Congress to see for myself.


But there will be more Blumbergs killed in action, many more. So it is worth doing only if we have a reasonable chance of success. And we do, but I'm afraid the news media are hurting our chances. They are dwelling upon the mistakes, the ambushes, the soldiers killed, the wounded, the Blumbergs. Fair enough. But it is not balancing this bad news with "the rest of the story," the progress made daily, the good news. The falsely bleak picture weakens our national resolve, discourages Iraqi cooperation and emboldens our enemy.

Throughout Iraq, American soldiers with their typical "can do" attitude and ingenuity are engaging in thousands upon thousands of small reconstruction projects, working with Iraqi contractors and citizens. Through decentralized decision-making by unit commanders, the 101st Airborne Division alone has spent nearly $23 million in just the past few months. This sum goes a very long way in Iraq. Hundreds upon hundreds of schools are being renovated, repainted, replumbed and reroofed. Imagine the effect that has on children and their parents.


http://www.ajc.com/opinion/content/opinion/0903/22international.html


Note...I realize this is an opinion piece, but it is written by the Congressman himself. I thought that that would count rather than wait for some other source to report on what he said secondhand.

[ixion]

1. it's that darn liberal media...

that's right... nothing to see here... everything is dandy... please continue shopping.

[cprise]

28. What no mention of "Bring it on"??

Or was that the 'anti-war' bias at work in the media again?

Huh.

[Jacobin]

2. Guess the mediawhores can't get to all these great projects to film

them for fear of being shot or blown up by either U.S. soldiers or the resistance.

:shrug:

[Cheswick2.0]

3. contrary to opinion the embedded media did a good job?

No sale. The embedded reporters and the media in general did not do their jobs.

[karlschneider]

4. Another DINO piece of shit.

:grr:

[Barrett808]

5. Bomb and invade! With us or against us!

And so forth.

[creativelcro]

6. also known as....

deviation from the party line is unpatriotic... -CV

[mistertrickster]

7. This is why Democratic candidates lose to Republicans--

Republicans, much as I dislike everything they stand for, don't support Democratic ideas, period. Here's this Vietnam vet saying that everything is beautiful because "soldiers are rebuilding schools and winning hearts and minds."

Yeah, they never did anything like that in 'Nam, did they, pal?

And then who does he blame? Lying, son of bitch, chickenshit Bush? Oh hell no, it's the "liberal media" who are enboldening our enemies and putting our guys at risk.

With friends like that, who needs enemas?

[rocktivity]

8. What good does it do to ignore the negative?

...The 101st Airborne Division alone has spent nearly $23 million in just the past few months. This sum goes a very long way in Iraq. Hundreds upon hundreds of schools are being renovated, repainted, replumbed and reroofed. Imagine the effect that has on children and their parents.

Americans could have invested that $23 million in their OWN schools because the Bush Regime had no business blowing up the Iraqi schools in the first place. Exactly where is that money going? Why can't the Iraqis do the consruction work themselves? Unemployment is rampant there, especially since the Iraqi Army was dissolved. Why haven't the lights and water been permanently turned on after six months? Rebuilding what you illegally destroy is the least you can do. I mean, what does this guy want--a medal?


rocknation

[hippiechick]

11. BINGO !! n/t

:toast:



:hippie:

[rocktivity]

20. They must have been reading my mind at Baghdad Burning

Originally posted by Rocknation:
Why can't the Iraqis do the construction work themselves? Unemployment is rampant there, especially since the Iraqi Army was dissolved.

From Baghdad Burning:

...Major reconstruction contracts are being given to the huge companies, like Bechtel and Halliburton...These companies, in turn, employ the Iraqis...(by) ask(ing) for bids on specific projects. The Iraqi company with the lowest bid is selected to do the work. The Iraqi company gets *exactly* what it bid from the huge conglomerate, which is usually only a fraction of the original contract price. Hence, projects that should cost $1,000,000 end up costing $50,000,000.

...Wouldn’t it be a) more economical and b) more profitable to the Iraqis to hand the work over directly to experienced Iraqi companies? Why not work directly...with the (Iraqi) factories and companies...that produced everything from candy to steel girders? Why not work with the bridge, housing and building companies...that have been heading the reconstruction efforts ever since 1991?

Some of the best engineers, scientists, architects and technicians are currently out of work because their companies have nothing to do and there are no funds to keep them functioning...(An Iraqi businessman) was told that he shouldn’t bother doing anything if he wasn’t known to (Kellog, Brown and Root)...if KBR didn’t approve of him, or recommend him, he needn’t bother with anything...

rocknation

[haymaker]

9. What's the point of posting this tripe.

The man is a partisan fucklick who would give himself prostate surgery rather than say anything other than the Bush company line. That you got it here before some second hand reporter means what?

This pig is just playing his part in the propaganda charade. Sure there is some positive news over there, but there is also a shitload of mysery. Him getting waved at by some oil refinery workers, big fucking deal.

Just another Repuke shithook blaming the media, all part of the brainwashing they administer daily to their automoton base.

[demdave]

12. It is news. It is from a member of our party. It is LBN.

I think that is enough to justify my posting it here. Nowhere in the rules did I read I had to pass it by your inspection.


As for the comment that I got it here before another source posted. That was to explain to the admins why I posted something that was clearly marked opinion piece.


Maybe you shouldn't read news that bothers you so much.

[teryang]

10. I guess the refinery workers are happy

...to see him since he provides their pay.

<On Sept. 14, I flew from Baghdad to Kuwait with Sgt. Trevor A. Blumberg from Dearborn, Mich. He was in a body bag. He'd been ambushed and killed that afternoon. Sitting in the cargo bay of a C 130E, I found myself wondering whether the news media were somehow complicit in his death.>

WTF? Looks like another case of we coulda won the vietnam war. He needs to have his head examined.

<Our currently stated objectives are to establish reasonable security and foster the creation of a secular, representative government with a stable market economy that provides broad opportunity (for American military bases and corporations) throughout Iraqi society. Attaining these objectives in Iraq would inevitably transform the Arab world and immeasurably increase our future national security.>

Inevitably transform the Arab world? What is he a fortune teller? Or a utopian neo con? Talk about delusional thinking.

<...a colonel in the 101st Airborne put it to me quite simply: "Sir, this is worth doing." >

Do the dead think it was worth it? Do the crippled think it was worth it? Will my children and grandchildren think it was worth it? They'll be paying for it for decades. Do the baby boomers think it is worth it when their social security funds are taken to pay for it? When I need sound financial or political advice that's where I go, to a commander in the 101st Airborne. "When we kill someone we think it was worth it." Give that guy a field promotion. He's in Mosul.

[bemildred]

13. One line stands out:

"The Iraq war has predictably evolved into a guerrilla
conflict similar to Vietnam."

[Q]

14. The guy is a nutjob...

...being a member of congress doesn't give him any credibility. To actually blame soldiers being killed on the media is more than delusion...it's an attempt to deflect attention away from those who got us into this needless quagmire.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

15. He needs to get his head out of his nether-world...

...and realize that without electricity, water, and basic necessities, the Iraqis are going nowhere fast. And they're getting more pissed at American troops with each passing day.

$23 million?? Thanks to us, Iraq needs BILLIONS to get back on their feet!!

The man didn't learn a thing from his Vietnam experience, did he? That is the true definition of "sad".

[damnraddem]

16. This guy is supposed to be a Dem?

Gag!

[robbedvoter]

17. But, but - didn't the media start the war? W said the economy stunk

because the media was cheering for war all the time...I am confused now...Need imput.

[FlemingsGhost]

18. Wrong, Mr. Marshall. We are losing the war...

because we stuck our noses where it simply does not belong.

As a Vietnam veteran, you should already understand the concept all too well...

[Flying_Pig]

19. Marshall is a PNAC'er, and is as responsible as anyone for the

mess, because he's supported it right on down the line.

[leesa]

21. Yes, he is one of the murderers.

Standard right wing tripe. Blame the liberals for the misery you cause. I must say the rabid right wing has been patient as they painstakingly planted all these neocons in the Dem party over the last 30 or 40 years. The DINOS waited and waited and voted for liberal causes occasionally or most of the time to establish their phony record as a Dem...waiting for this golden moment. Their time to take over the world.

[AndyTiedye]

22. He Even Got in a Plug for Faux News

[Voltaire99]

24. Indeed, he's one of the Liebermen

The final paragraph of his piece is a masterpiece of speciousness and cravenness:

"We may need a few credible Baghdad Bobs to undo the harm done by our media. I'm afraid it is killing our troops."

Here's a guy calling for lying and blaming the media for a misguided and lethal foreign policy. Shades of Agnew...

If the Democratic Party can't drive scum like this out of the party, there will be more and more progressive defections in future elections.

[Dr Fate]

23. Ignorance is Strength!!!

Here is your FLAG! Now SHUT UP and WAVE it!!!!

[The_Casual_Observer]

25. Sure, he saw for himself

He saw just exactly what Bremer wanted him to see. What sort of a threat was he going to feel from US paid refinery workers.

This sort of shit fluff piece and reality simply don't connect. Otherwise, if things were going so good there, the GI's would be home, it wouldn't be costing $86,000,000,000+ and the resident wouldn't be begging at the UN with a tin cup today.

Mr Jim Marshall is advocating a news blackout of Iraq now because the government s running shit-scared, They want to get out, but know that the very minute they leave it's civil war time followed by tribal Islamic Fundamentalist rule of the richest oil reserves in the world.

[demdave]

26. Is that a good thing?

that the very minute they leave it's civil war time followed by tribal Islamic Fundamentalist rule of the richest oil reserves in the world.

[Zhade]

27. AJC is a Rupert Murdoch fishwrapper, so caveat emptor...

NT!

[mumon]

29. A couple of gems from the article...

Our currently stated objectives are to establish reasonable security and foster the creation of a secular, representative government with a stable market economy that provides broad opportunity throughout Iraqi society.

"Reasonable security" - for whom? Not for Iraqis, it seems.

"Stable market economuy?" Uh... but what happens if the Iraqis want, oh, say socialism? Oh, forget that, we want their oil.

During the conventional part of this conflict, embedded journalists reported the good, the bad and the ugly. Where are the embeds now that we are in the difficult part of the war, now that fair and balanced reporting is critically important to our chances of success?

Well, pal, a couple o' observations:

1. The embedded journalists all went home when they couldn't film sh*t that blew up from a safe distance. Americans like to see sh*t blown up, but American media reporters are too goddam cowardly to embed with freedom fighters, (not to mention the fact that the current American regime would call 'em traitors) with the exception of one or two that did with the FSLN years ago.

2. Fair and balanced reporting can, be found in Al Franken's book.