Contributed by: filbert Tuesday, June 06 2006 @ 06:43 PM CST
To get the true context of how fairly any newspaper or media outletis treating the military in general, and this war in particular, newsconsumers should consider how long it had been since that same sourcefocused the same energy on the war. For some outlets, the last time thewar really splashed was with Abu Ghraib. But if the reality of the waror the true nature of our military men and women were to be accuratelyrepresented in column inches, newspapers would be filled with thestories of Ben Morton[*3] , Walt Gaya[*4] , Brandon Huff[*5] , Sgt Mesa[*6] , Mary Prophit[*7] , Tim Boggs[*8] , Mark Bieger[*9] , and Colonel Robert Brown[*10] ,whose soldiers fought like hell for Mosul, and won. Amidst that kind ofcoverage, the Haditha story would find its true context.
Until the facts are released by the investigating authorities, we might benefit from a new sign:
WARNING
Speculating is Strictly Forbidden —
Violators Will be Fined
If you’re not reading Michael Yon and the other warbloggers, and are just getting your Iraq information from Big Media, then you are not getting a complete story. If you have an opinion on the Haditha incident (pro- or anti-military) then you really need to reconsider your biases and assumptions, because no one outside the immediate investigation has enough information to form a meaningful opinion on the matter.
UPDATE: This applies double and triple to editorial cartoonists. The one who drew this one[*11] should be fired immediately. Why? Here’s why[*12] .
On a not completely unrelated thought, I’m coming around to the opinion that it’s time for American troops to stop patrolling in Iraq. We should remain, in smaller (but still strategically significant) numbers, in highly secure garrisons. We should support when necessary Iraqi security forces when requested, but we need to accelerate our disengagement from security operations within Iraq and reconfigure for a potential war with Iran.
Now that there is an elected Iraqi government, it is time see if the Iraqis really are capable of governing themselves as the Right prefers to think. Or, it’s time to find out if the Iraqis so politically immature that they require the heavy boot of oppression (Saddam Hussein or Islamofascist terrorists) to bully and kill enough of them to behave, as the Left seems to believe.
Let’s see who’s right and who’s wrong.