WHY THEY FIGHT

"I wonder how the soldiers feel about this... their hard work isn't "political" enough to be reported... sad."

Sunni and Shiite reaching out to reconcile their differences and end the violence. Al`Qaeda all but gone from Iraq. Deaths of troops and civilians at low levels equal to other nations per capita, a drop so low mortuaries are laying off workers. Displaced people moving back into their homes in Baghdad. Areas previously thought impossible to settle now models of peace and calm. Iraq has been a series of better and better stories since January when the change of tactics was implemented. By August, the change was getting so profound that even the media began to take notice.

Quietly, Iraq has turned from a front page series of ghastly stories of failure, death, and mayhem into... well no story at all. While it's unlikely Iraq will ever have no violent deaths (why should they be unique?) on a given day, the deaths have dropped to normal levels for a country their size and population. The trend has been going on more than two months now, and the difference is stark and welcome.

Still, the London Times has noticed something:

Is no news good news or bad news? In Iraq, it seems good news is deemed no news. There has been striking success in the past few months in the attempt to improve security, defeat al-Qaeda sympathisers and create the political conditions in which a settlement between the Shia and the Sunni communities can be reached. This has not been an accident but the consequence of a strategy overseen by General David Petraeus in the past several months.
...
The current achievements, and they are achievements, are being treated as almost an embarrassment in certain quarters. The entire context of the contest for the Democratic nomination for president has been based on the conclusion that Iraq is an absolute disaster and the first task of the next president is to extricate the United States at maximum speed. Democrats who voted for the war have either repudiated their past support completely (John Edwards) or engaged in a convoluted partial retraction (Hillary Clinton). Congressional Democrats have spent most of this year trying (and failing) to impose a timetable for an outright exit. In Britain, in a somewhat more subtle fashion admittedly, Gordon Brown assumed on becoming the Prime Minister that he should send signals to the voters that Iraq had been “Blair's War”, not one to which he or Britain were totally committed.

Readers responded:

Thank you for a honest analysis of the current situation in Iraq.

Spot-on on in pointing out that it is not just the number of troops that has made the real difference, but rather what they are doing,

The old / new counterinsurgency doctrine is working - now it is a matter of how much time General Petraeus will be allotted to capitalize on this success.
-by Dave Dilegge


Well framed synopsis. It is a shame that the enemies of American interests and Middle Eastern democracy are no longer al Qaeda and sundry religious extremists like the Taliban, but political extremists in Washington, Manhattan and Berkeley. Such a pity that the rules of engagement exclude the use of laser guided weaponry on them.
-by Michael Lyster


House majority whip Jim Clyburn of South Carolina was asked by the Washington Post in July/August what Democrats would think if the Petraeus report indicated that the war was going well. "That would be a real big problem for us," Clyburn replied.

Yes, the Dems have a problem. True...and utterly pathetic/disgraceful.

The MSM? Not as much of a problem for them. They're not the least bit accountable for the non-stop editorializing and Bush bashing they engage in. Now they're almost somber when reporting dramatically reduced casulties (only mentioned briefly well into the newscast), in sharp constrast to the "Top Story" slot and enthusiasm reserved for things like NBC's "We're declaring this to be a Civil War, folks" hysteria we saw earlier in the year.
-by ted


Who's unhappier about the growing success in Iraq? The Ba'athists, Al Qaeda or the Democratic Party leadership? That's too close to call.
-by David J Crook


It's sad to see so many Americans going to UK to get their news. But here I am too! I for one thank you, your Country and your brave Soldiers for sticking with us during this crisis. I am delighted to hear continued reports of success in Iraq. It feels the apex has been overcome and things will only get better for everyone. It truly takes the will and courage of the people, but those people must first see our commitment and sacrifice before they will shake hands. It took too long for us to prove to them our commitment due to delays caused by our own radical elements. These self serving "politicians", with the aid of our saddled media, wanted the war to end in tragedy solely to boost their position in the 2008 elections. They aren't much different from our enemy. They created an uncooperative political atmosphere that ultimately has led to even more death and prolonged suffering.
-by Chad

Here's the thing. This is being covered by the press, or I wouldn't have news stories to link. What's not happening is it being reported by the big media forces, you aren't seeing this on page one of the Washington Post or the LA Times. You're not seeing it on the Nightly News on network shows. You're not hearing about it around the water cooler. Chances are some of you reading this haven't seen these news stories at all. And that's the problem: the coverage of the bad news was overwhelming and constant and now its just... not covered at all. There always was good news to cover, and it always was ignored in this way.

This may turn around again - certainly the enemies of the west hope so and will do whatever they can to bring it about. Even while General Patraeus was testifying, al`Qaeda in Iraq was trying desperately to have a spectacular news story to make things look awful. Just looking at that particular story tells a lot about how this war has been covered and how people respond to the news.

The effort was to parade dead and captured soldiers, just a few would be enough, in front of the news and claim victory on camera while General Patraeus was testifying. This would be an insignificant victory, like a police agency showing off a couple drug dealers and showing that the War on Drugs is won. Yet it would have been effective to a media hungry for blood and misery in Iraq to show off and it would be sadly effective to a public that has heard so much bad news and virtually no good news (in many cases none at all) for so many years, the presumption is of failure.

All it takes is one bad image and people figure "well see, its no better." The defeat of such an effort? Not even worth reporting. Even if it was, most people would figure "that's the exception in a quagmire of failure and misery, the Iraqis don't even want liberty." That's how effective the legacy media still is. It's dying and battered and despised, but it still has venom in its fangs. And meanwhile, the clueless anti war left continues to beat the drums of failure and defeat, apparently eager to assist the enemy in their propaganda war.

Stories like that one or the one where sheiks taken by radicals to prevent the reconciliation between Sunni and Shiite are ignored... because the result was not success for the enemies of liberty and civilization. Those sheiks were set free by a tremendous operation, and the fragile efforts continue. When you see that, what's your response? Is this the exception or a sign of the peace that's growing? Do you view it with skepticism, or with hope and gladness?

This success may not continue, it might be reversed by a great effort. Yet so far it appears very real and very promising. And for that I have nothing but deep respect and gratitude for the coalition soldiers and especially the Iraqi people. Perhaps they had to go through the difficulty and pain and struggle of those dark years of '04-06 to get to the point they wanted peace. Maybe they had to reach that weariness of war and bloodshed before they could reject it. I don't know. All I know is there's something basically wrong with anyone who starts out with the attitude that it had to be a failure and worse have so invested their future and jobs on that failure that success is a disappointment to them.

Look deep inside your soul. Is this good news disappointing to you? Do you view it with a twinge of trouble or worry that it might ruin your goals? If so, maybe it's time to reevaluate your reasons for the positions you take and the stances you hold.

The Surge, News Media, Iraq