More Good News From Iraq Goes Unreported
I feel obligated to report the good news that is coming out of Iraq whenever I find it 
because the mainstream media is negligent in it’s coverage of the war. Believe me, it is not always easy to find, and not because there is no good news to report, but rather because the good news is being repressed by the media because of their lust for a Democrat president.
U.S. Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno recently reported about some of the successes that have been achieved in Iraq, I bet you haven’t heard any of what I am about to write about on the news.
From this article we read the following:
In the last week of October 2007, there were 30 attacks on U.S. soldiers in the Anbar province of Iraq, just one-tenth as many as the previous year, according to U.S. Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno, who spoke at a conference on the war on Wednesday.
He further noted that civilian deaths in Iraq have fallen by 70 percent in less than a year, and by November 2007, the number of insurgent attacks in Iraq had dropped to their lowest level since 2004.
Attacks on United States soldiers are only one tenth of the number that they were one year ago, and civilian deaths are down 70%, and insurgence attacks are at their lowest levels in a few years. All of this SHOULD be reported by the media but none of it is. The general then goes on to say that the sectarian violence is all but over also.
Obviously, it’s too early to declare victory and go home, but I think it’s safe to say that the surge of coalition forces – but just as important, how we employed those forces – has broken the cycle of sectarian violence in Iraq
As the war in Iraq continues to improve it will proportionately be removed from the every day news cycle. It will also disappear from the political campaigns of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, McCain may still use it as an issue because he was in favor of the surge. This can only be described by me as being sad. I can’t get over the fact that all the good things that America is doing in Iraq gets buried, while all the media needs is one suicide bomber and the Iraq war is back on the front page. When I say that I can’t get over this fact, I don’t mean that I am astonished that the media would ignore what is happening over there, I expect that, I just can’t get over the fact that the media is so blatant in their anti-war, anti-American victory coverage that they don’t even try to be unbiased anymore. I am also astonished that so many Americans are swayed by this type of “reporting” and fall for it hook, line, and sinker without even questioning it.
But there is still even more going on that hasn’t been reported:
Helpful in this effort, said Odierno, was the “Sons of Iraq,” a grassroots group of Sunni Arabs who joined forces with the American troops and Iraqi government and formed neighborhood watches to combat al Qaeda. The group has become an effective security force, the general said.
“We were able to keep young Sunni men away from extremism, provide jobs and income, and gain valuable intelligence on the insurgency, which included finding improvised explosive devices and large caches of ammunition,” said Odierno.
The organization has branched out to include Shi’ites and sometimes mixed groups.
“They wanted to be a legitimate part of the government of Iraq,” said Odierno. “Every dollar paid to the ‘Sons of Iraq’ is spent at least two additional times as they provide for their families, and then local markets buy wholesale goods to stock their stands. In places where we have employed the ‘Sons of Iraq,’ we have a ten-fold increase in markets.”
All of this deserves national news coverage, but receives none. This is journalistic malpractice. While all of this unfolds, and a new Democratically elected government struggles to take hold and grow while American soldiers help to secure a new free people our media remains silent until their is a set back. Then we have the coverage again, then we have candidates calling this “George Bush’s war”, but when things go well in Iraq the media focuses on how the economy might be in a recession.
Funny how that works, huh?
Actually, it’s not funny, IT FUCKING PISSES ME OFF!
America's Watchtower 
It’s “its”. *Its* coverage of the war.
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Being a retired U.S. Marine, I’m with you on this one. Pissed off is a mild way of putting my feelings toward the liberal, anti-American media into words.
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You’re right about the press. Last time Gore won, but it wasn’t his turn. So he “lost”. Now it’s the Democrats turn. That’s the deal. But if Obama gets nominated, it may break the deal, giving McCain a chance.
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Thanks for your service RT, it must be extremely hard for you, having been in the military, seeing the way our troops are portrayed in the media. It drives me crazy.
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They may not report on all the good stuff coming out of Iraq, but they don’t exactly talk about all the awful stuff going on.
The corporate media is just negligent of either side of the debate. That’s why we have three Presidential Candidates who are either demicans or republicrats. They are there just to maintain and advance a central power.
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I agree with you about civilian deaths decreasing and about the decrease number of insurgent attacks in Iraq, but I respectfully disagree with your assumption that the media is “repressing” the good news from America. The reason why there is no good/honest news is that there is none to report. Baghdad was once one of the most modern cities in the Middle East, that was until we invaded, slaughtered its citizens, and unleashed a civil war. Yes, it is such a shame the media cannot find more stories about newly painted buildings in a war to report. This is war! The first thing any media is going to report, when dealing with war coverage, will be the casualties. Do not get me wrong, the surge is a success. The objective is to reduce the Iraqi population and take control of their natural resources. The surge is working because there is nobody left to kill. The citizens of Iraq have been murdered or have run away or have been bribed. Of course the surge is working. Everyday there is fewer Iraqis. You have also stated in your argument that the media does not try to be unbiased anymore. When has a media ever been unbiased?
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I enjoyed reading you well written article about how American soldiers are not getting the respect they need throughout the media. Unfortunately, I feel this article is bullshit. War is not something to be glorified. Yes, American soldiers are doing an excellent job at keeping violence in Iraq at bay, but if terrorist leaders want to harm America they will. The soldiers are just keeping an eye on the low class citizens that were told by higher powers to strap on a bomb and kill anyone that disagreed. Also, you assume that all journalists are “hiding” the good news on war for Democrats, yet Fox news is a Republican based network. You see just as much bad news on Fox as you will see on CNN. If news networks start airing reports of soldiers playing with Iraqi children, or show polls of the decreasing violence in Iraq, it will still not make any bit of difference. America is in Iraq for all of the wrong reasons, and so many lives have been lost on both sides, yet you are pissed off because soldiers aren’t being glorified? Think about that.
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It warms my heart well to finally see an individual that’s conscious of the media bias that’s fluttering about his television set. However, I don’t appreciate the fact that you’re unable to see the whole picture. It’s naive to try and remain innocent and to blot out all the problems of the world, but the fact of the matter is that this country is at war.
W-A-R. Our country is paying soldiers to k-i-l-l another country’s insurgents and whoever else is standing in the way. What good news do you really want? Do you want a news report every night of the total number of kids whose parents didn’t die that day? War does not harbor good news. War is waged so that one’s ideologies and values can replace what is already there. There’s only one good side, and that’s the victor’s side.
Also, if the news were never to report anything good from Iraq, how was it you were able to find that article? Someone had to have written it, and I’m guessing it wasn’t a soldier or an Iraqi citizen. That must mean.. It was a journalist of some nature! So, this amazing news of falling death statistics IS being reporting! But, I must say.. Would we really have to worry about these statistics if we as a country had not invaded Iraq to begin with?
To bring things back around, I’d like to remind you of human nature for a moment. If the news every night were dandy and content, would Americans even realize there is a war going on in another country? And that America is the invading force?? No. You have to keep the public eye on the problems at hand so that they can be fixed. You can’t fix what isn’t broken.
So, while it’s a good idea to keep the morale alive of the citizens who voted for these officials, the collection of citizens who can actually apply critical thinking skills to the world around them still wouldn’t be so easily swayed into believing that this war serves a real, useful purpose simply through a slurry of irrelevant, yet home-hitting stories about the victories of war’s victims. These “unpatriotic” individuals, as I’m sure you believe they are for not agreeing with the war, are probably the closest thing to a true citizen that’s left in this country.
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Ahhh, ohe more thing. That whole “media bias” idea that you’re flinging your ideas off of.. You do realize that the largest contactors of the Iraq War own the news channels that I’m going to assume you are basing these ‘facts’ off of, right? MSNBC, for example, is owned by… Yes! General Electric! And what are they doing for the country this very moment in a country faar, far away?
Hmm. Chew on that, and please do respond!
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I see the liberal anti-war troglodytes have smeared their excrement on your blog. To Brit, Kyndal and Melissa, I feel sorry for you. If you keep going through life with blinders on, it will be tough to see the real world.
As for the media bias, as a Journalism major in college, I was witness to the college level indoctrination. I was told by my professors that because I was conservative that I was somehow bad. Because I was a veteran that I was not a good person. Yes, I am paraphrasing, but I was told that. I had professors try to flunk me because I did not accept their liberal viewpoints. So, I do believe the bias.
As a soldier during the Clinton years, I noticed that everytime his numbers took a dip in the polls, the had some sort of short decisive military op. Something that could be immediately dropped into a press release to make him look “Presidential” and decisive. Til Somalia and Blackhawk Down, that is. Then it was run, run, run away. I hear the anti-war libs and leftists and media jackasses talk about not having uparmored hummers and MRAPS. The lesson learned from Somalia was ignored under Clinton. He cut our military and intel assets. You say our military was unprepared to fight? Blame your precious Bill Clinton. I was a soldier, I saw it and I blame him for it.
Take your whiney anti-war drivel elsewhere. I do not question your patriotism, just your freaking intelligence.
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I am not trying to glorify war. In a perfect world there would be no war, but this world is far from perfect and war HAS solved many problems contrary to what the popular anti-war sayings imply.
In an era when the media almost gleefully reported every round number casualty in the war, and the Democrat candidates parroted those numbers daily because they thought (correctly so) that is would help them regain the house and senate in 2006, I feel that the media should also report strories of our soldier’s good deeds that have been done. Is that too much to ask?
If one of our soldiers puts underwear on a prisioner’s head in GITMO, Dick Durbin calls him a nazi, if one of our soldiers performs heroically, NOTHING! I find that sad, that’s all.
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Man, homework is a nasty, time-devouring devil. I apologize for the late responding!
In any case, Ron, what the hell are you talking about? Get your shit together before you start arguing or I’ll be forced to beat you over the head and drag you back to my cave for dinner.
Anyone with an intelligence quotient above room temperature knows that media bias exists. Secondly, I understand that college is a time of growth, learning, and embracing new views and ideals, but if you seriously believed in the feelings being shoved down your throat by those professors, then maybe you should have spent a few more years there.
[Which, by the way, your professors were apparently horribly disillusioned in some way, but welcome to the real world, right? Educators are humans, too, and cannot be expected to escape the vices of men such as rampantly unfounded bias more so than any other average person. I don’t care how many degrees they’ve got.]
Yes, your disheartening experiences with biased individuals are sad, and I apologize you were subjected to such. However, we’ve still got a war calling our attention. Take your whiny bias complaints elsewhere. (As for intelligence, why not dwell on things like ‘focus’ and ‘not typing down everything your stream of consciousness picks up.’
Now, mrpinkeyes (I really don’t understand your name. Not to be rude, I ask this out of pure curiosity. Is it from allergies or tears?), I agree that it’s sad to hear bad news over good news. However, I hope you realize the necessity of hearing the bad before worrying about the good, as well as why it’s being done.
Aside from that, it seems that you’re assuming from the third quote that America’s idea of progress is congruent with that of Iraq’s, and that the goals of the two countries merge with one another. I implore you to reconsider. I realize Iraq’s current condition is riddled with disagreement among the inhabitants and a lack of structure, but are America’s implanted means really belong there, much less going to work?
Also, define ‘perfect.’ As in, this ‘perfect world’ you speak of. Because I know for my definition, even perfect worlds would contain war. Perfect, being such that people would act completely natural and fairness would be exacted not by man-made laws, but by the people involved and in the seemingly most warranted manner. That, is my very basic, bare-bone idea of “the best of all possible worlds.”
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Melissa, if you want the full story behind my name you can check out my “why mrpinkeyes” page. But the short answer is that it comes from a b-side from my favorite band, The Cure. It comes from a song called Mr. Pinkeyes.
I understand it is neccessary to hear all news from Iraq, good and bad. I just feel that whenever their is bad news to report from Iraq it is all over the news, however when I read stories on the internet of American successes I don’t see them reported on the news, and I think it is important that they should be reported.
When I mention a perfect world I am talking about this idea that many liberals believe that the world could exist in perfect harmony and eveyone would just get along and love each other. This will never happen, it is a pipe dream. It would be nice but it isn’t reality.
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unfortunately, the economy is a big deal right now, and im sorry that pisses you off. I’d be pretty mad too if i overlooked the fact that the war is costing america trillions of dollars. thats not a bias, its the truth. and as far as the news goes, i have heard about it, maybe not on TV but i see it in the newspaper. granted, you may hear more about the bad, but maybe its because theres more bad stuff going on than good. i have to agree with Kyndall, they should be reporting the good news on FOX news, since it is a Republican based network, but they dont, which should say something.
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Hahah, it would be such that about two seconds after asked you about your username, I noticed the link at the top.
In any case, I respect that you seem to understand where I’m coming from. Kudos!
Also, the ‘perfect world’ thing. If you ever decide to have a fun conversation with someone, that makes for a good topic. It’s actually pretty interesting to see how many different definitions and interpretations of ‘perfect’ you will come across. Some might even question the connotation of ‘world’ as well, which is also different. (Yes, most my matter-of-factly state the planet Earth, but does each individual’s own world consist of every piece of this planet, including that which they can’t even inhabit?)
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