POINTER94
Vice Admiral
- Joined
- Oct 12, 2003
- Messages
- 5,031
A friend of mine sent me this (it may have made the rounds already) and I thought it was well written and to the point....<br /><br />Looking for the truth?<br /><br />I am not a fan of Geraldo, but I have to give him this one. He is so> > right about the reporters who "Report" the news.<br />> ><br />> ><br />> > The buildings that AREN'T burning in Iraq.... Probably each of<br />> > you has wondered if things could be as bad as Brokaw, Jennings,<br />> > et al, have been painting it.<br />> ><br />> > "They have a saying in the news business," Geraldo Rivera related this<br />> > week. "Reporters don't report buildings that don't burn." And with that<br />> ><br />> > introduction, he told a TV audience about the story that is being<br />> > systematically denied to our entire nation: the success story of post-<br />> > Saddam Iraq.<br />> ><br />> > Are we losing some soldiers each week? Yes.<br />> > Is there some frustration in the public about electricity and water<br />> > service? Yes.<br />> > Are some Saddam Hussein loyalists throughout the land,<br />> > making trouble? Yes.<br />> > Has this opened a window for some terrorist mischief? Yes.<br />> ><br />> > But that's ALL we hear. No wonder the country is in a mixed mood<br />> > about Iraq. If you hear about the buildings that are not burning,<br />> > though, it is a different story indeed.<br />> ><br />> > Rivera is no shill for George W. Bush. But Bush, Condi Rice and<br />> > Colin Powell together could not have been as effective as Geraldo<br />> > was Thursday night on the Fox News Channel's Hannity and Colmes.<br />> ><br />> > "When I got to Baghdad, I barely recognized it," he began, comparing<br />> > his just-completed trip to two others he made during and just after the<br />> > battle to topple Saddam. "You have over 30,000 Iraqi cops and<br />> > militiamen already on the job.<br />> ><br />> > This is four months after major fighting stopped. Can you imagine<br />> > that kind of gearing up in this country? Law and order is better;<br />> > archaeological sites are being preserved; factories, schools are being<br />> > guarded." But what about the secondhand griping that the media have<br />> > been so efficiently relating about power, water and other<br />> > infrastructure?<br />> ><br />> > "To say that Iraq is being rebuilt is not true," answered Rivera. "Iraq<br />> ><br />> > is being built. There was no infrastructure before; we are doing it. I<br />> ><br />> > just think the good news is being underestimated and underreported."<br />> > At this juncture, one must evaluate how to feel about the voices<br />> > telling us<br />> > only about the bad news in Iraq, whether from the mouths of news anchors<br />> ><br />> > or Democratic presidential hopefuls. At best, they are underinformed.<br />> > At worst, their one-sided assessments of post-Saddam Iraq are<br />> > intentional<br />> > falsehoods for obvious reasons.<br />> ><br />> > If I hear one more person mock that "Mission Accomplished" banner<br />> > beneath which President Bush thanked a shipload of sailors and Marines<br />> > a few months back, I'm going to spit. That was a reference to the<br />> > ouster<br />> > of Saddam's regime, and that mission was indeed accomplished,<br />> > apparently to the great chagrin of the American left. No one said what<br />> > followed would be easy or cheap, and that's why the dripping-water<br />> > torture of the cost and casualty stories is so infuriating.<br />> ><br />> > Remember we pay our soldiers whether they are in Iraq or in Ft Bragg,<br />> > North Carolina or Ft Hood, Texas or where ever.<br />> ><br />> > We should all mourn the loss of every fallen soldier. But context cries<br />> ><br />> > out to be heard. Our present news media is not performing this task.<br />> > As some dare to wonder if this might become a Vietnam-like quagmire,<br />> > I'll remind whoever needs it that most of our 58,000 Vietnam war toll<br />> > died between 1966 and 1972, during which we lost an average of about<br />> > 8,000 per year. That's about 22 per day, every day, for thousands of<br />> > days on end.<br />> ><br />> > Let us hear NO MORE Vietnam comparisons. They do not equate. What<br />> > I hope to hear is more truth, even if we have to wrench it from the<br />> > mouths<br />> > of the media and political hacks predisposed to bash the remarkable job<br />> > we are doing every day in what was not so long ago a totalitarian<br />> > wasteland.<br />> > Local elections are under way across Iraq, Rivera reported. "Where<br />> > Kurds<br />> > and Arabs have been battling for decades, things have been settling<br />> > down.<br />> > Administrator Paul Bremer is doing a great job."<br />> ><br />> > So does Geraldo think his media colleagues are intentionally painting<br />> > with one side of the brush? "I'm not into conspiracy theories... but<br />> > there's<br />> > just more bang for your buck when you report the GI who<br />> > got killed rather than the 99 who didn't get killed, who make friends,<br />> > who helped schedule elections, who helped shops get open for<br />> > business, who helped traffic flow again.<br />> ><br />> > "The vast majority of Iraqis are very happy to have us there. I would<br />> > like to see a bit more balance." This needs to be reported to the<br />> > American Public who are presently being duped. I expect the<br />> > dominant media culture to nitpick and attack Bush, and Democrats to<br />> > blast him with reckless abandon. But when that leads to the willful<br />> > exclusion of facts that would shine truthful light on the great work<br />> > of the American armed forces, that level of malice plumbs new depths.<br />> >
