Instead we get stuff like this
· In Iraq, A climate of extreme violence in which people were killed for political and other reasons continued.
· Insurgents and terrorists killed thousands of citizens & Using intimidation and violence, they kidnapped and killed government officials and workers, common citizens, party activists participating in the electoral process, civil society activists, members of security forces, and members of the armed forces, as well as foreigners.
· Bombings, executions, killings, kidnappings, shootings, and intimidation were a daily occurrence throughout all regions and sectors of society. An illustrative list of these attacks, even a highly selective one, could scarcely reflect the broad dimension of the violence.
· Bombings took thousands of civilian lives across the country during the year.
· Former regime elements, local and foreign fighters, and terrorists waged guerrilla warfare and a terrorist campaign of violence impacting every aspect of life. Killings, kidnappings, torture, and intimidation were fueled by political grievances and ethnic and religious tensions and were supported by parts of the population.
· Insurgents and terrorists targeted anyone whose death or disappearance would advance their cause and, particularly, anyone suspected of being connected to government-affiliated security forces.
· All sectors of society suffered from the continued wave of kidnappings. Kidnappers often killed their victims despite the payment of ransom. The widespread nature of this phenomenon precluded reliable statistics.
Oh, wait, hold on. That comes from the “Country Reports on Human Rights Practices”, published by the Bush administration led state department.
Yet the biased media refuses to report on new schools opening up!!
Excuse me. You may not have noticed, but those are reports of human rights violations, not progress in Iraq.
Nice try, though. Better luck next time.
Oh, wait…hold on. You forgot to link to Rebuilding Iraq: U.S. Achievements Through the Iraq Relief and Reconstruction Fund, published by the Bush administration led state department. I’m sure it was just an accidental oversite on your part. No harm done.
You could also link to the Weekly Status Reports, but that might not be all bad news either.
“You may not have noticed, but those are reports of human rights violations, not progress in Iraq. Nice try, though. Better luck next time.”
What does this even mean? Are you being funny?
At the same time, the State Department reported the following human rights violations committed by the CURRENT Iraqi government:
The following human rights problems were reported:
* pervasive climate of violence
* misappropriation of official authority by sectarian, criminal, terrorist, and insurgent groups
* arbitrary deprivation of life
* disappearances
* torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment
* impunity
* poor conditions in pretrial detention facilities
* arbitrary arrest and detention
* denial of fair public trial
* an immature judicial system lacking capacity
* limitations on freedoms of speech, press, assembly, and association due to terrorist and militia violence
* restrictions on religious freedom
* large numbers of internally displaced persons (IDPs)
* lack of transparency and widespread corruption at all levels of government
* constraints on nongovernmental organizations (NGOs)
* discrimination against women, ethnic, and religious minorities
* limited exercise of labor rights
Woo Hoo! Victory!
You may not have noticed, but those are reports of human rights violations, not progress in Iraq.
Bingo, braniac.
And JWG, I never said nothing good has ever happened in Iraq, but its ridiculous for the pro-war Bush apologists to continually say everything is going swimmingly when every day there are terrorists bombings killing both Americans and Iraqis.
Let’s try it again, for people who have a problem:
A report of human rights violations is supposed to contain incidents of human rights vilations, not restorations of infrastructure.
Okie dokie?
There is a difference between “getting better” and “going swimmingly,” unless you’ve been convinced the whole thing has been a disaster all along.
I think the point here is that y’all keep bitching about the media’s coverage. You claim that its essentially making up all the negative stories. This says that no, these things are in fact happpening and to say otherewise would be dishonest.
The more you read about Iraq – and I mean EVERY source out there in the English language – the more obvious it is that the US media is actually downplaying how awful the situation has become in Iraq. Do the 25-men found bound and shot in a minibus even make the news in America anymore? The US media only seems to take notice when American soldiers are killed, or a massive bombing takes place. But every day dozens of Iraqis are murdered for political reasons, as civil society spirals further downhill. Even the good news stories, like reconstruction projects, end up for naught because insurgents end up destroying the new projects as soon as they’re done. There’s a reason the US has basically given up reconstruction of Iraq. It’s been too little to matter substantively or politically.
I have never said they are making up the negative stories. You must be talking about someone else. I can’t imagine who, though, because I’ve never heard a conservative here say such a thing.
“I have never said they are making up the negative stories.”
No, they accuse the media of creating a “false” impression of what’s going on in Iraq today. There’s no question that it’s a great thing that 98% of children under five in Iraq have been vaccinated for polio. Or that we have completed over 100 potable water projects in Iraq using direct contracts.
But is the media supposed to repeate these facts after every daily car bombing? Would it temper reports of mass graves found in Baghdad if the reported always added, but don’t forget that Baghdad also has 5 million cell phone subscribers, and an estimated 2,000 Internet cafés. How stupid do you think the American people are?
In other words, what good is an internet cafe when the current Iraqi government is being accussed by Bush’s own State Department of torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or that country is experiencing large numbers of internally displaced persons (IDPs).
Hell, we’ve brought standard levels of water service to 7.2 million people. That’s great but it’s a country of 25 million.
Read through that State Department Report on the progress in Iraq. Many of those bullet points are statements like this:
“As these funds support on-the-ground projects in Iraq, the Iraqis will feel the impact of an improved economic infrastructure, a more vibrant democracy, and stronger civil society organizations.”
Okay, but this isn’t a statement of fact, it’s straight spin. This may or may not happen.
Elsewhere, there are ten lengthy bullet points under the heading: “The $2.9 billion remaining under the IRRF breaks down as follows:” And all of them are projects that WILL be begun, WILL be completed, WILL provide Iraqis with all these wonderful things. Not a begun, completed or provided project among them. There’s $157 million earmarked for “two major new prison construction projects, and a third renovation project.” Great. Now if only we could keep the insurgents from raiding the prisons we’ve already got:
“March 21 — Authorities say insurgents stormed a jail around dawn in the Sunni Muslim heartland Muqdadiyah, killing 19 police and a courthouse guard in a daring prison break that freed dozens of prisoners and left 10 attackers dead.”
The report on all the bad stuff is a report of facts, things actually happening. The report on all the good stuff comes padded with a lot of stuff that hasn’t happened yet. It hasn’t happened after billions of dollars and three years. Why? Because of all the stuff that in the bad report.
Strawman alert!
Please provide evidence of a pro-war Bush apologist saying everything is great in Iraq.
When stories like these become routine, you know things are very bad. It’s hard to thing of a series of stories that make this one look acceptable in “perspective.”
Strawman alert!
Please provide evidence of a pro-war Bush apologist saying everything is great in Iraq.
This will be hard… I only have about 3 seconds to devote to this. I’ll try.
Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter and LAURA INGRAHAM.
Thanks to the conservative posting here, we can see that victory is truly just around the corner. Now if only the media would stop reporting those other facts.
Our top story tonight; American forces today helped 4 old ladies across the street and got 6 kittys out of trees.
In other news, 3 of those old ladies and 2 cats were killed by a car bomb on the opposite side of the street.
Responding to the President’s criticism of the media coverage of Iraq, ABC’s Nightline, airs the story of an attempt to report on good news in Iraq.
After a day of covering the horrible violence in Iraq, ABC reporter Jake Tapper tried to find some lighter news. The ABC News team decided to cover a new Iraqi sitcom and the challenges of creating comedy for Iraqi television viewers.
The story quickly turned from good news to tragedy and fear as Jake’s contact, who was also the head of the entertainment division for Iraqi TV, was murdered during filming.
Jake Tapper concludes the story with these words: “And there went our effort to show comedians trying to make Iraqis smile again. It ended with the funeral of the man who helped us put the story together. A horrible, gruesome, perfect metaphor for daily life in Iraq.”
http://veredictum.com/
A horrible, gruesome, perfect metaphor for daily life in Iraq
There’s your value – free, judgmental reporting fromthe left again.
“There s your value – free, judgmental reporting fromthe left again.”
How would you characterize the event?
I would have ended the story with the words, “…story together.” I mught have added, “We’ll miss him.” What if I said the ending should be, “Yet another reason to stay here until everyone of those murderous bastards is exterminated.”
We learned about journalism in one of our high school lit courses (Pre – JFK assassination, when the World Went Mad), and lesson #1 was: “DO NOT editorialize in the copy!”