A week or so ago, the swing in the media was people coming back from Iraq saying the situation on the ground was much better than the media was portraying. (The US media. I'm sure in Europe they were saying the US media was only painting a rosy picture).
Now, the sky is falling.
I have been disgusted with the media throughout the 1990s and increasingly so, because the news value has been lost.
What happened to investigative reporting? 60 Minutes backing off a story on the tobacco companies a few years ago is just one sign of the death of real journalism.
News in the US has become pop corn or cotton candy journalism. It is shallow and with a short attention span.
Anyway, back to Iraq, the war began when? And how long did major fighting take place?
For myself, I'm THRILLED......thrilled beyond belief......no gas or biological or other chemical weapons were used! That seemed like a real almost 50/50 posibility before the war began.
I was also worried about a few months......M-O-N-T-H-S.......of bloody street to street fighting through the larger Iraqi cities, especially Bagahdad.
I was afraid both for the Iraqis and the US, because I figured the fear of US deaths would case a go slow approach where we blasted street by street away before sending too many troops down it, thus causing a much higher civilian death rate.
But what happened? The war was over before anybody seriously considered with less death and destruction on both sides than anybody ever expected.
But the media has moved on from hinting at a quagmire with any perceived set back in the actual war to saying we are in a quagmire with each pro-Hussein or insurgent strike....
Its too short sighted....
For Pete's sake, we're still in Bosnia!
We're still sitting in South Korea! We still have training deaths in Korea!!
Of course security needs to improve in Iraq, but who in the world thought Iraq was going to be a peaceful, no attacks what-so-ever place ---- at this point in the timeline ---- before military action took place?
Who in their right mind could possibly be saying Iraq should have already been completely pacified by now!?!?
But that isn't what they are saying, is it?
No......that is the slick-ness of the media and pundits (I guess like myself) these days.....
Anyway, back to Iraq, the war began when? And how long did major fighting take place?
For myself, I'm THRILLED......thrilled beyond belief......no gas or biological or other chemical weapons were used! That seemed like a real almost 50/50 posibility before the war began.
I was also worried about a few months......M-O-N-T-H-S.......of bloody street to street fighting through the larger Iraqi cities, especially Bagahdad.
I was afraid both for the Iraqis and the US, because I figured the fear of US deaths would case a go slow approach where we blasted street by street away before sending too many troops down it, thus causing a much higher civilian death rate.
But what happened? The war was over before anybody seriously considered with less death and destruction on both sides than anybody ever expected.
But the media has moved on from hinting at a quagmire with any perceived set back in the actual war to saying we are in a quagmire with each pro-Hussein or insurgent strike....
Its too short sighted....
For Pete's sake, we're still in Bosnia!
We're still sitting in South Korea! We still have training deaths in Korea!!
Of course security needs to improve in Iraq, but who in the world thought Iraq was going to be a peaceful, no attacks what-so-ever place ---- at this point in the timeline ---- before military action took place?
Who in their right mind could possibly be saying Iraq should have already been completely pacified by now!?!?
But that isn't what they are saying, is it?
No......that is the slick-ness of the media and pundits (I guess like myself) these days.....
When you hear people saying the Bush administration didn't have a plan for post-Iraq construction and each new attack there proves it.....
they aren't about to unveil for your years a logical, realistic plan of their own that shows how they would have already pacified all of Iraq or how they could do it if in power right now.....
No.....you won't hear a plan out of them altogether.
---big sigh---
This isn't a political issue for me. I'm not beating up on the press and others because I want to defend Bush.
I was neutral on Iraq before the war. I hated the no-fly zones as bullshit politician's non-answer answer. They were meant to protect the ethnic groups north and south. But if we cared that much about them, we should have finished the first war in Iraq.
they aren't about to unveil for your years a logical, realistic plan of their own that shows how they would have already pacified all of Iraq or how they could do it if in power right now.....
No.....you won't hear a plan out of them altogether.
---big sigh---
This isn't a political issue for me. I'm not beating up on the press and others because I want to defend Bush.
I was neutral on Iraq before the war. I hated the no-fly zones as bullshit politician's non-answer answer. They were meant to protect the ethnic groups north and south. But if we cared that much about them, we should have finished the first war in Iraq.
But what would have happened if we removed the no-fly zones and those groups had been attacked and slaughtered???
I was not against the war in Iraq, because I figured we'd have to fight them one day in the future anyway. Hussein or his sons or group were not going to lose power. Eventually, the no-fly zones and sanctions would have to be lifted. And it was most probable he would attack a neighbor, because he still had regional ambitions.
And if he moved for Saudi Arabia, ever industrial nation on earth would have told the UN (read US) "you have to stop this aggression!" because of ---- yes ---- oil.
But most of all, right now, what drives me nuts is how people either pretend war is a Sunday morning football day ---- something that should begin after church and end around 11 PM the same day ---- or they are really stupid enough to believe it is within the power of even the world's most powerful nation to pacify a nation like Iraq virtually overnight.
And to close, one thing I can't get through my thick skull is why the media is so obsessed with "how slow" and "poorly" things are going in Iraq.....
when they have Afghanistan right over there to look at.
Things in Iraq are like Christmas compared to Afghanistan.
The chances of ultimate success in Iraq right now are 1,000,000 to 1 compared to Afghanistan.
There has been some progress in Afghanistan, but it is by far still a very uphill climb there and a big fat mess.
I would not bet any of my money Afghanistan won't still be a huge problem in 10 years.
But I'd take out a loan from the mob to bet Iraq will be much better off.
I was not against the war in Iraq, because I figured we'd have to fight them one day in the future anyway. Hussein or his sons or group were not going to lose power. Eventually, the no-fly zones and sanctions would have to be lifted. And it was most probable he would attack a neighbor, because he still had regional ambitions.
And if he moved for Saudi Arabia, ever industrial nation on earth would have told the UN (read US) "you have to stop this aggression!" because of ---- yes ---- oil.
But most of all, right now, what drives me nuts is how people either pretend war is a Sunday morning football day ---- something that should begin after church and end around 11 PM the same day ---- or they are really stupid enough to believe it is within the power of even the world's most powerful nation to pacify a nation like Iraq virtually overnight.
And to close, one thing I can't get through my thick skull is why the media is so obsessed with "how slow" and "poorly" things are going in Iraq.....
when they have Afghanistan right over there to look at.
Things in Iraq are like Christmas compared to Afghanistan.
The chances of ultimate success in Iraq right now are 1,000,000 to 1 compared to Afghanistan.
There has been some progress in Afghanistan, but it is by far still a very uphill climb there and a big fat mess.
I would not bet any of my money Afghanistan won't still be a huge problem in 10 years.
But I'd take out a loan from the mob to bet Iraq will be much better off.