"What's rising in Iraq is the spectre of American defeat and Iraqi chaos. We're are past the point when you could counter every article of which you disapprove by summoning Austin Bayfrom the bullpen for a positive spin, or seeking shelter in Winston Churchill's lion shadow, or being warned over and over that "failure is not an option" (yes, it is). We are past the point of listening to Joe Biden and others say we need more troops on the ground and more international cooperation. Neither cavalry is riding over the hill."
http://jameswolcott.com/archives/2005/07/sunday_bloody_s.php Sunday Bloody Sunday Posted by James Wolcott For months the Couch Potato Pattons have been telling us loud and clear that despite all the gloom-mongering, the US was doing better in Iraq than the loathed MSM was letting Americans know (Rich Lowry even was bold enough to issue a proclamation on the cover of the National Review cover story claiming, "We're Winning"), that there was a wealth of good news that was being deliberately unreported, and that our soldiers knew the real story, saw truer and deeper into what was happening than those elite editors in NY and DC vegetating behind their computer screens. Michael Graham, a rightwing radio host who has just returned with his fellow full mooners from the "Truth Tour" of Iraq, brought home the gospel he had heard in that troubled land to the readers of National Review Online. "Again and again, from 'white-collar' soldiers working in the relative safety of Camp Victory at the Baghdad airport to the "real" soldiers patrolling Route Irish (a.k.a the 'Highway of Death'), I heard that America and their Iraqi-army allies are winning the war against the insurgents. I was told again and again by the soldiers themselves that their (our) cause is just, the strategy is working, and the enemy they fight represents evil itself. "In other words, I heard things seldom heard on CBS or read in the pages of the New York Times." The Sunday pages of The New York Times must have brought Michael Graham only further confirmation that what he heard over there is the plain truth and what he reads over here is fancy hogwash. Denying the enveloping disaster in Iraq is how he maintains his membership in the marching band of useful idiots. Here's what was on Page One. "DEFYING U.S. EFFORTS, GUERILLAS IN IRAQ REFOCUS and STRENGTHEN" By DEXTER FILKINS and DAVID S. CLOUD Published: July 24, 2005 BAGHDAD, Iraq, July 23 "They just keep getting stronger. "Despite months of assurances that their forces were on the wane, the guerrillas and terrorists battling the American-backed enterprise here appear to be growing more violent, more resilient and more sophisticated than ever. "After concentrating their efforts for two and a half years on driving out the 138,000-plus American troops, the insurgents appear to be shifting their focus to the political and sectarian polarization of the country - apparently hoping to ignite a civil war - and to the isolation of the Iraqi government abroad. "And the insurgents are choosing their targets with greater precision, and executing and dramatizing their attacks with more sophistication than they have in the past." Here's what was in The Week in Review. "IF IT'S CIVIL WAR, DO WE KNOW IT? "By JOHN F. BURNS Published: July 24, 2005 BAGHDAD, Iraq "...events are pointing more than ever to the possibility that the nightmare could come true. Recent weeks have seen the insurgency reach new heights of sustained brutality. The violence is ever more centered on sectarian killings, with Sunni insurgents targeting hundreds of Shiite and Kurdish civilians in suicide bombings. There are reports of Shiite death squads, some with links to the interior ministry, retaliating by abducting and killing Sunni clerics and community leaders. The past 10 days have seen such a quickening of these killings, particularly by the insurgents, that many Iraqis are saying that the civil war has already begun." And then there's this, which came in after the other stories were filed. I'm going to type this very slowly and simply so that the Couch Potato Pattons can understand what I'm saying, even though I don't expect them to accept it. What's rising in Iraq is the spectre of American defeat and Iraqi chaos. We're are past the point when you could counter every article of which you disapprove by summoning Austin Bayfrom the bullpen for a positive spin, or seeking shelter in Winston Churchill's lion shadow, or being warned over and over that "failure is not an option" (yes, it is). We are past the point of listening to Joe Biden and others say we need more troops on the ground and more international cooperation. Neither cavalry is riding over the hill. Where the warbloggers are actively denying the spectre of defeat, the political talkshows are passively denying it. Today--Sunday--it was all about the Supreme Court nominee and the Plame leak and not much else. Understandable. But at what point will attention be paid to the full enormity of what's unraveling in Iraq? Or will it be like global warming, which Russert, Stephanopolous, Chris Wallace, and the rest ignore altogether, as if waiting for heatstroke deaths to dot the capital lawns before acknowledging something momentous is happening. They're still waiting for the memo that'll verify what any fool can see. 07.24.05 8:20PM -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. 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