A Real Report from Iraq, Real Questions Too

Most would agree that the Americans now know exactly what they are doing. They have a brilliant and savvy ambassador and a top diplomatic team. Their bases are expertly run and secured, where food, accommodations, and troop morale are excellent. Insufficient body armor and unarmored humvees are yesterday’s hysteria. Our generals — Casey, Chiarelli, Dempsey — are astute and understand the fine line between using too much force and not employing enough, and that the war cannot be won by force alone. American colonels are the best this county has produced, and they are proving it in Iraq under the most trying of conditions. Iraqi soldiers are treated with respect and given as much autonomy as their training allows...the question now is an existential one: Can the United States — or anyone — in the middle of a war against Islamic fascism, rebuild the most important country in the heart of the Middle East, after 30 years of utter oppression, three wars, and an Orwellian, totalitarian dictator warping of the minds of the populace?...
...Victor Davis Hanson, 'Standoff in Iraq: the IED vs. Democracy, National Review Online

Had enough of the Kerry-Rather bleary blather? Can't take any more of the severed- head-in-the-street story from Baghdad? Don't know what to say or ask about American action in Iraq?

The first thing to do is to turn off CNN, NBC, CBS, PBS, ABC. Sure, they're nice fellows there, wearing nice suits with ties perfectly matched to the scanning problems of a TV camera. Sure they make a lot of money. Yeah, they have really authoritative voices. And they sure do select the most exciting pictures from their stringers in the field. It's the copy, friend.

To write good copy about Iraq, you have to know something about the stakes, about what Iraq really is, and what Iraqis are really like. It's good to have done good research in what Americans are talking about as far as Iraq goes. It might help also if you were an historian.

There's no point in playing off Victor Davis Hanson's story, who has all of those credentials in addition to being a fine prose writer. Just click on the link in the quote and read the story. You'll feel better in the morning.

Luther