Oct 23 2007
Michael Yon on Iraq Misinformation
Crystal clear words from Michael Yon.
Resistance is futile: You will be (mis)informed
A gulf.
A gap.
A chasm.
A parallel universe.
All describe the bizarro-world contrast between what most Americans seem to think is happening in Iraq versus what is really happening in Iraq. Knowing this disconnect exists and experiencing it directly are two separate matters. It’s like the difference between holding the remote control during the telecast of a volcanic eruption on some distant island (and then flipping the channel), versus running for survival from a wretch of molten lava that just engulfed your car.
I was at home in the United States just one day before the magnitude hit me like vertigo: America seems to be under a glass dome which allows few hard facts from the field to filter in unless they are attached to a string of false assumptions. Considering that my trip home coincided with General Petraeus’ testimony before the US Congress, when media interest in the war was (I’m told) unusually concentrated, it’s a wonder my eardrums didn’t burst on the trip back to Iraq. In places like Singapore, Indonesia, and Britain people hardly seemed to notice that success is being achieved in Iraq, while in the United States, Britney was competing for airtime with O.J. in one of the saddest sideshows on Earth.
No thinking person would look at last year’s weather reports to judge whether it will rain today, yet we do something similar with Iraq news. The situation in Iraq has drastically changed, but the inertia of bad news leaves many convinced that the mission has failed beyond recovery, that all Iraqis are engaged in sectarian violence, or are waiting for us to leave so they can crush their neighbors. This view allows our soldiers two possible roles: either “victim caught in the crossfire” or “referee between warring parties.” Neither, rightly, is tolerable to the American or British public.
Today I am in Iraq, back in a war of such strategic consequence that it will affect generations yet unborn—whether or not they want it to. Hiding under the covers will not work, because whether it is good news or bad, whether it is true or untrue, once information is widely circulated, it has such formidable inertia that public opinion seems impervious to the corrective balm of simple and clear facts
Please. Go and read the rest. Read there often. Read the truth the media won’t report.
More reactions at: Confederate Yankee, Weekly Standard, The Jawa Report, The Strata-Sphere, Captain’s Quarters, Say Anything, Hot Air, The Anchoress, Macsmind, Stop The ACLU, Daily Pundit, QandO, protein wisdom, The Tank, Bookworm Room, JammieWearingFool, Balloon Juice, BLACKFIVE, Take Our Country Back, Secular Blasphemy, FreeSpeech.com and Pundit Review
9 Responses to “Michael Yon on Iraq Misinformation”
Leave a Reply
You can track future comments on this post via this RSS feed. You can trackback this post by pinging this URL.
Allowed HTML: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>
The Knucklehead of the Day award…
Today’s winner is Lisa Montgomery….
What’s the holdup?…
While I have no trouble believing these bribes took place, Governor Mendoza saying he has a witness doesn’t prove anything yet. Not unless Panadero steps forward. Which he’s liable not to do, because of the implications to his career.
Philippine p…
Hillary Rodham Clinton Reaches 50% Unfavorable Rating, Up From 46%…
Hillary a Shoo-in? Not hardly, especially if this new poll demonstrates where her real numbers fall .
Half of US voters say never to Hillary: poll
Hillary Clinton may be the Democratic Party’s 2008 presidential front-runner but she also top…
Nostrildamus Convicts Blackwater of Tax Evasion..He Should Let The IRS In On It!…
According to Congressman Waxman’s website: Evidence of Tax Evasion by Blackwater. Too bad the truth differs from his wishes. As the website On Deadline points out:
Blackwater spokeswoman Anne Tyrrell said in an e-mail statement to the Associat…
Clinton Spells Defeat…
…the concern that the Queen of Cringe will all but destroy chances for Dems in other races.
……
Iraq Good News: MSM Finds The Black Lining…
Earlier, Captain Ed wrote about many of the major media outlets ignoring a story that is good news from Iraq, namely a dramatic decline in violence in Iraq.
Violence in Iraq has dropped by 70 percent since the end of June, when U.S. forces completed th…
American Islamic Forum for Democracy News…
I understand the reluctance some may have to reading any of these articles, but this is the voice you have all been denied to hear. The voice you’ve been seeking. You ask, “Where are the Muslims speakint out against this?” He has been speaking out s…
Children Detach From Natural World As They Explore The Virtual One…
What I find most tragic about this is I see no adults look for the right person to blame. In the mirror….
Suspicious Activity At California Fire Stations…
There’s no evidence of a terror related arson associated with the recent Southern California Wildfires, but the possibility shouldn’t be dismissed. This happened a month ago in Northern California.During the last week of July, fire officials in the B…