LTC Tim Ryan feels strongly that the press is missing much of the story in Iraq, particularly the good stuff and happy news. He got a piece published yesterday in the World Tribune.
This paragraph from his article reads like something out of Platoon or Apocalypse Now:
From where I sit in Iraq, things are not all bad right now. In fact, they are going quite well. We are not under attack by the enemy; on the contrary, we are taking the fight to him daily and have him on the ropes. In the distance, I can hear the repeated impacts of heavy artillery and five-hundred-pound bombs hitting their targets. The occasional tank main gun report and the staccato rhythm of a Marine Corps LAV or Army Bradley Fighting Vehicle’s 25-millimeter cannon provide the bass line for a symphony of destruction. (emphasis my own)
Here is a postscript from the Tim Ryan article:
Postscript: I have had my staff aggressively pursue media coverage for all sorts of events that tell the other side of the story only to have them turned down or ignored by the press in Baghdad. Strangely, I found it much easier to lure the Arab media to a “non-lethal” event than the western outlets. Open a renovated school or a youth center and I could always count on Al-Iraqia or even Al-Jazeera to show up, but no western media ever showed up — ever. Now I did have a pretty dangerous sector, the Abu Ghuraib district that extends from western Baghdad to the outskirts of Fallujah (not including the prison), but it certainly wasn’t as bad as Fallujah in November and there were reporters in there.
I think it is great that LTC Ryan is sharing his views and perspectives on the better side of the invasion, as he sees it.
This “symphony of destruction” line though is jostling around in my head.
— Steve Clemons
(ed. note: thanks to JP for forwarding this.)
