Read Between the Lines
If you've heard anything out of Iraq in the last two weeks, most likely it's been about the renewed violence stemming from the "Mahdi Army," which is led by Shiite Cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.
The media did it's typical mangling of the statistics, citing the number of people killed and using phrases like "U.S. forces failed to stop the attacks." - doing everything possible to make it look like the situation was grave for the U.S. and new Iraqi forces involved. This is an election year, after all.
Let's look at one example though, and use it as a lesson for how to read the mainstream news out of Iraq. For the sake of simplicity, I'll forego ridiculously biased reports like this one and pick on one that is just poorly written. The excerpts below are from this AP story by Kim Gamel.
Despite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's ultimatum Wednesday, government troops in Basra were having trouble making inroads into neighborhoods that the radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army has controlled for years. Residents spoke of militiamen using mortar shells, sniper fire, roadside bombs and rocket-propelled grenades to fight off security forces.
Translation: Iraqi government forces in Basra were experiencing something that is known in military circles as "fighting". The criminal elements had weapons. (fortunately, so did the government troops. This is sometimes called "battle.")
"Having trouble making inroads" makes it sound like they were losing, however, which we'll see was not the case.
Street battles that broke out Tuesday in Basra and Baghdad's main Shiite district of Sadr City spread to several other neighborhoods and southern cities, leaving nearly 140 dead, including civilians, Iraqi security forces and militants.
Do you notice the problem with this statement? As Jack Kelly points out, this is like reporting on a baseball game that "11 runs were scored." It tells you nothing of who won.
To figure that out, you have to read other media simply look further down in the AP article:
Essam Abbas, a 31-year-old barber in western Basra, said "the Mahdi Army controls an Iraqi army base in the area because Iraqi troops fled the scene, leaving their vehicles and weapons."
He said supplies of food and drinking water were running short.
So the insurgents were able to take over an Iraqi training base, but were soon running short on vital supplies. Couple that with the later reports that Al-Sadr called for a cease fire.
Translation: You don't ask for a cease-fire if you are winning.
If you want to see for yourself, watch this video of U.S. and Iraqi forces "taking it to the streets" in Sadr city and decide for yourself if it looks like they were losing.
Keep in mind that Sadr is currently in hiding in Iran, and his troops are.no, WERE receiving much of their arms and ammo from the Iranians. So if the reports that they "won by quitting" are true, then it's not a stretch to infer that the measures being taken by U.S. and Iraqi forces to close the Iranian border are working. Watch CBN News next week for a report I put together on that effort.
When the cease fire happened, much of the journalists went on to other business. Fortunately the Iraqi and American forces stayed on task, and have continued to press the advantage against criminal elements in Baghdad and Basra. On Sunday, U.S. troops found the largest cache Explosively Formed Penetrators (read: Iranian-supplied weapons) ever, south of Baghdad. They have cordoned off Sadr city and are continuing to whittle away at the remnants of the Mahdi Army.
Lt Col Oliver North points out that a year ago, the Iraqi government would not have been able to pull off the operation in Basra, which saw over 40,000 Iraqi troops called into the fight. Read between the lines: that's progress. And on April 1, Iraqi troops marched into the center of Basra while over 1,000 men showed up at the local Iraqi Army Recruiting center to volunteer.
Looks like these Iraqi men don't need the media manglers to tell them who is winning. They live there, and are lining up to join the winners. It doesn't take a magician to understand that.
Chuck Holton
www.livefire.us