There's plenty of tough news from Iraq, but don't forget to take in some of the encouraging news as well. Arthur Chrenkoff rounds up three weeks worth of often-overlooked reports, including this admonishment:
"You can't fix in six months what it took 35 years to destroy." These words, spoken by Ibrahim al-Jaafari, Iraq's first democratically elected Prime Minister in half a century, should be inscribed in 3-foot-tall characters as a preface to all the reporting from Iraq. Sadly, the underlying reality all too often seems to escape many reporters caught in the excitement of "now."
Power Line posts a front-line note from "Major E.," who is also concerned about public perception.
Yes, we are winning. Yes, it is bloody. But our mission is moving forward and the enemy's mission must constantly adapt to the pressure we are putting on them, and their tactic of killing more civilians is making the public more supportive of us, and less so of them.Posted by Alan at June 13, 2005 06:16 AMThe insurgents have fought to break the will of the troops and have failed. They have fought to break the will of the Iraqi people and failed. They will continue to attack both fronts, but there remains another strategic front that they are now targeting more and more. The insurgents, in my opinion, are now seeking to break the will of the American people.
To do this, they are using more car bombs which make great sound-bite visuals on television, but while the weapon is sometimes tactically effective it is strategically irrelevant.... These tactics cannot stop our mission here from moving forward, unless the frequency and manner in which they are reported makes the American people think we are not winning or that it is not worth the sacrifice.
Please do not let that happen. This is worth the fight.