Blatant Reality

The Pew Research Center recently did a poll that found that almost half of Americans view the military progress in Iraq proceeding either very or fairly well. This is up 18% from February when only 30% held this view. When asked if they felt we were defeating the insurgents in Iraq, 43% answered yes, we are making progress. This is also an increase from the February result of only 30%. However, this seemingly increase in support for the military didn’t translate into any more support for keeping the troops stationed in Iraq. The percentage of those who feel we should bring our troops home has hovered around 54% for the past 10 months.

Well, the bright side is that people are finally beginning to see that we can actually make some progress in Iraq. If this progress continues, people just may change their minds and support keeping our troops in Iraq at least until we can successfully and peacefully hand over power to the Iraqis. Whatever happens in Iraq in the coming months, though, may very well influence the outcome of the election next year which, in turn, will dictate our future actions in Iraq. I, for one, am praying for progress.

Gateway Pundit is calling on everyone to hold TIME magazine responsible for not retracting or at least acknowledging the false reporting concerning “20 headless bodies” story. If you go to his post, the email address of TIME magazine’s editor is given so you can express you disappointment in their lack of reporting integrity.

Gateway Pundit has once again put together some nice charts that illustrate a decline in monthly casualties in Iraq. In fact, October has had the fewest casualties in the past 2 years. This is promising news but it still may be too early to determine if this is a steady trend.

In his blog today, Chuck Norris commented on America’s inability to fight a prolonged war and why Huckabee would be a good choice to continue the War on Terror.

It’s unfortunate that it seems America can no longer fight a war it can’t win in a minimal amount of time. We don’t have the patience we used to. God forbid we get into a war that requires our perseverance before our preference to finish. Is that not where we are today with the war on terror?

As a commander-in-chief, Huckabee will persevere. Why? He explains, “Withdrawal would have serious strategic consequences for us and horrific humanitarian consequences for the Iraqis.” And for Americans too, as our absence from the Middle East region will leave a vacuum for someone to fill – and the likely candidate to fill that hole will be an enemy of the state.

I do believe Huckabee would be a good choice both for the humanitarian and security aspects that this War on Terror involves.

Mrs. Ginger Gilbert, who’s husband was shot down in Iraq, denounces the way the MSM only puts a negative spin on the situation in Iraq.

In his latest dispatch, Michael Yon laments how much the world’s media is to blame for the continuation of false stereotypes of the present situation in Iraq.

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.

He pledges to focus on the success that has been achieved in southern Iraq in his next couple dispatches. He is also in the process of totally revamping his website and is need of extra money for that project. You can donate money to support his independent reporting here. Remember, he isn’t affiliated to any news agency so he can report what stories he wants and without any editor taking anything out. This, however, puts him at a financial disadvantage so, if you appreciate his stories, show it.

Australia’s Prime Minister announced yesterday to keep their troops in Iraq.

Prime Minister John Howard pledged forcefully today not to reduce the number of Australian troops serving in Iraq despite growing calls in his country to withdraw.

 

“Australian soldiers will remain in Iraq . . . not based on any calendar but based on conditions on the ground,” Howard said during a joint news conference with President Bush. “We believe that progress is being made in Iraq, and we do not believe this is any time to signal a scaling down of Australian forces.

After actually going to Iraq and seeing the progress going on there, Representative Baird now opposes plans for a withdrawal timeline.

The Washington Democrat, who voted against the Iraq war resolution in 2002, now opposes a timeline for withdrawal of U.S. troops from that country.

 

Anti-war constituents at a town hall meeting Monday night repeatedly questioned Baird’s reasons for supporting the Bush administration’s decision to continue the “surge” of 30,000 additional troops at least until next spring.

 

“There is only one way to end an illegal and immoral war, and that’s to end it,” said Zamme Joi, an anti-war activist from Vancouver. Joi was among several activists who noted that they helped elect Baird to office in 1998 and continued to re-elect him in a congressional district that twice voted for President Bush. They called his position to support the war now a betrayal.

 

In May, Baird supported a bill that would have required troop levels to start falling by Oct. 1. But his perspective changed after a visit to Iraq in early August.

 

He now opposes a withdrawal timeline — and said he thinks that most of the country agrees with him.

Now some people may see this as a flip-flop, but I think it takes a lot of guts to stand up to the anti-war protesters. Since he has actually been to Iraq and has talked to the leaders over there, he should know a lot better than protesters what is actually going on. Because he has been a strong opponent of the war from the beginning, it should speak wonders that he thinks that now we should stay as long as it is needed because we have “a moral responsibility to the Iraqi people.” As long as he doesn’t flip flop back to supporting withdrawal timelines, I think that I won’t mind having some respect for this guy.

Joseph Bell, in an article on OpinionEditorials.com, lamented over America’s politicians inability to see what a premature withdrawal from Iraq would do to the credibility of our War on Terror.

What is lost in the debate about timetables, withdrawal and the effectiveness of the government in Baghdad is the overriding reality that there is a war going on in Iraq and the conclusion of that war will determine in large part the shape of the Middle East, the next phase of the war against the global terrorism network, the strength and influence of al Qaeda and America’s leadership role on the international stage.

 

During an August 22 speech in Kansas City, Missouri, President Bush said America’s enemies have a firm understanding of history. He said, “In an interview with a Pakistani newspaper after the 9/11 attacks, Osama bin Laden declared that ‘the American people had risen against their government’s war in Vietnam. And they must do the same today.’ …Here at home some can argue our withdrawal from Vietnam carried no price to American credibility – but the terrorists see it differently.”

 

No doubt America’s enemies also remember that in the aftermath of Washington’s abandonment of Vietnam, America’s adversaries sprang into action across the globe. Max Boot, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, recently observed, “In the late 1970s America’s enemies seized power in countries from Mozambique to Iran to Nicaragua. American hostages were seized aboard the SS Mayaguez (off Cambodia) and in Tehran. The Red Army invaded Afghanistan. It is impossible to prove the connection with the Vietnam War, but there is little doubt that the enfeeblement of a superpower encouraged our enemies to undertake acts of aggression that they might have otherwise shied away from.”

 

There are a number of parallels between Vietnam and Iraq. In the case of Vietnam, American politicians forced a withdrawal of U.S. forces at a time when South Vietnam was becoming able to defend itself with negligible U.S. ground support. Boot wrote that by 1972 much of the South was considered secure and South Vietnamese forces were able to turn back the Easter Offensive with U.S. air support but with minimal U.S. ground assistance.

 

Boot concluded, rightly, “The danger is that American politicians will prematurely pull the plug in Iraq as they did in Vietnam. If they do so, the consequences will be even worse since Iraq is much more important strategically than Vietnam ever was

Today, Pajamas Media published an article by Richard Miniter concerning Scott Thomas Beauchamp, otherwise known as the “Baghdad Diarist.” In the article, Miniter interviews an ex-fiancée of Beauchamp who is living living near an army base in Germany.

By age 23, he had been engaged three times to three different women whom he did not marry.

 

Or consider his relationship with the Army. Priscilla writes: “He hates the army. The only reason he joined was because he wanted to have more experience to write about.”

 

Oddly he was secretive about his intentions to serve his country. “He didn’t even tell his mom he joined in the army. One day before basic training he left a note on the table for her…”

 

It is telling that he did not talk to her face-to-face, but simply made his admission and vanished.

 

He is manipulative. “He is very charming and he can convince people very good and he tries to make his side very clear.”

 

He is ambitious. “He always wanted to become a writer and he has a huge imagination,” Pricilla writes, without irony.

 

In another email, she notes: “He always wanted to write for The New Republic and so he thought the ‘Iraqi Diary’ is a good start and he could keep writing for them after that.”