This falls in the same category of manipulation of the news that Gates and reporters engaged in earlier in his visit to Iraq. Several U.S. troops told Gates they needed more help (i.e. more troops in Iraq). That was NOT a scientific sampling of the U.S. troops' sentiments regarding escalating this war. They were mere testimonials but when reported over and over it amounts to building a false consensus of opinion that the U.S. troops in Iraq are in favor of Bush sending more U.S. troops which is what Bush intended to do all along.
Lackadaisical and sloppy U.S. news coverage of this war amounts to the press being in bed with Bush. We don't need the press to be cheerleaders. We need the press to accurately report on this war. According to Jessica Tucker Matthews of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, the press lags six months behind in reporting the actual situation on the ground in Iraq. It is far worse than ordinary Americans comprehend.
TWO news stories below. The first gives a false impression. The second reports the story accurately.
New Pentagon chief briefs Bush on Iraq
quote:
By JENNIFER LOVEN, Associated Press Writer
6:26 pm EST Sat 23 Dec 2006
President Bush, drafting an overhaul of his faltering and unpopular war plan, heard Saturday from a Pentagon chief who had just returned from Iraq with a positive impression of Iraqi leaders' plans to address sectarian violence.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates finished his first week on the job by delivering a report to Bush on the three days he spent talking with Iraqi leaders, U.S. commanders and American soldiers. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Peter Pace, who traveled with Gates to Iraq, helped make the presentation.
The early-morning meeting at Camp David in Maryland's mountains lasted about an hour. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, national security adviser Stephen Hadley and Hadley's deputy, J.D. Crouch, who is coordinating the administration's Iraq review, also participated.~~~snip~~~
While in Baghdad, Gates did praise Iraqi leaders for having "some concrete plans in mind" to deal with the deadly militias that have brought the country to the brink of civil war between the Shiite majority and Sunni minority.
Shiite cleric won't support coalition
quote:Gates briefs Bush on Iraq visit
By QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA, Associated Press Writer
11:10 am EST Sat 23 Dec 2006
Iraq's most revered Shiite cleric withheld support Saturday for a U.S.-backed plan to build a coalition across sectarian lines, Shiite lawmakers said, jeopardizing hopes that such a show of political unity could help stem the country's deadly violence.
Members of the United Iraqi Alliance, the Shiite coalition that dominates parliament, met with Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani in Najaf after traveling to the holy city over the past few days. Al-Sistani holds no political post and rarely emerges from his home and adjacent office, but he has strong influence over Shiite politics.
Some members of the Shiite alliance have sought a coalition that would include Kurds and Sunnis, and sideline Muqtada al-Sadr, the radical Shiite cleric whose militia is blamed for much of Iraq's sectarian violence. Lawmakers who attended the meeting with al-Sistani said the cleric opposed any move that would divide Shiites.
"There are obstacles in the face of forming this coalition, because al-Sistani does not support it. So we will work to strengthen the (Shiite) alliance," said Hassan al-Sunnaid, of the Dawa Party of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
Ali al-Adib, also a Dawa Party member, said al-Sistani "does not support such blocs because they will break Shiite unity."
An official close to al-Sistani, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media, said the cleric "will not bless nor support any new bloc or front. He only supports the unity of the Shiites."
Such a development could frustrate U.S.-backed efforts to persuade Iraq's political leaders to set aside sectarian interests and work together for the sake of national unity. Without progress in Iraqi politics, some observers say, the security situation in the country is likely to remain tenuous.
Al-Maliki, the Shiite prime minister, had relied heavily on the support of al-Sadr, whose 30 loyalists in the 275-seat parliament and six ministers in the 38-member Cabinet boycotted politics after al-Maliki met Bush in Jordan recently.
Al-Sadr's walkout revealed the depth of division within the 130-seat Shiite bloc in parliament, where some lawmakers who are viewed as moderate have grown weary of the radical cleric's confrontational tactics. Al-Sistani is also believed to be uncomfortable with the younger al-Sadr, a firebrand whose fighters waged battles against American troops that left parts of Najaf in ruins.
After meeting al-Sistani, the Shiite lawmakers visited al-Sadr. The cleric has agreed to allow his supporters to rejoin the government, officials close to him have said. Their walkout had prevented the government from passing laws, creating a political deadlock alongside a deteriorating security environment.
"Our meeting with Muqtada al-Sadr was successful and fruitful. There were common points of understanding between us, and we assured the unity of the (United Iraqi) Alliance," said Khaled al-Attiya, an independent who is parliament's deputy speaker.
"He will give his final decision to rejoin the government and parliament after Eid al-Adha," al-Attiya said, referring to the Islamic calendar's most important holiday, which Iraq's Shiites will celebrate from Dec. 31 to Jan. 4.
However, the meeting ended with one Dawa party participant saying only that it was "constructive."
~~~snip~~~
quote:
Last Updated: Saturday, 23 December 2006, 19:07 GMT - BBC News
New US Defence Secretary Robert Gates has briefed President George W Bush about his recent trip to Iraq, as the White House considers a policy shift.
Mr Gates went to the presidential retreat at Camp David, near Washington, to report on his three days in Iraq.
Mr Bush has conceded that the US is not winning in Iraq, and sent Mr Gates to assess the situation on the ground.
The defence secretary said Iraqi leaders had "concrete plans" to end escalating sectarian violence.
In the New Year President Bush is expected to announce a short-term increase in US forces in Iraq.
White House spokesman Tony Snow told reporters on Wednesday that such a deployment was "something that's being explored".
~~~snip~~~
No comments:
Post a Comment