Despite the criticism and doom and gloom pictures painted by many naysayers about the condition of Iraq, the facts point to a completely different portrait of this country nearly five months after the topple of one the most evil regimes in history.
Many among the fourth estate (the news media) have tried to portray Iraq as a failure and a complete and utter mess. Several key "talking points" have resounded from media outlets. The main ignorant and misinformed rallying cries that are repeatedly brought up include that the conditions in Iraq are horrible and haven't improved at all since the fall of Saddam's regime; U.S. and Coalition soldiers are just barely keeping Iraq stable; and last but not least, Iraqis are disgusted with Americans and want the U.S. soldiers occupying the country to leave.
However, according to those who have actually visited Iraq in recent days, these allegations are totally false. A bipartisan Congressional delegation, comprised of seven members of the House Armed Services Committee traveled to Iraq in September. They returned with a different perception than the press was disseminating of the conditions of Iraq.
Some Democrats who were part of the delegation previously thought the war was a mirror image of Vietnam. When they returned, there was a definite change in tune -- they blamed the media for skewing their news reports. Representative Ike Skelton, D-Mo., commented, "The media stresses the wounds, the injuries, and the deaths, as they should, but for instance in Northern Iraq, Gen. [Dave] Petraeus has 3,100 projects -- from soccer fields to schools to refineries -- all good stuff and that isn't being reported."
Rep. Jim Marshall, D-Ga., a Vietnam veteran, who also journeyed to Iraq, wrote in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Sept. 22, "The falsely bleak picture the journalists are giving of Iraq today weakens our national resolve, discourages Iraqi cooperation and emboldens the enemy..." Rep. Marshall noted in his piece that the objective of the visit was to see for himself who was right -- the news media or the Department of Defense. He based some of his conclusions on his own personal interaction with the Iraqi people, who warmly received him, and U.S. troops, who expressed that their mission was "worth doing."
Talking point #2 was included in CBS Evening News anchor Dan Rather's script on Sept. 19. He began a news package with the following: "Ordinary Iraqis are faced with an extraordinary surge of crime, banditry and thuggery from carjacking and robbery to kidnapping and murder." And as an aside, he concluded, "A reminder that television sometimes has trouble with perspective. So you may want to note that in some areas of Iraq things are peaceful."
However, the story doesn't bother to actually report on what those "peaceful areas" may be. This obviously isn't the whole story. Saddam Hussein released prisoners just before the war broke out, and after the war they took to the streets and have looted homes and businesses. This is a remnant of Saddam's mess that U.S. and Coalition soldiers have to redress. What kind of progress have the forces made? The press, especially Dan Rather's report, would have you believe that it is minimal at best. In actuality, for starters, 42 of the 55 "Most Wanted" from the Iraqi "House of Cards" have been captured or killed. According to Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, 56,000 Iraqi citizens are currently members of the police, army and civil defense corps, or part of site protection or border control. Fourteen thousand are undergoing training. U.S. and Coalition forces in Iraq have finished 6,000 separate reconstruction projects, allowing all schools, universities, and hospitals to function normally.
Iraq is also on its way to democracy. A 25-member Governing Council has been formed. According to Secretary of State Colin Powell, a constitution could be drafted within the next six months. Local councils now govern the vast majority of Iraqi cities, towns, and villages (over 90 percent). Additionally, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported over the summer that number of independent newspapers in the city of Baghdad is between 70 and 100. During Saddam's reign, five state-controlled newspapers existed. Freedom of the press is a new concept that is being wildly embraced.
As for the opinions of the Iraqi citizens, a poll conducted by Zobgy International in August produced some revealing results. Those surveyed chose the United States as a model for a new Iraqi government over Syria, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Egypt. Another poll conducted by the United Kingdom's The Spectator disclosed that 76 percent of those polled wanted U.S. and British soldiers to stay in Iraq, while 13 percent wanted them to leave at once.
The true state of Iraq is not nearly as dismal as the media would have you believe. In fact, the picture is rather upbeat and optimistic.
(Whitney Blake is a Cavalier Daily viewpoint writer.)
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