The Progress Made & Hidden From View

Excellent article by a military member serving in Iraq from the WaPo today. I give them credit for actually allowing someone with firsthand experience of the situation in Iraq to voice his observations. This is Sgt Anthony Diaz who has been stationed in Baghdad since August of last year:

Since I arrived here last August, I have been struck by four things: the financial commitment we have made to reconstruction; the precipitous decline in violence; the inklings of representative government; and the small yet significant progress in communal relations between the mostly Shiite Iraqi army and the predominantly Sunni residents of this area. One often reads of the chaos plaguing Iraq. Yet the media accounts only infrequently seem to grasp the successes being achieved.

The troop surge has contributed more soldiers to this small but critical area of Baghdad. But the building of the Adhamiyah wall, coupled with the sea change in the population’s attitude toward the coalition, also contributed greatly to the decline in violence. And our squadron’s ability to capitalize on these changes has been equally powerful. Building a local security force has been a slow, painful process. The people’s change in attitude toward the coalition has led to more citizens providing soldiers with information on crime suspects and potential locations of roadside explosives and weapons caches. All these things have shaped the successes we are seeing daily.

Late last year, I witnessed something inspirational in a rather unlikely setting: an ordinary neighborhood advisory council meeting. Attendance was the highest I had yet seen, with about 40 prominent locals present. The coalition was represented by our squadron commander, a few colonels from the embedded provincial reconstruction team and a political officer from the U.S. Embassy. Discussions ranged from the persistent lack of electricity to sewage problems to economic development. What struck me were the comments of some Sunni workers from the district’s power station, who came to complain that the (mostly Shiite) Iraqi army had mistreated them and accused them of distorting the distribution of electric power, something over which these workers have little control. The men said they would strike until they received better treatment and pleaded with the council chairman, a Sunni, for help. That was an unlikely outcome, given the entrenched animosity between Shiites and Sunnis and the lack of substantive political reconciliation even at the highest levels of government here. But these men did something many Americans would take for granted: They voiced grievances and sought assistance. These are the seeds of representative government, citizens coming forth and demanding change from their representatives. Much work remains to be done, but we have clearly made a start.

Its a small first step for the MSM to allow this type of reporting but will we see more of it?

I sure hope so but I highly doubt it.

There may be a few articles here and there but the main storyline must remain the same. Iraq is a failure, the cost was too high, blah blah blah…..they understand that its working in Iraq but if they printed this type of thing daily then voters will question those politicians who have run on the Iraq is lost, Iraq was wrong meme, including Hillary, Obama, Pelosi, Reid and Murtha. This is the MSM’s power base and it cannot be lost.

Its all well and good to point out some of the failings of the Iraqi government. General Petreaus has recently said that they are moving to slow in reconciliation, but the MSM chooses to ignore the fact that the Iraqi infrastructure is progressing well, that Iraqi oil is flowing again, that the violence is down, and that the enemy is being beaten at every corner by not printing anything about Iraq. No bad news, so the stories are thrown on the back pages which is pretty much the same as ignoring it.

But hey, I give them credit for this one…..lets hope we see more of it.

Curt

See author page