Some good news from Iraq

[Caligastia]

Uuuhhh...thanks Arrian...I guess...

[Arrian]

The key to the whole thing? Starting assumptions/biases.

The first article is written by someone who supported the war. He thinks it was a good idea. Therefore, he accentuates the positive.

The Guardian writer was anti-war. His position is clearly stated at the end:

None of these problems is a surprise. An enterprise that was misconceived from the beginning was hardly going to reach a smooth end.

Thus: it was a bad idea, and thus of course it is failing. With that starting viewpoint, of course he's going to write negative articles on Iraq.

In short, both pieces are opinion pieces written by people with very clear biases.

-Arrian

[lord of the mark]

"a throbbing hub of terror. Islamists bent on murder, all but non-existent in Saddam's Iraq, are now flocking to the country, from Syria, Iran and across the Arab world. In the way that hippies used to head for San Francisco, jihadists are surging towards Baghdad. For those eager to strike at the US infidel, Iraq is the place to be: a shooting gallery, with Americans in easy firing range. Afghanistan is perilous terrain, but Iraq is open country. For the Islamist hungry for action, there are rich pickings. "


I thought the terrain in afghanistan was supposed to be the best place to beat the americans, just as the Soviets and Brits were beaten in the past.

In fact theres no particular evidence that many US troops have been killed by AQ - most attacks on AQ have been by Baathists. AQ is more implicated in the attack on the UN, Jordan embassy, and on Hakim. Why go after them if Americans are in easy firing range?

Answer - the American strategy - to build an Iraqi democracy as a first step to transforming the region - this is AQ's nightmare. They take it seriously, even if most in the West dont. And theyre throwing everything theyve got into Iraq to stop it.

Thats why this is the battle we have to win - as Howard Dean has said.

[Caligastia]

Originally posted by Arrian
In short, both pieces are opinion pieces written by people with very clear biases.

With the bias of most on this forum so painfully apparent, I thought I'd inject some positivity into the Iraq discussion.

[lord of the mark]

heres some more "newsy" good news, from AFP

"With the handover, the provinces of Karbala and Babil will be under Polish command. Najaf and al-Qadisiyah will be under Spanish control and the province of Wasit will be under Ukrainian command. The areas lie in a zone marked out by the coalition between Baghdad and the southern city of Basra.


In another ceremony back in Baghdad, most of the 25 members of Iraq's first post-Saddam cabinet were sworn in, in a step welcomed around the world as progress in efforts to restore Iraq's sovereignty.


Each ministry will continue to be supervised by a coalition-appointed advisor, most of whom are American, and Paul Bremer, the top US official in Iraq, will retain overall authority until an elected government is in place, scheduled for next year at the earliest.


Bremer, who attended the ceremony, has pledged that the interim cabinet would exercise real control in running the government.


On the ground, forces of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan arrested three suspected members of Ansar al-Islam in the northern city of Kirkuk. All three were carrying suitcases packed with TNT.


Their arrest was confirmation of repeated warnings by Bremer, who has said some of the group's members have returned to Iraq to plot attacks after fleeing briefly to Iran during the war.


Kurdish forces also arrested five former members of the Baath party north of Kirkuk suspected of being responsible for an attack on an office of the Kurdistan Democratic Party.


Residents in Baquba, 66 kilometers (40 miles) northeast of Baghdad, said US forces had arrested an army general of the former regime, identified as Nassaif Jassem al-Samarrai, and his son in a raid on their house. "

[Caligastia]

Thanks Lord of the Mark.

[lord of the mark]

and then theres this:

"Mortar bombs were fired at the U.S. military base in Saddam Hussein's home town of Tikrit Wednesday and U.S. troops surged out in Humvees and armored vehicles to repel the attackers, Reuters witnesses said.


There were no immediate reports of American casualties in the firefight which lasted around 15 minutes but U.S. forces said they thought at least one Iraqi was killed.

"That was beautiful, best firefight I've ever seen," said Sgt. Gilbert Nail, from Oklahoma.

U.S. officers said six mortars flew over the base which occupies Saddam's former palace on the banks of the river Tigris and landed in empty lots in the city.

A reconnaissance unit on patrol was the first to engage the attackers and U.S. Humvees backed by Bradley fighting vehicles and Apache helicopters rushed to join the fight. They were fired on by rocket propelled grenades (RPGs) and machine guns.

Tracer fire lit up the sky as the Americans returned fire, leaving a patch of land and debris in flames.

"It sounds like we got one of the RPG firers, you can hear his rounds cooking off," said Lt. Col. Steve Russell, who leads 4th Infantry Division's First Battalion, 22nd Regiment, listening to small explosions coming from flames. '

Thanks Col. Russell and Sgt. Nail. Gotta just love the 4th ID.