respublica

The view from Chris Muir

Day by Day Cartoons weighs in: click to enlarge

Scrappleface takes aim at media reporting on Iraq elections with satire.  Satire?  More like truth.

(2005-01-30) -- News reports of terrorist bombings in Iraq were marred Sunday by shocking graphic images of Iraqi "insurgents" voting by the millions in their first free democratic election.  read it all

Faces of the election

The election in Iraq is presenting some amazing images

The DB rears its ugly head just as predicted

Friday I linked a post by James Lileks who described what to watch for when the press corps began reporting on the Iraq election.  He used the phrase "damned but" meaning no matter how well the election turns out each report will couch the good news with a "but" and then go on to emphasize the bad.  Turns out he was correct.  Look at the new Newsweek cover (Meet the Insurgents)which flys in the face of what is going on in Iraq today in so far as voting is concerned.  Could they have put a cover photo of joyous Iraqis showing off their purple finger as proof that they had voted.  Sure, but what did they choose?  Insurgents.  The author of the cover story was on Foxnews this morning and he expressed surprise that the election seemed to being going better than expected.  Looks like the editors of this magazine might just have been betting on the opposite.  Betting?  Hoping maybe.

Couldn't say it any better

With the elections coming up in Iraq the media is in full alert mode, but this commentary by James Lileks pretty much nails the answer as to why the new media, internet and blogs, are fast making the old media second class citizens.   

The thing to watch is the position of the damning but, the old DB.  The DB will probably bob up in the first or second paragraphs of most dispatches.  "The election went as planned in 95 per cent of the country, but violence marred polling in the disputed Sunny D Triangle, where insurgents opposed to Tropicana juice fired automatic weapons into a juice concentrate factory."  That's one spin.   Keep an eye out, see if you notice any of the DB's this weekend. 

On another Iraq election note, here is a good reflection from Dale Meyer's January 28 Meyer Minute.

Day by Day

              click to enlarge Day by Day cartoons by Muir

Who's who in Iraq politics

Chrenkoff's web site has a good set of links to understanding the various political parties vying for power in Iraq.  Might be a good idea for all of us to learn at least the talking points.

Iraq: The rest of the story

Blackfive continues his good work in reporting all things Iraq and all things connected with our Military in that country.  He has posted an essay written by Lieutenant Colonel Tim Ryan, a task force commander in Iraq, which fleshes out news that does not find its way into our daily papers or onto the nightly news. 

"These images and stories, out of scale and context to the greater good going on over here, are just the sort of thing the terrorists are looking for.  This focus on the enemy's successes strengthens his resolve and aids and abets his cause. It's the American image abroad that suffers in the end." 

Echoing Blackfive I recommend you grab some coffee, have a seat and see what Commander Ryan has to say.  He's in the thick of it, after all. 

A gift which returned tenfold

Often when we give donations or gifts to organizations which then send them on to those who need them, we never hear much about how the items were received.  And we don't really need to.  The giving is what's important, not the thanks.  But here is a story from Iraq about Toys for Iraq sent by Americans because soldiers over there asked for some. There is a cynical expression used by...cynics... which says: "No good deed goes unpunished."  Not true.  Shedding good tears seems to be the order of the day.  Via Blackfive. 

Sgt Rafael Peralta: A real hero

If you think heros are only in the history books or in the movies, you should read this story about Sgt. Peralta.  I'm adding his photo in honor of his memory.  Story via Powerline.  The Powerline line folks are rumored to be a part of Time magazine's year end issue and deservedly so.

Another image of our military in Iraq

This photo struck a cord with me, especially as we move through the Advent season into Christmas.  Who more than our men and women in Iraq need not only our prayers, but the constant comfort that Sacrament brings.  Marine Lance cpl. June Ramos shows the communion wafers he carries.