How The U.S. Is Losing The PR War In Iraq

bulldogg said:
Limited knowledge indeed... here's an education for you.

Countries who have experienced militarus interuptus by American forces.
China
Japan
France
Belgium
Italy
Nicaragua
Honduras
Haiti
Dominican Republic
Libya
Algeria
Tunisia
and on and on...

Might serve you well to educate yourself prior to making assumptions.

The KSA has a contract with the US for the housing of troops in their country, at THEIR request.
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Hehe, fooled by your own country.
 
Well that sure put me in my place... all those quotes, references and direct rebuttals you made. Typical for those educated in an authoritarian country.
 
bulldogg said:
Well that sure put me in my place... all those quotes, references and direct rebuttals you made. Typical for those educated in an authoritarian country.
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I also know any argue should stand on the actural evidence. But here, I don't want to list as such,such...., it's boring. I take the pastes only as one phenomena.
 
I don't think it's as bad as the media portrays it to be. If you've had somewhat of an college education, then you'd know that the media likes to report only the really bad news and they tend to sensationalize it. Anyone know the adage about the media; Sex sells and bad news grabs headlines. Recently, the US troop death toll hit 3000. Compared to wars in the past, it's a mere fraction. Although to me, any American death at all is a war loss already, it's different than a military/political victory.

So far, I think the US is succeeding in Iraq/Afghan. The oppressive governments are out, a stable government is being formed, and most of the insurgents they are fighting over there are not of the country's origin. Every month the US and its allies capture insurgent leaders, but whens the last time the insurgents captured a colonel or a general? For the most part, the US is doing what it can to fulfill its goals over there but the insurgents are just making it harder. Plus, Iran is not doing much to help by sending their own natives over there to fight.

I have a cousin over there in the Marine Recon. This would be his 3rd year over there. but he had a chance to go home after the 2nd. Why he stayed over there still eludes me to this day. I email him every 2 weeks or so to keep him updated with family affairs and I ask him how is it over there. Most of the time, his replies are that it's boring and he wishes he could be where the action is. He wishes he was there when an IED goes off or an ambush so he can exact some revenge for the loss of some of his buddies' lives. Otherwise he says the food sucks and there are some really interesting desert creatures over there.
 
My two cents - I'm there now. Or rather my unit is. I'm home on R&R and headed back in a few days. I've been in Iraq since mid October last year. It really isn't as bad as the media portrays. But then it's the media. A bunch of soldiers in a war zone enjoying every day activities just like they would at home is not news.

Not everyone has it so easy though. My brigade has already lost over a dozen soldiers. I despise the media. That's always kind of been my soap box. People who spout what the media feeds them as if there is no other truth make me sick. Keep in mind - in the interest of OPSEC, the media never gets the whole story. They couldn't report the truth even if they wanted to.
 
Enjoy the r&r toyuzu and stay safe.

I think we need some modern day stars and stripes newsreels from Iraq if there is any way of steming the flood of half truths and outright lies coming from the media/journalists today. And MUZZLE them, dont embed them, muzzle them. The Romans, whom our republic was closely modeled after, got it right over two thousand years ago-- "In times of war the laws are silent." This includes the various and sundry rights the entitlement crowd love to claim but never lift a finger to contribute to.
 
Executions on Tape: Iraqi vs. Iraqi

January 29, 2007 3:14 PM

Hoda Osman Reports:

Iran_involvement2_nr A new propaganda video posted by Sunni insurgents on the Internet shows graphic scenes of the execution of more than a dozen captured fighters who were supposedly working with Iranian agents in Iraq to attack Sunni neighborhoods.

The tape shows what the insurgents describe as Iranian weapons smuggled to the rival Shiite militias and a specific piece of communications equipment labeled, in Farsi, "The Iranian Ministry of Defense."

The United States is never mentioned in the 30-minute tape, which focuses entirely on the bloody showdown between the two Islamic sects, Sunnis and Shiites.
THE BLOTTER RECOMMENDS

* Blotter New Video Heralds 'Islamic State of Iraq'
* Iraq Weapons -- Made in Iran?
* Click Here to Check Out the Latest Brian Ross Webcast

The Army of the Supporters of al Sunna, the group that released the tape, shows numerous pictures of bodies, including those of children, and claims they were all killed by Shiites. Two Sunni men, who allegedly survived a massacre in which the rest of their families were killed, claim they were interrogated by Iranian agents and tortured.

"This is an ideological migration," Nibras al Kazimi, visiting professor at the Hudson Institute tells ABC News. Al Kazimi, who has seen the video and regularly writes about events in the Middle East, explains that insurgent groups are changing their focus from the Americans and the Iraqi National Guard to Shiite militias.

Click Here for Full Blotter Coverage.

Al Kazimi disagrees with those who label the situation in Iraq "civil war." "There are marginal groups on both sides that are killing people," he says, adding that when he sees spikes in numbers of people killed he attributes it to the same number of killers committing more crimes. "We have not seen bricks flying around or cars being burnt on the streets. We have not seen an outbreak," he says.

The video goes on to show a Shiite man identified as "Hazem al A'raji, one of the prominent leaders of al Sadr movement and al Mahdi Army," repeatedly calling on Shiites to bear arms and kill "Wahabbis and Baathists." "Carry your weapon and fight every impure Wahhabi. Yes, I tell you that, and I am responsible for what I say," says "al A'raji," who was supposedly appointed by radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al Sadr as the Imam of the Shiite shrine of al Kazemeya in Baghdad.

Men described as captured members of al Mahdi Army are seen on the tape, sometimes blindfolded and with their hands tied, admitting to targeting Sunnis. One man claims that the Iraqi government brings the weapons from Iran to supply al Mahdi Army.

The group also claims that Iraqi police and National Guard turn a blind eye towards Shiites' killing of Sunnis. So-called "eye witnesses" talk about members of Iraqi police being present during specific incidents without intervening.

The video also shows "members of al Mahdi Army" allegedly "celebrating the killing of Sunnis" and freeze the picture a number of times to point to trucks carrying members of Iraqi police or National Guard that were passing by and did not stop.

The group's claims on the tape could not be independently verified, although U.S. officials increasingly blame Iran for providing weapons and advisers to the Shiite militias. U.S. officials had told ABC News there was evidence that Iran was supplying Shiite militias with weapons.

The video is expected to increase the already high tension between Sunnis and Shiites, especially amongst members of jihadist forums where it was posted.
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http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2007/01/executions_on_t.html

Videos like this are definitely NOT helping to settle things down. As long as crap like this is happening AND being broadcast to the masses things will never settle down into some semblance of civility.
 
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