A couple of days ago, there was an excellent diary by Magnifico that highlighted the corporate media’s blackout on reporting about Iraq – whether it be the horrors, the deaths, the violence, the lack of political progress or even any gains (not to mention the GAO’s own reports). And rightfully so, this is disgusting and does a disservice to our troops and all Americans who are impacted directly or indirectly by the costs of the ongoing occupation-without-a-plan.
But maybe the corporate media is onto something in a very twisted and perverted way. We here are the most hardcore activists, and Iraq has, with the exception of the IGTNT and more recent NFTT series, dropped off the radar screen here as well. Don’t believe me? Well, over the past two weeks, there have only been a total of 150 diaries or front page stories with the tag "Iraq". And with the exception of Magnifico’s diary, one by John Cusack, one that was a video of Bush and a British interviewer that focused more on the SCOTUS decision and Gitmo and a couple of IGTNT diaries, not one received close to 100 recommends or comments. In fact, most had less than 20 comments or 20 recommends
Moreover, there were only a small handful on the front page here (one by Hunter and the rest by Kagro X) that were tagged "Iraq". A similar search over the past two weeks only had 16 stories or diaries tagged "troops", and most of those were also tagged "Iraq". In contrast, there were over 3,200 TOTAL posts over the past two weeks – which is less than 5% of the total posts being about the single most important topic when it comes to impacting Americans. Don’t think this is that important? Well, consider the following ways that Iraq impacts Americans:
- The economic impact of what is being spent there vs. what can be spent elsewhere;
- The tremendous increase in gas prices;
- The Iraq funding bill for over $160 billion that was just passed in the House with basically no peep from anyone here (other than Kagro X);
- The erosion of civil liberties here in America in the name of "national security"
- The lack of a plan to deal with the troops who are in Iraq as it relates to a strategy;
- The daily deaths and injuries to our troops overseas;
- The impact of PTSD on those troops who are returning or are even being redeployed;
- The higher prices for just about everything because of increased gas prices;
- The lack of ability to address al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan; and
- The rumblings about attacking Iran, which will certainly have a tremendous impact on oil prices, our troops’ safety, our rapidly declining standing in the global community and our own security. I’ll also note how the provision that Congress must approve an attack on Iran was nowhere to be seen in the most recent legislation.
And as we continue to hear, well, just about nothing about Iraq, things have gotten pretty violent again:
A suicide bomber struck Thursday inside a municipal building west of Baghdad, killing at least 20 people at a meeting of tribal sheiks opposed to al-Qaida, police said. The U.S. confirmed American casualties but gave no further details.
Another 18 people were killed and about 60 wounded in a car bombing near a government headquarters in the northern city of Mosul, officials said. The attacks Thursday were part of a spike in violence in Iraq after weeks of relative calm.
So, the GAO reports that there was little to no "post surge" planning (thanks to the WaPo for "highlighting" this on Page A14) – which followed last year’s GAO report that also painted an ugly picture. And if a decrease in violence was the only success of this "surge" that wasn’t planned any further than "send more troops and we’ll figure it out later", then what happens when there is no more decrease in violence and no plan to follow up once our troops have to leave?
Things are getting out of control, violence-wise:
A bomb hidden in a meeting room killed two U.S. soldiers and two American government employees Tuesday at a local council office in the Baghdad district of Sadr City, according to the U.S. military.
An Italian working for the Defense Department also was killed, U.S. officials said. Iraqi authorities said six Iraqis also died in the blast, bringing the total death toll to at least 11.
An American soldier and 10 Iraqis were wounded, including three Iraqi council members.
---snip---
In another attack, at least 90 civilians were wounded in Mosul when a car bomb exploded outside a coffee shop, U.S. officials said in a news release. The statement gave no details of the blast, except to say that the coffee shop was destroyed and that the injured had been taken to local hospitals. It was unknown if anyone had been killed.
But it isn’t just Baghdad, Sadr City or that bombing noted above in Mosul. There are bombings in Karbala that killed close to 2 dozen, including a baby:
Twenty-two people were dead and hundreds more injured by late Wednesday in five separate incidents over the past 24 hours in Iraq, officials reported.
In the latest incident, three people including a baby were killed while 12 others were injured when a bus exploded in the Shiite- dominated city of Karbala, 100 kilometres south of the Iraqi capital.
That is five separate instances in addition to the ones over the past day, for those who are keeping score at home.
Juan Cole’s take on the situation in Mosul, where his link indicates that the "security situation has taken a dramatic turn for the worse in Mosul":
An informed source told the Baghdad daily that the security campaign in the northern city of 1.7 mn. led by PM Nuri al-Maliki was deeply flawed. He said that there had been no coordination between the government forces sent into Mosul with the police in their 80 local HQs, nor with the 48 offices of parties that maintain powerful militias.
Peshmerga troops of the Kurdistan Alliance in Mosul began being replaced on Wednesday by units of the Iraqi Army after severe pressure was exerted by the people of the city, tribal elders, and notables. (Mosul is about 80 percent Arab, but there is a Kurdish minority; residents fear that Kurdistan is trying to annex the city). An Iraqi Army source said that in the Waterfall District in the east of the city, a Peshmerga unit had already been switched out with an Iraqi Army one.
And what about that "political progress"? Well, as noted above, there were at least 2 bombings that resulted in fatalities where governmental agencies were located or important figures were meeting this week alone. Talk of the security pact and US military bases has only demonstrated that neither the Iraqis nor most Americans want an ongoing military presence in Iraq. Of course, with all of this, there is still major hurdles to clear, all while the violence continues to escalate.
But all of this stems from some very very bad signs for our troops, our security and our country’s future. It is incumbent upon those who care the most to make sure that this doesn’t become forgotten. The corporate media has long since made the decision to bury their reporting (no pun intended). Many in Congress, especially those in leadership positions have lost their intellectual curiosity or are willingly throwing hundreds of billions of dollars at something that they have no clue about. And many Americans are too lazy or uninformed (or have other issues) to do the basic reading up on what is being done in their name.
For good or for bad, the responsibility to keep the issue with the single most impact and far reaching consequences out there falls on us. This is the best way to support the troops. Let’s not fail them.