Things continue to go
"very, very well" in Iraq today. According to
Reuters, 18 men were found blindfolded, bound, and strangled in Baghdad. In a separate incident, two other Iraqis were found bound and blindfolded, but shot execution-style. Another body found was decapitated. More civilians have also been killed as bombs once again erupt across Baghdad and Fallujah. Also, in recent developments,
50 workers at an Iraqi security firm have been seized.
The Australian Commander in Iraq is following Pace's lead and declaring that Iraq is merely going through an "awkward stage" (because whole families being slaughtered can be a bit awkward, you know?). Echoing Cheney, the Australian Commander claims the insurgency is "diminishing" and "in decline". Meanwhile, an American soldier was killed in a road bomb today, and four others were injured. The total number of American deaths so far is at least 2,304, with another 16,653 injured.
But, according to Defense Secretary Rumsfeld, this is all "exaggeration", a "steady stream of errors, [which] all seem to be of a nature to inflame the situation and to give heart to the terrorists." At his press briefing yesterday, he quoted a document from the Cold War in order to pre-emptively blame the media for any defeat in Iraq:
"Our fundamental purpose is more likely to be defeated from lack of will to maintain it than from any mistakes we may make or assault we may undergo because of asserting that will."
As Armando pointed out, this narrative is how the right is preparing itself for defeat in Iraq. Any civil war, any chaos is not to be blamed on poor strategy and non-existent leadership, but rather on an "un-American" press that "damages the war effort." And the intimidation by the Department of Defense just might work, since the media has had such a fabulous track record of rolling over on command. However, in the blogosphere, we will not succumb to Rumsfeld's bullying. Because we recognize that reporting the truth in Iraq does not damage the war effort, but forces Americans to confront the reality that it's time for our soldiers to come home. It's time for a new approach to Iraq, and stifling the press isn't it.
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