Lorie Byrd asked the question, what if the Democrats behaved better?
Not being debated, though, is what the status of the war in Iraq might be today if Democrat leaders and the media had conducted themselves differently. If all the successes of American troops in Iraq had been reported as studiously as the setbacks, would terrorists have been able to convince their young, impressionable followers that they were winning? If it were clear to the Iraqi people that politicians in D.C. were committed to finishing the mission in Iraq, would the attitude of the people there be different? If politicians and anti-war activists had not accused our own troops of engaging in torture, and worse, would world opinion, and specifically the opinion of the Iraqi people, be different?
People made an issue of a poll done in Iraq in which a majority of respondents said it was acceptable to target American troops. When asked if they would feel the same way if they knew for sure that the Americans were sincere when they said they wanted to leave Iraq when Iraqis could stand on their own, the number dropped dramatically.
Now where would all those Iraqis get the idea that we want to steal their oil and have no intention of really allowing them to have their country back? And if there was a poll done here in the United States and respondents were asked if it was acceptable to target American troops how many would say Yes?
2 comments:
Well, yes, I'm sure attitudes would be different. no doubt. And it infuriates me that our media undercut the effort at every opportunity. They exaggerated, accused, and condemned at every opportunity with such one-sided glee that it turned the American people away from comprehension of the underlying effort. The criticism and negativity itself is fine--it's a necessary aspect of our democracy--but the gotcha angle and piling on are juvenile at best.
The Iraqi people are not used to free speech, opposing opinions fought in words, and it takes exceptional intellect to separate the wheat from the chaff, the chatter from the reality.
But they do understand America is divided and are smart enough to wonder and worry about America's continued support. Especially now.
it's too bad our and the world's media had them worrying about our motives and our commitment all along.
Someday, hopefully, the Iraqi people will be able to understand the noisiness and push/pull of a democracy when speech is free. Right now they have other more pressing things to worry about.
Syl:
Very true.
Post a Comment