Four hostile newspapers are more to be feared than a thousand bayonets.
—Napoleon Bonaparte
And Napoleon knew that without ever having to deal with the Associated Press, source to thousands of papers.
Here are the words of AP writer Tom Raum as he looks at the situation in Iraq in about as negative light as possible. Granted, he managed to avoid terms like “quagmire” and “baby-killers” but he probably had to work hard at it in his defeatist reporting.
The conflict in Iraq can be told in numbers and milestones, from the more than 1,500 troops who now have died to the number of weapons of mass destruction found — zero.
Two American soldiers died in Baghdad of injuries from a roadside bomb and another was killed in Babil province south of Baghdad, the military said on Thursday. That brought to 1,502 the number of U.S. troops who have died since President Bush launched the invasion in March 2003, according to an AP count.
There are other milestones, other important numbers, some reached, some soon to be, as the conflict in Iraq nears its third year.
- Roughly 60,000 National Guard and Reserve troops are deployed in Iraq. As of Wednesday, 300 had died there since the war began.
- May 1 will be the second anniversary of Bush’s “mission accomplished” aircraft carrier speech in which he announced an end to major combat operations.
- The price tag is over $300 billion and climbing, including $81.9 more just requested from Congress. The money also covers operations in Afghanistan and the broader war on terror, but the bulk is for Iraq.
Conspicuously missing from this list are the successes, such as the January elections (tucked into the piece later), the capture of Saddam and the bulk of his henchmen, the dominant offensive in Fallujah, itself practically unprecedented in urban warfare. I guess successful accomplishments cannot be considered milestones.
When Lawrence Lindsey, then chairman of Bush’s National Economic Council, predicted in September 2002 that the cost of war with Iraq could range from $100 billion to $200 billion, the White House openly contradicted him and said the figure was far too high. He was eased out in a shake-up of Bush’s economic team.
“Americans need to take note of these sorts of milestones because it’s a way to show respect for the sacrifices of troops and reassess strategy,” said Michael O’Hanlon, a foreign policy analyst with the Brookings Institution.
“But I’m much more interested in trends,” he added, citing indications pointing to the relative strength of the insurgency and whether violence is declining or increasing.
On that, the signs are mixed.
The top U.S. general in the region said that about 3,500 insurgents took part in election day violence in Iraq on Jan. 30, citing estimates from field commanders. Army Gen. John P. Abizaid suggested the failure to prevent millions of Iraqis from voting showed the insurgency was losing potency.
“They threw their whole force at us, we think, and yet they were unable to disrupt the elections because people wanted to vote,” Abizaid told the Senate Armed Services Committee this week.
But his comments came just a day after one of the biggest attacks by insurgents since the fall of Saddam Hussein’s government in April 2003. A suicide car bombing in the town of Hillah killed at least 125 people, including dozens of recruits for Iraq’s security forces.
From Jan. 1 until Iraq’s election day, 234 people were killed and 429 people were injured in at least 55 incidents, according to an AP count. Casualties rose in February, with 38 incidents resulting in at least 311 deaths and 433 injuries.
Why point out that civilian casualties rose in February without pointing out that U.S. military casualties fell? Especially after focusing on those casualties? Why not point out that those same civilian casualties, while every one an individual tragedy, happened in the month after the terrorist bastards promised and failed to make the streets run with blood? Oh yeah, it’s all about the negative. My bad.
Meanwhile, the United States is losing some partners in its “coalition of the willing.”
Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko announced this week that Ukraine would withdraw its 1,650-strong military contingent by October. Poland is withdrawing about a third of its 2,400 troops. Last year, Spain’s new Socialist government withdrew its 1,300 troops.
At the same time, Bush drew commitments during his visit to Europe last week from all 26 NATO countries for contributions to NATO’s training of Iraqi security forces — either inside or outside Iraq or in cash.
Even harsh war critic France will send one officer to help mission coordination at NATO headquarters in Belgium and has separately offered to train 1,500 Iraqi military police in Qatar.
Wow, thanks, France. You pervs.
More than half of Americans remain convinced of the importance of keeping U.S. troops in Iraq until the situation has stabilized, though polls suggest widespread doubts about the handling of the war and Iraq’s prospects. An AP-Ipsos poll in February found that 42 percent approved of the president’s handling of Iraq, while 57 percent disapproved. A slight majority in recent AP-Ipsos polling expressed doubts that a stable Iraq can be established.
How the hell could support not erode with this kind of reporting? Yell that the sky is falling often enough and people look up and question the clouds.
Another milestone will come the day Iraq’s security forces are sufficiently trained and equipped to deal with the insurgency — and to permit the United States to begin leaving.
There have been conflicting reports on this, too.
The administration says there are 140,000 “trained and equipped” Iraqi military, security and police officers.
But Anthony Cordesman, a military expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, puts the number of Iraqi troops able to stand up to serious insurgent attack at fewer than 20,000.
Why are the administration’s words slipped into question-implying quotes (without sourcing) but “military expert” “Anthony Cordesman” can state what is essentially an “opinion” and it is written as a fact?
“Everything we do in Iraq will fail unless we develop a convincing plan to create Iraqi forces” able to defend their country without U.S. help, Cordesman said.
Sen. Carl Levin of Michigan, senior Democrat on the Armed Services Committee, said some administration documents suggest that there are no more than about 40,000 trained Iraq forces and that they are lightly equipped.
“We’ve been given wildly different numbers of these security forces,” Levin complained to Abizaid.
“Senator, the big question doesn’t really have to do with numbers; the question has to do with institution building,” Abizaid responded. “I remind you … that institution building takes a long time.”
“I agree,” Levin said. “But we shouldn’t kid ourselves as to how long it does take.”
No balance from a supportive senator? Of course not, as the piece only pretended at a hint of balance all along.
I find it most telling that the AP felt obligated to justify Mr. Raum:
EDITOR’S NOTE — Tom Raum has covered national and international affairs for The Associated Press since 1973.
Tommy, you’re a sorry bastard. I bet you’ve chafed these many years, knowing how close you were to being able to write this defeatist crap after Tet.