[antimedia] antimedia: Over at Thinking Right....

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Posted by antimedia:
Over at Thinking Right....
http://www.antimedia.us/posts/1172374256.shtml


   ....you can read [1]an interview with an American soldier in Iraq. He
   doesn't have kind words for the American media.

     # What can the American public do to help you⦠to support both the
     troops and the mission?
     # What can the American public do to better support those that are
     coming home?
     I will answer both of these together. The answer is certainly
     complex, but Iâll point out one thing. The American soldiers are
     growing VERY disenfranchised with the American media and the impact
     it is having on the American peopleâs view of this war. The media
     is not telling the truth about this war, they are not telling what
     is going on over here.
     There just seems to be no integrity in the entire media empire- how
     in the hell do those guys sleep at night? As I mentioned before,
     hundreds of improvement missions go on here daily, and NONE of it
     gets reported. We have advanced the cause for womenâs equality more
     in this country in the last three years than during Saddamâs entire
     reign of over 2 decades. Yet, none of it gets reported. I met a man
     here that was a LT Colonel pilot under Saddam, and he made $75 a
     month. Now, he makes $15 dollars a day selling Iraqi gifts, and he
     has employed his son to work for him, also making $15 dollars a
     day. Their family income went up 12 fold in the new Iraq. Imagine a
     minimum wage family that makes a combined income of $40,000 a year
     suddenly making $480,000 a year. Iraqâs economy is one of the
     fastest growing in the world and the guys with street side markets
     in Baghdad say they earn 30 times what they were ALLOWED to make
     under Saddam. A street cleaner in Baghdad now earns what a teacher
     was allowed to make under Saddam. This country should be a thriving
     country with a great middle class- and it is moving closer to that
     now that when a madman controlled it. Yet, no one wants to show the
     positives of Iraq. No one wants to tells both sides of this story.
     Instead of going out and telling the true tale here, the reporters
     want to sit in the green zone and live off the footage they buy
     from the local reporters (with no means of authenticating the
     coverage). Weâre not asking for much, just be fair and tell both
     sides of the reality of Iraq. So, for the American people, I guess
     the message is for them to demand more from their media outlets.
     Enough of the âgroupthinkâ, look at both sides of this place and
     demand some level of integrity from your local news, your local
     paper and on up to the big networks. They have no desire to conduct
     themselves ethically, so we must, as a united nation, demand more
     from them and write them to tell them so. Write your elected
     officials as well, and tell them you demand more integrity from the
     media and politicians who get caught up in the collective trashing
     of the war effort. War is never an easy endeavor. To win, it takes
     commitment, and if you are TRULY âfor the troopsâ then you cannot
     be against the war. If you are âfor the troopsâ then what people
     need to say is âget the job done, then come homeâ rather than trash
     the efforts we are sweating and bleeding for over here. See the
     positives in bringing freedom to a decimated people and creating a
     democracy in the middle east. We know this is serious business, but
     making it into a quagmire isnât going to help- it will only make
     this thing drag on. If the American public just loved this nation
     HALF as much as the American soldier weâd be so much better off-
     where are all those flags we saw flying after 9/11??

   The real damage -- long-lasting damage -- that the media is doing to
   itself will impact this country for generations to come. The media we
   have in ten years may be completely different from the one we have
   now.
   That will be a good thing.

References

   1. http://thinking-right.com/?p=810