When people speak of the moral authority we have lost in world public opinion, the loss is caused by a failure of the press to report on how we actually fight this war instead of propaganda about our non-existent atrocities.
To understand what is happening, you have to pay close attention on a daily basis so you can feel the pulse of the war and sense the trends apart from the car bomb story of the day.
And I am subject to this failing as well. The British sector around Basra is a case in point. The British run the show so our news doesn't cover it as well as the areas where American troops operate. I don't read news frequently of this area so I was more vulnerable to accepting recent reports that the British were botching their mission. Knowing the importance of the region, I worried that reports of pending chaos could be accurate. I also noted reports that said the reports of chaos were bunk. In short, my view of Basra may be better informed than most, but it still falls far short of knowing enough to really judge the area on my own. The vast majority of the public knows less of all of Iraq than I know of Basra.
Yon says Basra is just fine:
Several upcoming dispatches will focus on how the situation in Southern Iraq has dramatically improved over past months. Ironically, the character of this improvement is distinguished by the lack of violence, as well as the increasing order and normality as Iraqi Security Forces step up to greater responsibility for security in the region. Though the local leadership picture in downtown Basra is fuzzier now that British forces have pulled further back to begin performing their long-planned overwatch phase, it is clear that this natural progression in turning Basra over to Iraqi control has not catapulted the city into chaos.
Not without challenges, of course. But Iraqi government control with militias in a constrained competition is a far cry from chaos or Iranian control.
And despite Yon's conclusion--a conclusion I trust--I remain worried about Basra because I have to trust him rather than base my view on a history of reading and digesting reports about the Basra region.
So Yon tells me our press is screwing up reporting on Basra. My judgment tells me the press is screwing up reporting on the rest of Iraq.
Despite the technology and speed that modern reporting can use, this has only allowed our press to make errors at a much faster rate than in the past. Is this progress?
