‘You will be (mis)informed’
Michael Yon, on the gulf between media perceptions of Iraq and the reality he sees on the ground:
No thinking person would look at last year’s weather reports to judge whether it will rain today, yet we do something similar with Iraq news. The situation in Iraq has drastically changed, but the inertia of bad news leaves many convinced that the mission has failed beyond recovery, that all Iraqis are engaged in sectarian violence, or are waiting for us to leave so they can crush their neighbors. This view allows our soldiers two possible roles: either “victim caught in the crossfire” or “referee between warring parties.”Neither, rightly, is tolerable to the American or British public.
Today I am in Iraq, back in a war of such strategic consequence that it will affect generations yet unborn—whether or not they want it to. Hiding under the covers will not work, because whether it is good news or bad, whether it is true or untrue, once information is widely circulated, it has such formidable inertia that public opinion seems impervious to the corrective balm of simple and clear facts.
Forget the shocking images and sensational sound-bites we are fed between ad breaks on TV. As always, Yon’s first-hand reportage is comprehensive, honest and perceptive. It makes for riveting — and often heartening — reading. Especially if you view Iraq’s fate as rather more important than its use by lazy editors as a source of bleeding leads. Particularly if you view Iraq’s future as rather more important than its utility as a political billy-club.
