Chuck Speaks to Some Questions
I was reading over Chuck Ziegenfuss’s blog today and read what I think is his best post. In it, he quotes from a recent email and answers the questions posed. But of particular interest to me was this section concerning the attitude of Iraqi people in general and why if there are plenty that are glad for our help are they not heard from:
Don’t know, ask the mainstream media why they are not speaking up. As for the Iraqi major that was my counterpart, he told me one day that he considered me to be a brother, one of his brothers. When his headquarters was attacked with a car bomb and rockets and machine guns, he ended up in the hospital. I drove an hour and a half with five of my Humvees to check on him and his soldiers that were wounded in the attack, to make sure that his soldiers that were wounded were separated from the attackers that were wounded, and a check on him. He was ready enough to leave the hospital, so I offered him a ride in my Humvee. I didn’t have an interpreter in the truck, so we basically rode in silence for an hour and a half all the way back. When he heard that I was injured and had been sent all the way back to America for treatment, he stated that when I returned to Iraq, he would pick me up in his car and drive me back to the FOB. He said this to my commander, and some of the other senior officers in the Battalion. Although it may seem like a little thing back here in the states, in Iraq it really meant something. Why aren’t they speaking out, or speaking up? They are, but they’re only speaking to the people that are there helping them. How many reporters do you think go from Iraqi to Iraqi until they get the 15 second sound bite that they want… And then use that one on the nightly news.
Now that is a good story. And that is consistent with what many soldiers are feeling. My personal opinion is that we have a liberal media that is still trying to create their own version of Vietnam. Tutored by teachers and superiors about “the good ‘ole days”, they set out with their own ideals and agenda. Just like the song “Dirty Laundry”, it’s the negative things that are the story.