After the booming U.S. economy, the biggest unreported story by Big Media is the ongoing series of small successes, and the overall progress of liberated Iraq. An Australian blogger named Arthur Chrenkoff is doing his level best to report some of those successes in an excellent series of posts called "Good News From Iraq". Here's Part III in that series.
There are dozens of links here to news stories, including many about the good works by coalition troops or Western companies involved in the reconstruction of schools, infrastructure and social institutions. But the majority are stories of Iraqis doing by and for themselves, like this account of Iraqi surgeons who have banded together to provide free reconstructive surgery to an estimated 3500 soldiers and others who had their ears amputated by Saddam's forces, following a 1994 edict by the dictator.
So it's not all chaos, insurgency and prisoner abuse, and the new Iraqi leadership has appropriately thanked the Americans and the British, and Bush and Blair specifically, for liberating their country and giving them a chance to rule themselves. You mean you didn't hear it from Peter Jennings? Here's the take from the WSJ:
A myth has developed that Iraqis aren't grateful for their liberation from Saddam. So it's worth noting that the leaders of Iraq's new interim government have been explicit and gracious in their thanks, not that you've heard this from the U.S. media.First in Arabic and then in English, Prime Minister Iyad Allawi said in his inaugural address to the Iraqi people last Tuesday that "I would like to record our profound gratitude and appreciation to the U.S.-led international coalition, which has made great sacrifices for the liberation of Iraq." In his own remarks, President Ghazi al-Yawer said: "Before I end my speech, I would like us to remember our martyrs who fell in defense of freedom and honor, as well as our friends who fell in the battle for the liberation of Iraq."
Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari told the U.N. Security Council much the same thing last Thursday: "We Iraqis are grateful to the coalition who helped liberate us from the persecution of Saddam Hussein's regime. We thank President Bush and Prime Minister Blair for their dedication and commitment."
We thought our readers might like to know.
The media couldn't be more nakedly partisan if they did the Evening News wearing their Kerry buttons. If it has the potential to help Bush, you won't see it. And the fact that we're used to it doesn't make it any less disgusting. Check out Chrenkoff for some balance.
Posted by dan at June 11, 2004 10:59 PM | TrackBack