Schadenfreude

Two Felte/on's....Felten And Felton. Viewpoints and Discussion From Two Old War Horses

Tuesday, January 25, 2005

Sympathy For The Devil

Apparently (if you believe our liberal media), the upcoming elections in Iraq are doomed to failure. What I find truly amazing is the sheer amount of bad press one writer can cram into one story. Let's recap what we just read, kids. Ready??

1. The Hostages. Mr. Roy Hallums (American) and Mr. Robert Tarongoy, a Filipino OSW, were taken captive by insurgent forces in Iraq. The all-important video was broadcasted world-wide (well, Al-Jazeera wide). In the short film, Mr. Hallums is shown with a rifle pointing at his head, pleading with the world-renown humanitarian Moammar Ghadafi to save him. Special praise is heaped upon President Bush, to wit:

[...]

"I'm not asking for any help from President Bush because I know of his selfishness and unconcern for those who've been pushed into this hellhole."

[...]

Of course, we can probably speculate that this was entirely scripted. The fact that the Philippine Government folded like a house of cards when pressure was applied by the insurgents last year is well known. This fact has not stopped individual Pinoys from moving to the region to work. Life is hard in the Philippines, and meaningful employment is difficult to come by. A Filipino understands that sometimes sacrifices must be made. He (or she) travels to the Middle East to do the jobs no one else wants to, and is paid handsomely for it. This affords the OSW the ability to provide for his family in a way that staying home cannot. President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's attempt to stem the "brain drain" from the Philippines is utterly futile. It simply cannot be stopped due to the fact that the island nation is suffering from crippling inflation and a corrupt government. As far as the American is concerned, well...what can you say? He knew the risks. He was chasing a buck and rolled the dice. I don't mean to sound callous, but speaking as someone who's been there a couple of times, it isn't a place I'd voluntarily live/work/die. It is a hellhole, as Mr. Hallums so eloquently put it. People, we are talking about a civilization that peaked 6,000 years ago. Period. It's 20 billion degrees in the shade in August. And that's at 6:00 a.m., my friend.

2. A PSYOP campaign is underway by the insurgents. They are working on a leaflet dissemination, with the target audience being Sunni Arabs who dare display the temerity to show up at the polls:

[...]

"Many Sunni Arabs are expected to boycott the elections, either to express opposition to the process or for fear of reprisals.

On Tuesday, militants handed out flyers in Baghdad promising that rebels would wash the streets with the blood of voters and shower polling stations with bombs, mortar fire and rockets.


The leaflets, which didn't bear the name of any militant group, warned that "those who dare to stand in the lines of death to participate in the elections will be responsible for the consequences that will be heavy."

"He will not be able to imagine what will happen to him and his family for taking part in this crusaders' conspiracy to occupy the land of Islam," the flyers said."

[...]

I love the verbiage. "Many Sunni Arabs are expected to boycott the elections...". You absolutely have to respect the AP. I don't like it, but they sure know how to plant a Jedi Mind Trick.

OK, here's the deal. If the Iraqi's want a future, they have to be active participants. Sorry, but you don't get to sit this one out. It's your childrens' future. How do you want them to live? Like you? You get American, European, heck, Arab television stations. You see how we live. There are nations out there which actively work to better the lives of their citizens. Here's your chance. I'm sick of hearing "Well, they only know hardship, suffering, torture, et.al". So? It's their problem, they need to fix it. We've done the work of getting rid of the dictator. What path they take is up to them. I don't hold much hope. I'm guessing 6-12 months after the elections, civil war quickly followed by an Islamic Republic.

3. Human rights abuses. Duh. There's a no-brainer. Do you think it might be possible that some of the Iraqi police officers were abused under the Saddam regime? Perhaps they are thinking a little payback's in order? Way to go, "Human Rights Watch". When you're done in Iraq, stop over here, the good 'ol USA. Apparently there's a Senator who desperately needs your attention. The U.N. didn't quite make it out here to monitor the election, so you've got some catch-up to do.

4. Attacks, attacks, attacks. The insurgents are really ramping up the attacks in preparation for the elections. We all know the reason for this. Once (we hope) the elections are conducted and the new representatives and government are sworn in, the Al Sadr's of Iraq will not have an audience. Their brand of terrorism is derived from the ability to drive a wedge between the Iraqi people and the Coalition forces. This will evaporate in the face of a representative government. It is VITAL to the future of Iraq that these elections are held and supported world-wide.

Now, what is going on with the AP and other news agencies? I know the theory regarding bad news and headlines. The opening of a new school or the construction of a new hospital will never make the front page. Good news has no legs. I think I'm going to start looking for the good things happening in Iraq and report them here. I'll leave the death and destruction for the "established press".

8 Comments:

  • At January 25, 2005 at 12:38 PM, Blogger Greg said…

    I start the blame for all this on the public school systems, elementary all the way through (and especially) university. The liberal bias is so rampant there that it makes me sick. Albeit that there are some pockets of decent schools out there, most are just pathetic. If the schools would go back to teaching basics and not agendas, I think a lot of these issues would start to go away (media biases, that is). If they would start to teach the stories of great Americans like, Captain Nathan Hale (1755 - 1776), the media would have to change it's views because the general public would be able to recognize the smoke being blown from these sorts of outlets.

    "Hale asked for a Bible, but his request was refused. He was marched out by a guard and hanged upon an apple-tree in Rutgers’s orchard. The place was near the present intersection of East Broadway and Market Streets. Cunningham asked him to make his dying “speech and confession.” “I only regret,” he said, “that I have but one life to lose for my country.”"
    -- Captain Nathan Hale

    Greg

     
  • At January 25, 2005 at 12:45 PM, Blogger Don Diego de la Vega said…

    Amen, Greg! You get what you pay for. We are sending our daughter to a private school in West St. Paul right now. My wife and I attended private schools when we were kids, too.

    I don't understand how Americans put up with this. We are paying through the nose (you know what the taxes are like here in MN) AND pay the private school tuition. If that's what it takes to give my children a better education, then so be it. If my wife and I have to get second jobs to pay for it, that's fine, too. It's not about us. It's about our kids and providing a them a quality education.

     
  • At January 26, 2005 at 8:15 AM, Blogger Greg said…

    Private schools are very nice. Our kids are in public schools in the Anoka school district. So far I like the curriculum that they have and we are lucky enough to live in a more conservative county. As I have become more aware of all the biases out there I have been watching/listening to what my kids have to say and what they are hearing from their teachers and impressively everything has been very pro-America. They even say the pledge every morning!

    Greg

     
  • At January 26, 2005 at 8:46 AM, Blogger Don Diego de la Vega said…

    ANOKA! Say, aren't you the guys who used to hand us our butts every year in the state hockey finals? It was usually you or Edina.

     
  • At January 26, 2005 at 3:47 PM, Blogger Greg said…

    Actually, I grew up in Forest Lake (so it wasn't me participating in the butt kickin') and I believe that it was Anoka that did that because they always handed us our butts too. We were to far away and never made it far enough to have Edina pound on us.

     
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