WTF: That's Not How We Used to Do It

Way back in the "Surge" days (2007-2008), we used to do this type of "media assessment" of news coverage of Iraq, but it was mostly for situational awareness for the brass and PAO types, and wasn't meant to ban embeds. From Stars & Stripes:

Rendon examines individual reporters’ recent work and determines whether the coverage was “positive,” “negative” or “neutral” compared to mission objectives, according to Rendon officials. It conducts similar analysis of general reporting trends about the war for the military and has been contracted for such work since 2005, according to the company.

“We have not denied access to anyone because of what may or may not come out of their biography,” said Air Force Capt. Elizabeth Mathias, a public affairs officer with U.S. Forces Afghanistan in Kabul. “It’s so we know with whom we’re working.”

U.S. Army officials in Iraq engaged in a similar vetting practice two months ago, when they barred a Stars and Stripes reporter from embedding with a unit of the 1st Cavalry Division because the reporter “refused to highlight” good news that military commanders wanted to emphasize.

While senior leadership in the military want the press to write great stories about how everything is going swell, the same leaders generally understand there's something called the first amendment, and the military is obligated as a public organization to provide truthful information. If this type of vetting had anything to do with Michael Yon getting his embed canceled, someone's really fucking up. Maybe J is onto something?

The Light At the End of a Longass Tunnel

IPs in Basra (photo NYT)

After their entire means of enforcing law and order was dismantled in a poor decision by Bremer, the Iraqis are finally in charge of their own security. It's a bit odd that the New York Times chooses to cast the "celebratory" tone of this Iraqi accomplishment in a bad light:

In the past few weeks, nationalist sentiments have spread within the Iraqi government and military, with officials all but boasting that Iraq is ready to handle the security situation on its own.

Speaking as a military parade marking the event was held deep inside the heavily fortified Green Zone, Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki said, “The national united government succeeded in putting down the sectarian war that was threatening the unity and the sovereignty of Iraq.”

A strong sense of nationalism seems to be one of the best methods of ethno-sectarian rivalry, both in Iraq and elsewhere, and doesn't necessarily mean that the Fourth Reich is coming back to power. Danger Room is also skeptical of this spirit, but it's good news for the Iraqis...and our military! They've still got bullshit to deal with in other godforesaken countries and dwindling resources to get the job done. Mission almost accomplished.

Colbert in the Sandbox

Even though the Iraq war fell off in media coverage once relative peace and democracy broke out, our troops are still over there busting their ass wondering when they're going to get their orders to Afghanistan. So Colbert was kind enough to do a USO tour to Mesopotamia and revamp his website. While most Americans are spending their days strangely thinking that Obama is doing a "swell" job with our rapidly collapsing economy, maybe this Comedy Central extravaganza will remind people that, yes, we are in a time of war. From Military Times:

Colbert, who traveled to Iraq from Kuwait on Friday on board a military transport plane, has said he was spurred to make the trip when he noticed economic news coverage eclipsing reports from Baghdad.

The four shows, which were being taped in the domed marble hall at Saddam Hussein’s former Al Faw Palace, will air later.

Claiming the war must be over because nobody’s talking about it anymore, Colbert invoked the power of cable television to “officially declare we won the Iraq war.”

Unlike every other liberals on the internet and elsewhere, Colbert is actually funny when he parodies conservatism. Shows this week.

Massive Cultural Empire...Not So Much

That is a picture from the Washington Post of Mark Apram, Baghdad's "most popular tattoo artist", who is proud to say "Anything American, I love it" (h/t Tom Bowler). Well, the Iron Maiden "Killers" shirt is British, but you get the idea. With this bold proclamation that didn't even involve throwing a show, you know he's not winning any friends in the American liberal community. The WaPo has an extensive article of how even though American forces are pulling out of cities, the cultural influence will have a lasting effect:

But the whispers may linger just as long -- the far quieter way in which two cultures that often found it difficult to share the same space intersected to reshape Iraq's language, culture and sensibility. From tattoos of Metallica to bellybutton piercings, from posters for a rap concert in Baghdad to stories parents tell their naughty children in Fallujah of the Americans coming to get them, the occupation has already left its mark.

The big benefit of cultural globalization is that the people have the freedom to choose how they live their life from a variety of trends rather than ones dictated by the state and religion. Reason had a huge article celebrating this phenomenon late last year. They've got metalheads in Iran, you can't go in a club in Southeast Asia right now without hearing "Poker Face", and even communist Laos has it's own Gangsta Rap outfit. Usually when you hear overeducated people talking about how America is "culturally imperialistic", it's because their culture of Segways, organic food, and self-righteous attitudes isn't the one being exported. Besides America is just a cultural stew of the rest of the world after all, who are we to judge what people can't pick and choose.

Sadr's Back! Rest of the World Could Care Less

A long, long time ago (2008), any half-assed proclamation from Moqtada Al-Sadr whipping up his Mahdi Army would have been big news from the media. But after the Mahdi Army was crushed militarily and his political apparatus lost bad in the provincial elections, Sadr has become the Rodney Dangerfield of the Middle East. I saw a quick post from Gateway Pundit noting that Sadr was going to chat with Turkey's Prime Minister and President, but the only media outlet I could find with any interest was AFP. It's kind of like if Crystal Pepsi got re-introduced into the market, nobody gives a shit, which is rational because he's powerless. Here's Sadr being portrayed by John Malkovich:

Inspirational Iraq Video Games

Alex Horton brings the funny with photoshopped Iraq-themed games. Who needs to spend $50 on a new PS3 game (or actually serving in the military) to get the Iraq experience when you have these.

TIME: Why the Hell Would the Commander-in-Chief Want to Visit Iraq?

You really have to wonder about the American media questioning why a Commander-in-Chief would want to visit the country in which we have been involved in a war for over 6 years. Sure, VIP visits to Iraq are a bag of dicks for the logistics folks, but boosting diplomacy, listening to Generals, riling up morale for the troops is pretty par for the course in what we should expect from the President. However, TIME appears to view the Obama presidency as one big permanent campaign and poo-poos this visit:

Surprise stops on presidential journeys became the norm during Bush era, with the U.S. engaged in two foreign wars — where the Commander in Chief could not be guaranteed satisfactory security if his intention to visit the troops was announced ahead of time. Still, Baghdad was the wrong choice for Obama. Iraq is Bush's war — or Bush's folly, depending on your point of view. Obama's main contribution to Iraq has been to criticize the war while on the campaign trail, and then to begin drawing down the U.S. troop presence as soon as he became President.

Uh, okay. No one is disputing that the OIF wasn't started by Bush, but does that mean Obama should just forget about it and not carry out his responsibilities? Fortunately, the President isn't that much of a dumbass.

This highlights the disconnect between American society and the fact that this is a time of war. When a long-running counter-insurgency/nation-building conflict is reduced to a campaign stop in the media, we shouldn't expect much public awareness of what's going on. MezzoSF emailed me that there's a new video game based on Fallujah 2004. Maybe that will raise consciousness...that or Obama bringing Kal Penn along on these overseas meet n' greets. That dude is fucking hilarious.

MTV Sheds Light On the Bag of Dicks Known as IRR Mobilization

Real World: Brooklyn - MTV Shows

Ryan From The Real World Learns He Just Got Activated (h/t Floppin' Aces)

Since I'm a twentysomething curmudgeon, I pretty much stopped watching MTV some 15+ years ago when they stopped airing Headbanger's Ball, Beavis & Butthead, and The State, but I certainly wished I saw last night's episode of the Real World. One of the cast members is an Iraq vet and the show depicts him getting the dreaded "package in the mail" from the Army indicating he's been called back to Active Duty. While it sucks for Ryan, this is beneficial to widespread dissemination of veteran culture, which is probably why IAVA was pushing it so hard. Seeing how modern day veterans are a such a small sliver of the current populous (unlike past wars), it is important to spread the word through available communication mediums about some of the shit the military has to put up with.

I've known a bunch of guys who've gotten the dreaded IRR call-up, but Uncle Sam can do it (read your contract). It's interesting to see how the rest of the cast responded to the news:

MTV Shows

The cast's response that Ryan "doesn't want to do this" and "he's just doing it for the government" shows a standard civilian misperception of the military. Most military members don't much enjoy going 15 days on a Combat Outpost with no showers and sweat-stained IBAs, but they do it out of a sense of patriotism and sacrifice. This may seem counter-intuitive to the your typical self-important Real World participant, but it may help explain Ryan's response that "I'm actually kind of excited in a weird way". Thanks to Ryan for his service and for MTV in airing this sequence.

As for Iraq, did you know that it's the 6-year anniversary of the invasion? At least, Stephen Colbert still does, because he headed to the sandbox to entertain the troops. I always liked his show a lot better than Jon Stewart's, because he sticks with the comedy and spares the audience from self-righteous indignation...unlike Stewart.

Let the Good Times Roll (in Baghdad)

The stock market fell below 7,000, Afghanistan is seeing more casualties, and Joe the Plumber's terrible book is not inspiring any confidence in the musings of average Americans (read the Amazon link for some funny reviews). But, hey, at least Baghdad's citizens are having a good time. From Times Online (thx Eric):

For a few hours the violence of the past six years was eclipsed by beer and music.

The burgeoning nightlife in the Iraqi capital is the most dramatic evidence so far that this city is returning to its old, pre-war ways, after the nightmare of sectarian violence and a bloody insurgency punctuated by suicide bombings and beheadings.

Even during British rule, Baghdad's residents enjoyed their alcohol, music and dancing. For the best part of 15 years, however, those pleasures have been denied them.

First, Saddam Hussein moved to close down the bars and nightclubs around the city. In 1994 he launched the “Faith Campaign”, an attempt to persuade the Islamic world that he had become a Muslim believer after years of sectarian rule. He shut bars and nightclubs to demonstrate his faith.

Alcohol is probably the best weapon against the crippling reality of today's world where economies built on credit/debt are rapidly collapsing (see Ron Paul's speech at CPAC). So it's good to know that Iraq doesn't have Shi'ite death squads roaming the streets of Baghdad looking to drive nails into anyone's head with a vendor stall dedicated to Western music. Three years ago all you heard anyone in America talking about was how messed up Iraq was. Now all we talk about is how jacked up everything else is in American society and politics, but Iraq gets a back seat. How the tables have turned.

Knucklehead Congressman Can't Follow OPSEC Rules

While violence has dropped significantly in Iraq, it still remains an active combat zone. For obvious reasons, that's why it's a big no-no to specifically discuss the movement of Generals or VIPs around Iraq/A-stan in open source media. Apparently, Congressman Pete Hoekstra (R-Michigan) thought his Twitter account was some kind of secure connection because he wrote this not long ago:

Moved into green zone by helicopter Iraqi flag now over palace.Headed to new US embassy Appears calmer less chaotic than previous here.

Whoops. Milbloggers get it beaten into their head to not violate OPSEC, and it seems like some of the DC elite could benefit from the same training. Brandon Friedman has the scoop on this CODEL visit and says OPSEC violation seems to be a Republican problem, but it's truly a bipartisan endeavor.

Iraqi Elections Big Losers: Sadr and Iran

Sadr's Campaign Ad Fell Flat

The results for the Iraqi provincial elections are mostly in, and the NYT Baghdad Bureau has the results broken out by province. The big winner is Prime Minister Maliki's Dawa party, which won in Baghdad and most of the southern provinces. The Iraqi Islamic Party won in some northern Sunni provinces like Salahuddin and Diyala, but the winner in the largest Sunni province (Anbar) was won by the secular Iraqi National Project. The awakening tribes finished in a close second and they are satisfied with the results and backing off on their initial call to arms amidst fraud allegations. Hakim's Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq (with very close ties to Iran) and everyone's hero, Muqtada al-Sadr, lost big too...even in Muthanna and Basra.

Not bad. This is much more reassuring than our election results, where I was in an emo-like funk for 9 days crying myself to sleep, haha. Go democracy!

Acrassicauda Makes it Into America, Gets a Guitar From Metallica

Good news. Acrassicauda, the excellent metal band that had to flee Iraq during the worst of the religious-fueled violence, has been granted asylum in the states and got to meet Metallica (that's the greatest band of all time, not like I'm biased). From NYT:

And on Sunday night, two days after the last of the band’s four members was resettled in the United States, they enjoyed what any metal fan would have to call heaven: bearhugs and “Wow, dude” heart-to-hearts backstage with Metallica at the Prudential Center in Newark. It probably wasn’t necessary for James Hetfield, Metallica’s lead singer, to surprise them after the show by handing over one of his guitars, a black ESP, and signing it “Welcome to America”; their minds were already blown.

“That’s for keeping the faith,” Mr. Hetfield said, adding as he disappeared with his entourage down a corridor, “Write some good riffs.”

This brings up the question of why more Iraqi refugees (not just the ones who can thrash) aren't allowed to settle in the United States (particularly those who helped us out). There's been less than 20,000 a year, despite the fact that there is already a large Iraqi community in Dearborn, Michigan which could easily assimilate more. Following the fall of Saigon, 135,000 refugees were allowed into America and the Vietnamese community in Los Angeles/Orange County quickly rose to affluence. Clearly, a revamping of our immigration policy, which is a bureaucratic clusterfuck, is needed. The Whitehouse.gov website has some terse language addressing immigration, but it's probably on the backburner as Obama feebly struggles to save the economy by running up the national debt.

Our nation has done well over the past 400 or so years because the best people from all over the world who have the courage to start a new life have crossed onto our shores. No reason to stop that now. A new metal band to electrify the genre highlights this point.

The Pride of the Purple

Dr. Mohammed, a blogger and dentist from the once blood-soaked Adhamiyah district in Baghdad, gets some space at the NY Times to discuss the recent provincial elections in Iraq. He offers mixed reaction: pleased that there was no violence but bummed out by the low turnout. From NYT:

Many people I spoke to had no faith in the credibility of the elections, thinking that the winners were already decided. But they wanted to do their part, hoping they might be wrong. Others voted to satisfy their consciences — especially after some religious leaders announced that it would be a sin not to participate.

I opened the door and I felt a very soft breeze. The weather was great, neither hot nor cold, perfect for a walk in the car-free streets, a walk along the sacred road to democracy. Yet with every step my hopes were crushed by a sad reality: there were far fewer people heading to the polls than there had been in previous elections. Still, there were some scenes that filled my heart with joy: for example, an elderly woman, so stooped she could barely walk, pushing her husband to a polling station in his wheelchair.

The initial results indicate that the sectarian politicians did not fare well, including ISCI which has strong ties with Iran. So that's good. But the Anbar tribes are threatening to take up arms against the Iraqi Islamic Party (the religious Sunni-party) due to fraud allegations. So that's bad. We'll see where things go from here.

No Major Violence During Provincial Elections in Iraq

Compared to the violence that ravaged Iraq during the 2005 elections, this is nothing short of phenomenal, but not entirely surprising, since people over there predicted that things would go well. There was no major violence, even in troubled provinces like Ninawa and Diyala. From The Guardian:

Millions of Iraqis passed through security checkpoints and razor wire cordons today to vote in provincial elections considered to be a crucial test of the nation's stability.

Polls opened shortly after dawn after a step-by-step security clampdown across the country, including traffic bans in central Baghdad and other major cities and a closure of border crossings and airports.

By the time polls closed at 3pm GMT there were no reports of serious violence.

We should be reminded of what General Odierno said two weeks ago. From McClatchy:

Gen. Ray Odierno , the commanding U.S. general in Iraq , said that if the country held peaceful elections this year, the relative calm that had settled on Iraq would be "irreversible."

There's still national elections for Iraq later in the year, but the fact that U.S. forces are leaving a smaller footprint in Iraq is an encouraging sign that the Iraqi Security Forces are capable of taking care of business.

President Obama issued an offical statement congratulating the Iraqi people. The coalition forces will eventually leave Iraq and it will be a relatively stable democracy in a nation notorious for corrupt thug-ocracies. I'm not doing the Carlton dance to celebrate victory or anything, but it's certainly no Vietnam II like many predicted.

Just Like Witches at Black Masses

Brandon Friedman (A-stan vet) has some sharp analysis on why we need more troops in Afghanistan that's worth a read. Other COIN luminaries have called for more troops in Afghanistan, and the President has as well. I agree, but there still needs to be a larger active-duty force, which has been pretty steady since 9/11 to prevent morale/readiness problems. But at least it looks like things are going okay in Iraq. Ramblings from a Painter (works at the new embassy in Baghdad) has the scoop on the Provincial Elections scheduled for Saturday:

With over 14,400 candidates vying for 440 council seats, there are a lot of people looking for air time for their messages. I was watching an Iraqi channel on TV a little while ago and saw non-stop political ads. I mean non-stop: there wasn't any scheduled programming! Just ads for this candidate or that, with a bunch of "rock-the-vote" style ads in between.

If "too many candidates" is the biggest problem facing Iraqi elections, I'd wager that's pretty good. This is in comparison to 2005 where the Sunnis all boycotted and violence went through the roof. Sure, Iraq still has a lot of problems with poverty, refugees, and corruption, but as far as our military is concerned..."Mission Accomplished". Yeah, I said it, and I'm not even wearing a flight suit with a cod piece. Hopefully our forces can leave Iraq without a lot of problems, because the writing is on the wall that Afghanistan is ramping up.

Ambassador Crocker Gets Presidential Medal of Freedom

David Ignatius of WaPo heaps praise and talks about the Ambassador's experience in the Middle East. Small Wars Journal opines on the Ambassador to Iraq's service:

BTW - Ryan Crocker is an official SWJ hero too - the right man, in the right job, at the right time - it does not get any better than that folks.

I disagree on one thing with SWJ. Because, our nation was very lucky to have such an experienced public servant leading diplomacy efforts during those extremely carnage-ridden months of early 2007. As a wise man once said, it's better to be lucky than good.

Wingnut Military to Begrudgingly Implement Withdrawal Plan From Iraq!

One of the most ridiculous post-Obama election conspiracies was that the military was going to implement some sort of revolt against the new President-elect and implement a junta where liberal baby Alex would get drafted to die in Iraq...at the age of 2! I guess if you believe that the military is chocked full of neo-nazis in uniform, you'd believe anything. At least the 9/11 conspiracies had a barrage of slo-mo videos with smoke poofs to back up their allegations. Put down that tin foil hat and sleep comfortably folks, because the military is implementing plans for a 16-month withdrawal from Iraq in case The Obama wants to follow up on his campaign promise. From AP:

"Our military planners do not live in a vacuum," Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said. "They are well aware that the president-elect campaigned on withdrawing (combat) troops from Iraq on a 16-month timeline, so it would be only prudent of them to draw up plans that reflected that option."

The 16-month option, which would represent a speedier withdrawal of battle troops from Iraq than defense officials preferred, would be among a range of plans presented to Obama whenever he asks, Morrell said. Since that request could come as early as the afternoon of Inauguration Day on Tuesday, the plans will be ready then, Morrell said.

Much of the military's credibility is based on following the orders of elected civilian leaders. Why would they have jeopardized that? Conspiracy theory suffers from the fact that there is some tight-knit cabal pulling the strings of the entire world. Anyone who's worked at any position for the federal government will understand that no one is that smart, and you'll be lucky if someone can figure out how to get the office printer to work.

Why The Iraq Movies Have Sucked

Hollywood War Movies of the Last 5 Years

Big Hollywood laments the disturbing trend of elite movie-makers making anti-military Iraq movies. Wonkette criticizes saying that no such movie has ever been made and this is some plot hatched up by the right-wing conspiracy:

Hmm, we’ve never heard of any Hollywood movie about American soldiers raping people “in the War,” at least not off the top of our heads

I think the Big H was talking about Brian De Palma's epic flop, Redacted, but you can't fault Wonkette for not hearing of it since only about 20 people saw this cinematic abortion. I humbly believe that a good anti-war movie could be made by Hollyweird, simply because Born on the 4th of July is one of my faves. Generation Kill wasn't bad, but we're going to have to wait on a good Iraq/Afghanistan movie until the whole BDS phenomenon cools off. Preachy directors just try to cram too much political calculus and anti-war propaganda down our throats to actually develop a decent story.

But Hollywood culture hasn't declined the same way the record industry has. An example would be Gran Torino, an excellent, low-budget coming-of-age tale about crossing generational boundaries. Go see it!

Iraqi Political Campaigning Takes Hold - Vote Zainab

The LA Times discusses the campaigns for the upcoming provincial elections in Iraq (h/t Mudville):

After shaking Khazaali's hand, Mohammed Saleh Faiz, 33, said, "I respect the way this candidate is campaigning. He is now living among the people. They can ask him about himself or his political program. We rarely see such frankness and transparency among the politicians."

Khazaali, 45, has also mobilized young people. Many on his campaign team are enthusiastic university students or recent graduates. They've taken his message door to door and have "no fear like old men," he said.

Welcome to the culture of democracy, Iraq: annoying door to door campaignsters, weird buttons flooding the lapels of overzealous citizens everywhere, and sheisty promises from politicians. If someone made a great campaign ad, like Zainab below, they'd be elected routinely for years to come (thx CDR S for vid).

What If They Gave a War and No Reporters Came?

The above picture of lovely Iraqi ladies is a shot from the Baghdad beauty pageant a few weeks back depicted in WaPo's Unseen Iraq, and unless you count the shoe-throwing guy, it was probably the most in-depth reporting from Mesopotamia by an American outlet in weeks. That's probably why it comes as no surprise that the American networks are pulling the plug in Iraq. From Newsbusters:

So right on cue, Monday's New York Times reports that ABC, CBS and NBC have all pulled their full time reporters from Iraq. According to correspondent Brian Stelter, the lack of violence means the networks are less interested in the Iraq story: "Representatives for the networks emphasized that they would continue to cover the war and said the staff adjustments reflected the evolution of the conflict in Iraq from a story primarily about violence to one about reconstruction and politics."

Indeed, Iraqi civilian deaths plummeted to 5,714 for all of 2008 and U.S. deaths were down to just over 300. While that is still painfully high, the annual murder rate in America is at about 16,000 and will inevitably rise as the economy collapses around us. While the per capita rate is lower since the U.S. is about 10x as populous as Iraq, it gives you something to think about. It also gives a lot of credence to preconceptions about the media that "If it Bleeds, It leads!"

But aren't we at war as a nation, and what about all those "good news" stories the media never prints? Well, I think the "good news" stories were partly a method by which fervent Bush supporters could buttress their arguments against those "defeatist Democrats". Likewise, stubborn anti-war advocates eschewed all critical analysis and trumpeted everything that jackass Muqtada al-Sadr said as the imminent collapse of Bush regime. Except for some exceptionally dedicated reporters who spent a lot of time in Iraq, I don't think we ever really got much news that went beyond just the usual focus on domestic politics (from the American outlets at least). Talking heads on the big networks just shilling for their team with the Iraq talking points du jour doesn't really lend itself to extensive analysis and in-depth reporting. What a shame.

On the bright side, milblogs have provided an interesting perspective on what's happening with our soldiers over there, but they still don't have the saturation power of a dedicated bureau. Oh well, at least we can get plenty of coverage of mega-hunk Obama throwing up the shaka in Hawaii!