1 ******** The mass murders continue in Iraq as a result of the combination of Islamist rhetoric against the 'Crusader Forces' and the Leftist media reinforcing the Americans as agressors and brutal occupiers. ******** That's a very stereotypically blinkered black&white way of looking at the war. Even if you disagree with the flipside surely you have a responsibility to tell people there's a divergence of opinions? Some would say the mass murder continues as a consequence of American military raids (proved to have killed more Iraqis that the insurgency en total), coalition insensitivity (British photo scandals etc) and of course the fact that, to many, this whole war was unprovoked and illegitimate - hence resistance is an inevitability. Don't get me wrong... that last paragraph isn't my personal opinion at all. It is, however, a potentially valid opinion and to brush it under the carpet is to not really take your position of journalist-blogger very seriously at all. Europeans aren't liberal - we're just openminded!

2 Martin, your comment can go as example A in why the terrorists feel justified in murdering.

3 Really? I thought my comment amounted to example A of my understanding of the complex, unpigeonholable (ouch) nature of politics, viz. THINGS ARE NEVER THAT SIMPLE!!! No-one (sane) is disputing that Islamist groups like Zarqawi's mob are to blame for thousands of innocent deaths. What most level headed people are NOT saying, however, is what you said above, i.e. I HAVE A BLACK&WHITE EXPLANATION FOR THE HORRORS OF WAR AND I CAN ATTRIBUTE 100% OF THE FAULT TO ONE SIDE (i.e. all the insurgents, including nationalists, and the liberal media - and no-one else!). Yes... the insurgents are to blame. No... the insurgents are not wholely to blame. Someone created a situation that allowed this to happen, and if America can't accept that mistakes have been made (which, btw, I thought you guys had already conceded?) then how on earth will you ever learn from your mistakes?

4 the main point here is this... You said "the Leftist media [are] reinforcing the Americans as agressors and brutal occupiers" I say that if the media didn't draw attention to (occasional) indicators of such brutality (Abu Ghraib, cluster bombs etc etc) then they wouldn't be much of a bleedin' free press would they? Ultimately people have to decide this - do you want YOUR media to agree with how you already think, or do you want it to challenge your beliefs? I have faith that the general public (EVEN Americans! are intelligent enough to form their own opinions without relying of one-sided propaganda

5 Gotta love Michael Moore's "minutemen". Let the revolution begin.

6 Martin How much of it is a "free" press that routinely ignores the heroics and human interest stories of American troops doing the almost unprecedented rebuilding efforts ever seen (schools, hospitals, courtrooms, etc)?

7 Darlene, I think a better question to ask is "If all of these good things are being done (as you say), why don't we see more bloggers reporting them?" I mean, if it's known that these great human interest stories are out there, it's obviously been reported by someone over in Iraq, though you'd be hard pressed to find a blogger actually writing about it. Instead, the majority of blogs that write about Iraq and the GWOT act like the MSM by only talking about the issues that are more sensational. No one cares to read about a school being built. More people would rather read about some poor soul getting their head cut off. Though they love to villify the MSM, most bloggers writing on this subject act just like them.

8 Yeah, "free" doesn't always show the American soldier holding an injured little Iraqi girl and carrying her to safety. Doesn't show the citizens giving gifts of fruit, bread etc. to the soldiers thankful that we are there, that they are able to vote the first time in 50 years. To say nothing of finally capturing Saddam who killed and would have continued to kill more than the invasion and the insurgents together! So easy to criticize so hard to admit the good that has happened since...

9 Ooops. I meant to cens*r that, sorry.

10 Wednesday, September 22, 2004 If America were Iraq, What would it be Like? President Bush said Tuesday that the Iraqis are refuting the pessimists and implied that things are improving in that country. What would America look like if it were in Iraq's current situation? The population of the US is over 11 times that of Iraq, so a lot of statistics would have to be multiplied by that number. Thus, violence killed 300 Iraqis last week, the equivalent proportionately of 3,300 Americans. What if 3,300 Americans had died in car bombings, grenade and rocket attacks, machine gun spray, and aerial bombardment in the last week? That is a number greater than the deaths on September 11, and if America were Iraq, it would be an ongoing, weekly or monthly toll. And what if those deaths occurred all over the country, including in the capital of Washington, DC, but mainly above the Mason Dixon line, in Boston, Minneapolis, Salt Lake City, and San Francisco? What if the grounds of the White House and the government buildings near the Mall were constantly taking mortar fire? What if almost nobody in the State Department at Foggy Bottom, the White House, or the Pentagon dared venture out of their buildings, and considered it dangerous to go over to Crystal City or Alexandria? What if all the reporters for all the major television and print media were trapped in five-star hotels in Washington, DC and New York, unable to move more than a few blocks safely, and dependent on stringers to know what was happening in Oklahoma City and St. Louis? What if the only time they ventured into the Midwest was if they could be embedded in Army or National Guard units? There are estimated to be some 25,000 guerrillas in Iraq engaged in concerted acts of violence. What if there were private armies totalling 275,000 men, armed with machine guns, assault rifles (legal again!), rocket-propelled grenades, and mortar launchers, hiding out in dangerous urban areas of cities all over the country? What if they completely controlled Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Salt Lake City, Las Vegas, Denver and Omaha, such that local police and Federal troops could not go into those cities? What if, during the past year, the Secretary of State (Aqilah Hashemi), the President (Izzedine Salim), and the Attorney General (Muhammad Baqir al-Hakim) had all been assassinated? What if all the cities in the US were wracked by a crime wave, with thousands of murders, kidnappings, burglaries, and carjackings in every major city every year? What if the Air Force routinely (I mean daily or weekly) bombed Billings, Montana, Flint, Michigan, Watts in Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Anacostia in Washington, DC, and other urban areas, attempting to target "safe houses" of "criminal gangs", but inevitably killing a lot of children and little old ladies? What if, from time to time, the US Army besieged Virginia Beach, killing hundreds of armed members of the Christian Soldiers? What if entire platoons of the Christian Soldiers militia holed up in Arlington National Cemetery, and were bombarded by US Air Force warplanes daily, destroying thousands of graves and even pulverizing the Vietnam Memorial over on the Mall? What if the National Council of Churches had to call for a popular march of thousands of believers to converge on the National Cathedral to stop the US Army from demolishing it to get at a rogue band of the Timothy McVeigh Memorial Brigades? What if there were virtually no commercial air traffic in the country? What if many roads were highly dangerous, especially Interstate 95 from Richmond to Washington, DC, and I-95 and I-91 up to Boston? If you got on I-95 anywhere along that over 500-mile stretch, you would risk being carjacked, kidnapped, or having your car sprayed with machine gun fire. What if no one had electricity for much more than 10 hours a day, and often less? What if it went off at unpredictable times, causing factories to grind to a halt and air conditioning to fail in the middle of the summer in Houston and Miami? What if the Alaska pipeline were bombed and disabled at least monthly? What if unemployment hovered around 40%? What if veterans of militia actions at Ruby Ridge and the Oklahoma City bombing were brought in to run the government on the theory that you need a tough guy in these times of crisis? What if municipal elections were cancelled and cliques close to the new "president" quietly installed in the statehouses as "governors?" What if several of these governors (especially of Montana and Wyoming) were assassinated soon after taking office or resigned when their children were taken hostage by guerrillas? What if the leader of the European Union maintained that the citizens of the United States are, under these conditions, refuting pessimism and that freedom and democracy are just around the corner? posted by Juan Cole (juancole.com) >>> How about you all stop the Left-Right football game for a second. Read the words above and remind yourself that YOU are not the victim. You might think that you "live in fear of another 911" but the people of Iraq know what real fear is. You might worry about your children being attacked by the muslims from the convenience store but the people of Iraq bury their children EVERYDAY. You cannot prevent terrorism by annihilating entire countries. All you do is kill innocent lives. The tally so far: 3000 US, 18000 Iraq...21000 innocents dead so far. When will it end?

11 Now we have proof that Jim is not the only sick shit in the world. Using an American hating asshole like Juan Cole for an example of intelligent writing in nothing but assholeism. After reading the above bullshit I can only say. If I wanted to listen to an asshole, I'd fart.

12 assrooster, good to see you take some time out from your C_I_A_L_I_S trips and KKK fantasies to make a post. What a sad life you have. Maybe the bridge is a better option for you.

13 Jim: pls read last couple of lines of my last report. It still holds true. Snitch.

14 I WAN'T TO KNOW WEN THE BUSH WILL LIVE SADDAM hUSAIN THANK'S