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Summary: The Truth About the Media Bias in Iraq
Review: As an Iraq War veteran, Karl Zinsmeister's book is right on the money. His touching descriptions of the American Heroes that he encounters during his visit had me weeping more than once within the first ten pages. Zinsmeister is dead-on in his description of who the real enemies in Iraq are, from the elusive guerrillas to the liberal media that goes to great extremes to avoid telling the real stories that Zinsmeister has no trouble finding. While the legions of liberal reporters hang out in the relative safety of the Green Zone in Baghdad and report sound bights from press conferences, Zinsmeister displays his own personal courage in his willingness to put himself at risk to go out into the countryside and get the real stories. This book is for anyone who wants to know what it's really like in Iraq, as opposed to what we are being fed by the six o'clock news and the morning paper in their meager attempts to support their own political agendas.
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Summary: Do yourself a favor - read it!
Review: Excellent overview of our current (2004) situation in Iraq - both the successes and problems. A good antidote to the non-stop doom and gloom from the US media. The Iraq situation is far from perfect but not at all hopeless. It has the ring of truth.
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Summary: Finally an overall view from someone with no ax to grind.
Review: I live in one of the "battleground states" for the next Presidental election. You can't watch an hour on TV without seeing the conflicting claims of both candidates about a half dozen times. You soon reach a point of tuning them both out. Each is, shall we say, emphasising their own point of view, if not outright ... no I'm not going to use that word, they wouldn't do that.
And the news isn't much better, I'm continually reminded of the old saying, "if it bleeds it leads." The stories are on the latest bomb, the latest shoot out. Only when the books are written do you begin to get a more balanced, more completely thought out view. The authors conclusion is that ordinary Iraquis back our war and occupation and the U.S. is on the verge of winning a tough guerilla struggle. I certainly hope he's right. Well worth reading to help sort out the BS on TV.
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Summary: Not the usual Iraq reporting
Review: I'm editor of FrontPage magazine, and Karl Zinsmeister recently took time to discuss with me in Q&A format his new book Dawn Over Baghdad: How the U.S. Military is Using Bullets and Ballots to Remake Iraq.
FP: Congratulations on your new book. You spent three months in combat zones with American soldiers in Iraq doing your research. Tell us about your experience.
Zinsmeister: I began as an embedded reporter during the hot war which toppled Saddam, from which I wrote Boots on the Ground: A Month With the 82nd Airborne in the Battle for Iraq, which was out in August 2003. Then as the guerilla war unfolded, I became concerned that the run-of-the-mill reporting from Iraq wasn't giving a balanced picture. So I decided in early 2004 to re-embed myself with troops in the most troubled parts of the country, in order to get a good first-hand look at the counterinsurgency fight and reconstruction efforts.
I spent several weeks going out on combat patrols, watching interrogations, listening to intelligence briefings, going into Iraqi homes during cordon and search operations, sitting in on city council meetings, observing powwows between American commanders and radical Iraqi imams or tribal sheiks, and so forth. I walked the streets in Baghdad, Fallujah, Abu Ghraib and points in between.
A lot of journalism is serendipity, and I was very lucky in getting to see some important and fascinating things take place. So I quickly turned out Dawn Over Baghdad, which is the only book available today detailing the prosecution of the guerilla war in Iraq, and its actual, ground-level effects on Iraqi society. It's not a policy analysis, it is human storytelling and eyewitness reporting written from the perspective of the ordinary American soldiers and everyday Iraqi citizens who are in the thick of things in critical neighborhoods.
FP: Your book focuses on the terrorist insurrection in the Sunni triangle. Could you tell our readers what this threat entails?
Zinsmeister: Iraq is a big country, and its citizens hold a wide range of viewpoints.There is a large silent majority in Iraq, as in most countries, that is more sensible than you might imagine. Large swaths of the countryside are comparatively quiet. The Iraqi economy will grow about 60 percent this year, and there is a consumer surge going on. Cell phones are proliferating, about a million cars have been imported, a third of the homes now have satellite TV.
These relatively stable areas receive little notice in the West, and that distorts our view of Iraq. But on my latest trip I wanted to go right into the Sunni triangle and observe the worst snakepits in the country. So I spent most of my time in Fallujah and some rough areas of Baghdad.
The fighters in this region are a mix of former Saddam-ites and religious extremists, with extensive orchestration from foreign jihadists. The foreigners are not large in number, but they are behind most of the more serious and visible attacks, including nearly all of the car bombings.
The high end of the latest intelligence estimates is that there are a grand total of around 20,000 insurgents carrying out violence in Iraq today. 20,000 guerillas in a population of 25 million works out to one insurgent for every 1,250 Iraqis. To put that in perspective, consider that one out of every 305 Americans is a Hindu. So guerillas in Iraq are four times less common than Hindus are in the U.S.
Now, many of those 20,000 guerillas are nihilists who hold nothing sacred, and they are obviously capable of sowing lots of instability and fear. So I'm not denying we are in the midst of a tough guerilla fight. But it's important that Americans understand this is not a mass insurrection.
FP: That's not something you'd learn from most reporting.
Zinsmeister: The impression you get from the media is that all Iraqis are up in arms against us. That's completely false. The huge, critical fact missing from most of the reporting from Iraq this year is that the Shiite middle-who are going to run this country-have so far stuck with us through many travails.
Certainly there are too many dangerous fanatics carrying out violence in Iraq today. And much of the rest of the population is afraid to cross them: 70 percent of Iraqis believe their family will be in peril if they are perceived to be cooperating with the U.S. But fearing the guerillas and supporting them are two different things, and the clear evidence of polling, interviews, and behavior on the streets of Iraq is that most ordinary Iraqis do not admire, aid, or encourage the terrorists.
FP: You note that the Shiites offer hope for a democratic Iraq. Tell us why.
The Shiites are about 60 percent of the population-where they go, the rest of Iraq will follow. They were brutalized by Saddam, and loath him and his acolytes, so they will have no truck with insurgents who dream of reinstituting a Baath-style state.
And then there are the foreign jihadis who are behind the most violent armed resistance in Iraq today, under the guidance of an al-Qaeda operative named Zarqawi. Zarqawi does not even consider the Shiites or the Kurds (who together represent 80 percent of the population) to be true Muslims. He calls them scorpions, polytheists, and "the enemy." So the Shiite and Kurdish majority are simply not going to follow the insurgents making most of the trouble in Iraq today.
No one is likely to mistake Iraq for Switzerland any time in the near future. But if Americans will show some endurance and toughness, there is a very good chance that a form of governance far better than anything now existing in the Arab Middle East will take root in Iraq. That is something worth taking some significant risks for. It would have a revolutionary influence in making the world more peaceful and America safer.
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Summary: The best kept secret in Iraq, courtesy of the western media.
Review: In contemporary America, the media reports the bloody details to keep an American public glued to the TV with apprehension over Iraq and the WoT in general. The military can't do much to show the public it's side of the story either, it can't force reporters to go out and show the good news as well as the bad, and of course, for the most part the press refuse to do so.Enter Karl Zinsmeister with his newly released book, Dawn over Baghdad. Those of us who have friends in Iraq may get a glimpse of the true picture in Iraq, the hardships our troops endure, and the difficult accomplishments they fulfill on a daily basis that pass unnoticed by the selective eye of the western media. However, for those that do not know where to blog or don't know anyone deployed in the military that can relay more balanced news regarding Iraq, this book is an important breath of fresh air. It isn't particuarly long, nor is it particuarly deep. It is however, just enough detailed information about the positive side of the US military operations in Iraq to whet your appetite for more. US Brigade commanders dealing with Iraqi mullahs, patiently, and firmly, preventing outbreaks of jihadist violence when possible, yet skillfully handling such outbreaks when they are inevitable. Dealing with everyday people, trying to cajole the managers of state owned plants to start engaging in capitalism and to put their employees back to work. Dealing with chronic electrical outages, ironically due to the increasing demand for electricity due to new appliances even while capacity is higher than before Operation Iraqi Freedom took place. Senior US officers making sure that Iraqi women always have a representative voice in the forming government, even when the mullahs claim Iraqi women do not want one. So many tiny, fascinating sociological battles that our media is missing, simply to play up blood and carnage for the benefit of murderers and cutthroats who care about no one. The writing is inspired and purposeful, but due to the time limits at any one point in the author's travels, his book doesn't dwell long an any given situation, and it certainly does not resolve anything he presents. The situation in Iraq is still developing, and it will for quite a few years. However, this book is an excellent insight into what we as a country are truly trying to do, and how well our troops are doing it. It is a life preserver of optimism in a sea of despair, which makes it much more valuable and critical right before the changeover to Iraq's sovereignty on June 30th, 2004. One can only hope the mainstream press takes notice and tries to set the record straight.
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Summary: It won't convince anyone...
Review: It won't convince anyone who has already made up their mind that the war against Saddam Hussein's Ba'athist regime was a mistake but Karl Zinmeister pens a convincing argument that things are getting better in Iraq and most people there are happier these days. Of course it's not all chocolate and sunshine. Although he's confident that Iraq can pull itself together and make a convincing go at democracy, Zinmeister several times hints he's concerned about elements in the Sunni minority that seem hell-bent on fighting the transformation of Iraq. That said, Dawn over Baghdad is a persuasive work that makes you question what you've been seeing on the network news every night. We're all aware of the old newsroom mantra "If it bleeds, it leads" but the fact that the media is unwilling or unable to show the other side of post-war Iraq is an indictment on that institution. Dawn over Baghdad is a good effort at balancing out the public record.
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Summary: Compelling Read! A Story that Needs Telling!
Review: Karl Zinsmeister spent the early part of 2004 as an embedded reporter in Baghdad, Fallujah and elsewhere. In this book he delves into the personas of the U.S. military forces fighting the guerrilla war in Iraq, describes the types of combat missions they undertake, and discusses the obstacles they face. The result is a splendid book that makes one feel proud of the men and women in the U.S. armed forces.
As Zinsmeister shows, the U.S. military is full of dedicated, capable and admirable people. Their task in Iraq is undoubtedly difficult, but it is also unprecedented. The soldiers on the ground in Iraq are faced with the monumental task of rooting out terrorists, thugs and other opponents of freedom, while they are also faced with the equally important task of helping to build a safe, thriving and free society for Iraqis.
Zinsmeister was actually on the ground for an extended period of time, following the soldiers around in all of their daily tasks and dangerous missions-and his book is really makes this clear. The writing is engaging, often by-the-minute, and always down-to-earth. He details all that he and all the soldiers are going through as they experiences things, ultimately tying everything together and providing insightful analysis.
This book is particularly important in that it helps to provide a fuller picture of the war in Iraq. Such is NOT being provided by the Old Media. Far too much of the reporting on the war has focused upon the negative events and the losses. In contrast, far too little attention has been paid to all of the positive events and the successes that have been brought about by our brave soldiers. Our military is helping to build a strong and stable Iraq, helping to establish is government, infrastructure, and economy. They have much to be proud of!
To be sure, there are serious challenges. Zinsmeister describes the daily issues that our soldiers must deal with. He provides insight into the different factions with which the soldiers on the ground have to contend with-Sunnis, Shiites, etc. Also important is the polling and other data he cites in describing the real views of Iraqis towards the ousting of Saddam Hussein, the Coalition troops who are keeping the peace, and prospects for a free and prosperous Iraq.
Our soldiers' mission is not simply a military one, but a humanitarian one. Zinsmeister really drives home the fact that this war will not be won if we do not help the Iraqis to build a stable nation in place of the toppled dictatorship. Unfortunately, at this time, many of the non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that are frequently involved in disaster relief and national building projects, have been all but absent from Iraq. Zinsmeister has called attention to this fact, and considers it a travesty-arising for political reasons. Nonetheless, the Coalition soldiers continue undeterred.
For a better understanding of the fighting in Iraq and for a deeper appreciation of our noble soldiers, read "Dawn Over Baghdad."
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Summary: An eye-witness story
Review: Karl Zinsmeister was a journalist embedded with the 82nd Airborne and spent several weeks with th U.S. soldiers who, in early months of 2004, were engaged in raids against Iraqi insurgents, engaged in daily diplomacy with ordinary Iraqis trying to re-establish their lives in a land torn by an on-going and seemingly escalating guerrilla struggle against the American forces and against each other. In Dawn Over Baghdad: How The U.S. Military Is Using Bullets And Ballots To Remake Iraq, Zinsmeister shows how young American soldiers are choking off a terrorist insurrection. This is an eye-witness story that is very much at odds with the typical media sound bites that substitute for a more in-depth and personally observed account that is gripping, perceptive, unflinching, and cautiously optimistic. Dawn Over Baghdad is highly recommended reading -- especially in the current American political season where American involvement in Iraqi could well be the determining factor in our national elections this coming November.
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Summary: Rose colored propaganda
Review: One can honor and admire some of the individual efforts of soldiers to be constructive without distorting so thoroughly the context, purpose, role of occupiers.
The author would have us believe that Iraq's dilapidated state had little to do with war or nothing much to do with a decade of severe sanctions and therefore must be entirely Saddam's fault. Iraq seems never had educational, health, or other systems worth note. The destruction of clean water facilities and health systems is not explained; it must have been a few stray bombs..
He also is so anxious to counter critics that he would have us believe that most soldiers are well educated idealists and patriotic youngsters - having very little to do with job and other opportunities lacking within civilian life. The many races and nationalities represented shows patriotism more than the narrow range of opportunities and economy in decline at home.
Further we have won the war, terrorists are a minute minority, and most Iraqis still welcome us. Insurgency for him is really a misnomer. This is consistent with simplistic and idealized view of many positive efforts by soldiers such that Iraqis should apparently have little reason to object to occupation.
Arrogant balderdash that is almost entirely myth creation and seeing through rose colored glasses. (If the Pentagon commissioned a book, this would be it.)
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Summary: Great Read
Review: This book was well written and difficult to put down. I highly recommend it to everyone.
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