Iraq Media Coverage "Afghanized": US Columnist

"A funny thing happened after the United States transferred sovereignty over Iraq. On the ground, things didn't change, except for the worse," Paul Krugman, the opinion-editor of New York Times said.

"But as Matthew Yglesias of The American Prospect puts it, the cosmetic change in regime had the effect of ‘Afghanizing’ the media coverage of Iraq," he added in an article under the heading "What About Iraq?".

Krugman explained that Yeglesias is referring to "the way news coverage of Afghanistan dropped off sharply after the initial military defeat of the Taliban".

"A nation we had gone to war to liberate and had promised to secure and rebuild - a promise largely broken - once again became a small, faraway country of which we knew nothing," he said about Afghanistan.

Coverage

Krugman states how the same twist took place as far as Iraq was concerned after the handover of power.

"Incredibly, the same thing happened to Iraq after June 28. Iraq stories moved to the inside pages of newspapers, and largely off TV screens. Many people got the impression that things had improved.

"Even journalists were taken in: a number of newspaper stories asserted that the rate of US losses there fell after the handoff. (Actual figures: 42 American soldiers died in June, and 54 in July.)," said the prominent columnist.

The trouble with this shift of attention, he opined, is that if people don't have a clear picture of what's actually happening in Iraq, they won't be able to open a serious discussion of the options that remain for making the best of a very bad situation.

The military reality in Iraq is that there has been no letup in attacks against occupation forces, and large parts of the country seem to be effectively under the control of groups hostile to the US-backed government, according to Krugman.

More than 15 US soldiers were wounded in a fresh flare-up ( http://www.islamonline.net/English/News/2004-08/06/article02.shtml ) of clashes with Sadr’s Mahdi Army militia in Iraq Friday, in which more than 50 people were killed in the midst of no security and a Us chopper was shot down.

"And everywhere, of course, the mortar attacks, bombings, kidnappings and assassinations go on."

Lack Of Services

The US columnist also noted that earlier promises made by Washington to Iraqis seeking better life standards and safety before the invasion of the oil-rich country have not materialized.

"This summer, like last summer, there are severe shortages of electricity. Sewage is tainting the water supply, and typhoid and hepatitis are on the rise.

"Unemployment remains sky-high. Needless to say, all this undermines any chance for the new Iraqi government to gain wide support."

Krugman dismissed his point in describing all this bad news is not to be defeatist, but rather to set some realistic context for the political debate.

He said calls for American forces to "stay the course" are fatuous, as "the course we're on leads downhill".

"American soldiers keep winning battles, but we're losing the war: our military is under severe strain; we're creating more terrorists than we're killing; our reputation, including our moral authority, is damaged each month this goes on," read the article of the opinion editor of the American daily.

End Occupation

The famous American columnist called on the US forces to end their position as an occupying power.

"We need to move quickly to end our position as an occupying power in a bitterly hostile land, the fate that none other than former President George H. W. Bush correctly warned could be the result of an invasion of Iraq," he said.

"And that means turning real power over to Iraqis.

"Again and again since the early months after the fall of Baghdad - when Paul Bremer III canceled local elections in order to keep the seats warm for our favorite exiles - US officials have passed up the chance to promote credible Iraqi leaders. And each time the remaining choices get worse."

Krugman added: "Yet we're still doing it. Ayad Allawi is, probably, something of a thug. Still, it's in our interests that he succeed.

"But when Allawi proposed an amnesty for "insurgents" - a move that was obviously calculated to show that he wasn't an American puppet - American officials, probably concerned about how it would look at home, stepped in to insist that "insurgents" who have killed Americans be excluded.

Inevitably, Krugman sees this suggestion that American lives matter more than Iraqi lives led to an unraveling of the whole thing.

Allawi, had earlier admitted that he had run an organization that carried out a bombing campaign, in collaboration with the CIA ( http://www.islamonline.net/English/News/2004-06/10/article08.shtml ) , in Iraq in the 1990s to topple then President Saddam Hussein, "now looks like a puppet."

"But we should get realistic, and look in earnest for an exit," the American writer concluded.

On May 26, The New York Times admitted in an unusual mea culpa published substantial problems with its coverage of Iraq’s alleged weapons of mass destruction and links to terrorism, saying it was misled by Iraqi exiles and American intelligence.

The Times published a number of articles backing claims that Iraq possessed WMDs - none of which has been found more than one year after the U.S.-led occupation of the oil-rich country.

To Read New York Times Article, Click Here
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/06/opinion/06krugman.html?ex=1092456000&en=0c48569b75028457&ei=5006&partner=ALTAVISTA1

http://islamonline.org/English/News/2004-08/06/article04.shtml