With apologies to my readership (both of you), this is another (brief) post on Iraq. Hey, as somebody who tracks the wonders of the Western media, a fellow has to go with what's covered.
Today, I note the remarkable stupidity that the Western media assumes its readership brings to the morning paper. The rambling AP story about today's repeat bombing at the Shiite Askariya Mosque drove the point home again, mostly through its omissions. The bit contained lengthy descriptions that gave the clear impression of strange religious sects who battle and kill each other for no apparent reason. Because the author included no explanation of the philosophical differences, the real estate tensions, or the global context, the reader could only conclude the Shiites and Sunnis must just be savage nut-cases.
On the other hand, the same criticism could not be levelled at the US forces who are in Iraq. The story quizzically noted that many Iraqis refer to the US military presence as an "occupation" - yes, the writer actually used quotation marks, as if the meaning was lost on him. Hundreds of thousands of uninvited foreign military forces in a country. How could anybody ever see that as an "occupation"? Sheeeeesh.
Also worthy of nothing more than a brief mention was the promise from the US military in the aftermath of the 2006 bombing at the Askariya mosque to re-build it. The author dryly noted that the US has taken no steps at all to fulfill that promise, and then he moved on to the next topic. Not at all possible, I suppose, that such a broken promise looms large in the minds of the "unoccupied" people. Gracious folks indeed - thanks for taking it all in stride.*
* Credit to Family Guy's Stewie.
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