The good news from Iraq.

I’ve already written about the liberal bias in the Red Star but what about other news outlets? It’s fair to say that there are some right-leaning papers and broadcasters out there but it’s equally fair to say that they are vastly outnumbered by left-leaning papers and broadcasters. Dan Rather went to the air with a phony story about President Bush’s military records. The people around him were fired but he got a pass. If that’s not convincing, how about the fact that he did Democratic fundraisers in Texas? Were we getting impartial information from him? What about the current breed of journalists? Don’t hold your breath.

Alan Greenblatt writes (in this article) of a speech given by Norman Mailer in Cambridge, Massachusetts in which he attacked the President. The crowd went wild with every attack and he left the podium to thunderous applause. So what’s the problem, this is America right? The problem is that most of the people in attendance were journalists; the people we get our news from. The American Society of Newspaper Editors published a report in the late 90s showing 61% of journalists identifying themselves as “Democrat or liberal” compared to 15% as “Republican or conservative.” That’s four times as many admitted liberals as conservatives. Last year’s report from the Pew Research Center for The People and The Press found that five times more national journalists (this includes not only newspaper journalists like the report above but also television and other media source journalists) identify themselves as “liberal” (34 percent) than “conservative” (just 7 percent). This is compared to a study taken of the general public in the same year which found 20 percent of the public saying they were liberal and 33 percent saying they were conservative. To summarize, more Americans view themselves as conservative than liberal but the representation in the media is tilted way to the left.

So what’s this all have to do with Iraq? Well… think about it: I bet with some research you can tell me the total amount of American soldiers killed in combat. You can probably do some research and tell me the names of the hostages that were recently taken captive. You know who Daniel Berg is. You know every time a car bomb goes off and kills people.

Do you know how many schools have reopened in Iraq since we’ve been there? Do you know how many Iraqis have returned from exile, how many families have been reunited? Do you know who Samaad from Umar Bill is? Of course you don’t – you’re not getting those stories. Reporters are failing in their job. They have left a gaping void where the news doesn’t jibe with their personal political preferences.

I bring this up because of the continuing flap over whether or not we should pull our troops out of Iraq. Some of the good news is actually starting to filter out. Take this story for example. The troops are confused, even annoyed, at the way the media is portraying the war, focusing on death tolls rather than progress made. Lieutenant Richard Malmstrom tells of the bond the Iraqi soldiers feel with their American counterparts. An Iraqi says, “Marines are not friends; marines are brothers.”

A more notable voice is that of journalist Michael Yon. He does not answer to a large media conglomerate. He was in Iraq as an independent journalist, free to report anything he saw. So what did he see? Bravery and progress. You would be doing yourself a great favor if you went to his website: michaelyon.blogspot.com. Spend some time reading what the America soldiers are really going through and really accomplishing – he does it far greater justice than I could ever hope to.

Remember when I mentioned Samaad from Umar Bill? If you don’t believe me that Americans are being welcomed by the greater Iraqi population, than you can take his word for it. This is directly quoted from Yon’s “Hello Ameriki (from the Kurds)” dispatch:

He [Samaad] fell somber and disappeared for a moment into memory. Emerging with a slight smile tinted by sadness in his eyes, he said, "The Kurds are so happy to see you. The Americans are like the angels from God." But his expression changed dramatically to one of hidden anger: "The Arabs accuse the Americans of being murderers and criminals," he said with finality, "but when Americans came, they brought justice."