This post started off as a post about General Abizaid's take on the situation in Iraq. Then I saw the Associated Press' article on General Abisaid's view and I am as mad as hell about the biased mainstream media. The Associated Press has decided it wants to join CBS as a card carrying member of the biased liberal media wing of the Democratic Party.
Today NBC's "Meet The Press" focused on Iraq. Tim Russert interviewed General John Abizaid, commander of the U.S. Central Command.
I watched the interview, found General John Abizaid's straight talk very impressive and was left with an optimistic feeling that, even though it would be difficult, we would prevail in Iraq and throughout the Middle East and Central Asia. If you missed the broadcast the early transcript is available here. You do not want to rely on the mainstream media to inform you about what General Abizaid said.
The Associated Press' version of General Abizaid said leaves a much different impression than what I had from watching the interview.
The Associated Press article starts with these two sentences:
The top U.S. military commander for Iraq said Sunday he expected flawed elections and much violence ahead of the voting scheduled for January.
Gen. John Abizaid's assessment followed a week in which President Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi spoke optimistically about the situation despite the beheadings of two more Americans and the deaths of dozens of people in car bombings.
The implication is that General Abizaid was not optimistic about Iraq. The transcript shows what the General actually said. The General's response to Russert's first question included this:
GEN. ABIZAID: It's a tough fight and it's a hard fight, but we shouldn't lose heart because there are difficult times. We know there will be fighting. We know that there will be fighting through the elections, but when you think of where we started and now where we are with the Iraqi interim government and elections coming up, I'm positive that we can move the military activity forward to allow for good, stable elections to take place.
Russert asked Abizaid more about elections later in the interview:
MR. RUSSERT: You talked about elections in late January. Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld said earlier this week that it may be the case that there could be elections in, say, three-fourths of the country, the parts of the country that were secure. It wouldn't be perfect, but it would be doable. Is that your goal?
GEN. ABIZAID: Well, Tim, you know, for example, look over to Afghanistan right now where we're getting ready for elections within two weeks. It certainly is not going to be a perfect election, and I don't think that Iraq will have a perfect election. And if I recall looking back at our own election four years ago it wasn't perfect either. That the election will be able to be held in the vast majority of the country under good circumstances is our goal. I don't think we'll ever achieve perfection. And when we look for perfection in a combat zone, we're going to be sadly disappointed.
The key question is: Can elections be held? Right now, based on the fact that 25,000 more Iraqi forces will join us between now and January, I believe with the addition of those additional Iraqi forces, with the jelling of the Iraqi chain of command, with good leadership by Prime Minister Allawi and his ministers, that the elections will be able to be held. I also think we're going to have to fight our way all the way through elections, and there will be a lot of violence between now and then.
MR. RUSSERT: You say "fight your way through the elections." I'll show you a map of Iraq highlighting cities like Ramadi, Fallujah, Baquba, Samarra, Najaf, as you know. Will there be a major military offensive in order to destroy the insurgency in those areas and insert the Iraqi government before January?
GEN. ABIZAID: I certainly wouldn't want to talk about whether or not there's going to be a major offensive in any one particular place or another. We never want to tip off our hands about what we want to do. It's clear, however, that through a combination of political and military action we will do whatever is necessary to bring areas of Iraq under the control of the Iraqi government as soon as possible, and to have all areas of Iraq under government control to the extent possible by the January elections.
But, again, let's make sure that we understand one another. I am not predicting victory by January at the end of the elections. I am predicting that we'll have elections. We will fight our way through the elections. It'll be tough, it'll be hard, but it will move us a step closer to ultimate victory, which is when Iraqis control their own destiny and have complete opportunity for choosing their own government and are free of any sort of American help that they don't want.
The word flawed never appears in the transcript. The General said the elections won't be perfect, he said there would be violence, but he never called the elections flawed.
The Associated Press article also incorrectly states that General Abizaid "warned that voting may not be possible in parts of Iraq where the violence is too intense. There is no such warning in the transcript.
The Associated Press also takes a single paragraph apart and makes the parts seem different out of their original context. The transcript contains this paragraph:
Well, Tim, you know, for example, look over to Afghanistan right now where we're getting ready for elections within two weeks. It certainly is not going to be a perfect election, and I don't think that Iraq will have a perfect election. And if I recall looking back at our own election four years ago it wasn't perfect either. That the election will be able to be held in the vast majority of the country under good circumstances is our goal. I don't think we'll ever achieve perfection. And when we look for perfection in a combat zone, we're going to be sadly disappointed.
The Associated Press version of that paragraph is written like this:
"I don't think we'll ever achieve perfection and when we look for perfection in a combat zone we're going to be sadly disappointed," he said on NBC's "Meet the Press."
Abizaid compared the situation in Iraq to the disputed U.S. presidential election in 2000 that put George W. Bush in the White House following a protracted fight that ended up in the Supreme Court.
"I don't think Iraq will have a perfect election. And if I recall, looking back at our own election four years ago, it wasn't perfect either," he said.
He said the goal is to have successful voting in the "vast majority of the country."
The Associated Press' four pargraphs leave a much different and less positive impression than what was actually broadcast.
The Associated Press article misleadingly states:
He spoke of a major offensive before the election, with U.S. and Iraqi forces doing "whatever's necessary to bring areas in Iraq under Iraqi control."
A quick Look at what was broadcast, shows how misleading that sentence is:
MR. RUSSERT: You say "fight your way through the elections." I'll show you a map of Iraq highlighting cities like Ramadi, Fallujah, Baquba, Samarra, Najaf, as you know. Will there be a major military offensive in order to destroy the insurgency in those areas and insert the Iraqi government before January?
GEN. ABIZAID: I certainly wouldn't want to talk about whether or not there's going to be a major offensive in any one particular place or another. We never want to tip off our hands about what we want to do. It's clear, however, that through a combination of political and military action we will do whatever is necessary to bring areas of Iraq under the control of the Iraqi government as soon as possible, and to have all areas of Iraq under government control to the extent possible by the January elections
General Abisaid "spoke of a major offensive" by saying he "certainly wouldn't want to talk about whether or not there's going to be a major offensive" and the General only said that in response to Russert's question.
Then the Associated Press article contains this passage:
Abizaid also was asked about President Bush's suggestion that criticism of the war by Democrat John Kerry would help to "embolden the enemy."
Abizaid responded that he hoped that some day Iraqis will engage in similar sorts of debates.
"I believe debate in our country is what our country is all about," he said. "That there's a debate back home is a good thing for our country."
Here is the complete exchange:
MR. RUSSERT: General, I know you don't want to be involved in politics, but we are in the middle of a presidential campaign and I want to get your reaction to some of the charges and countercharges from your standpoint on the ground. John Kerry said "This is the wrong war in the wrong place at the wrong time." President Bush says those comments embolden the enemy and send the wrong message to the troops. Do you believe that the debate about Iraq in this country emboldens the enemy and sends the wrong message to the troops?
GEN. ABIZAID: Tim, I believe that debate in our country is what our country is all about. And if we're successful out here, debate will be part of the future of Afghanistan, it'll be part of the future of Iraq and it will be part of the future of all of the Middle East. As a matter of fact, as I look around the Middle East, we're going through a revolutionary times right now and debate is happening everywhere. So that there is a debate is certainly a good thing for the peoples of the region. That there's a debate back home is a good thing for our people.
I can only tell you that as the military commander, I remain confident in our troops. I remain confident in the Iraqis. I remain confident in the people of the Middle East looking forward to a better future. They don't want to live the life of al-Qaeda or a Talibanized society like we saw in Afghanistan. They want to live a moderate life where their children can grow up and have a better life. And I think to the extent that we can help them help themselves to that end, we will be enormously successful.
So is this fight in the Middle East worth fighting? And the answer is absolutely. In my mind, and in the minds of our young people that are out here fighting and sacrificing, it's absolutely worth it. And we believe that by fighting out here offensively, by helping the people of the region help themselves, we have kept the country free of attack. That doesn't mean that the country will absolutely be free of attack, but we certainly think that we've done our bit by maintaining an offensive orientation.
The Associated Press completely ignored two thirds of the General's answer.
During the interview General Abizaid was asked about many other important issues including the National Intelligence Estimate, foreign terrorists in Iraq, securing Iraq's border, the insurgency, Kerry's "Wrong War In The Wrong Place At The Wrong Time" meme, Iraqi troops and the length of the war.
You were expecting anything less than a hatchet job from the AP? Shame for being so optimistic.
If you have not seen them, Powerline has several items on the AP that are worth reading and linking to.
Posted by: Marc | Monday, September 27, 2004 at 07:32 AM