Mr. Moderate

There seems little doubt that the American public is being subjected to a great deal propaganda coming out of Iraq. But how do we sort fact from fiction? Take, for instance, these paragraphs out of THIS STORY:

After the arrest, the military said, nine vehicles moved into the area and positioned themselves to “block and ambush Iraqi and coalition forces.”

Iraqi and coalition forces called in an airstrike. All nine vehicles fought, and five terrorist suspects were killed, the military said.

According to an official in Iraq’s Ministry of Information, the attack planes hit a line of cars queuing next to a gas station near Sadr City. Six cars were destroyed, three civilians were killed and eight others were wounded, the official said.

From the above, it is clear that either the US military is lying or else the Ministry of Information official is lying. And of course, there is a picture:

So, where is the truth? Were a bunch of innocent civilians lining up for gasoline (an average everyday happening in Baghdad)? Or, were sinister terrorists maneuvering to get the drop on a group of US and Iraqi soldiers? How can we know?

Whatever the reality of the situation might be, I’m reminded of some fragmentary lyrics out of the Buffalo Springfield song from four decades ago:

There’s somethin’ happenin’ here.
What it is ain’t exactly clear.
There’s a man with a gun over there
A-tellin’ me I’ve got to beware.

…

There’s battle lines bein’ drawn.
Nobody’s right if everybody’s wrong.
…

Paranoia strikes deep.
Into your life it will creep.
It starts when you’re always afraid.
Step out of line, the MAN come and take you away.

Do we have the paranoia of too many US soldiers who’ve been attacked with “improvised explosive devices” (IEDs), “explosively formed projectiles” (EFPs), and suicide bombers? And of course, just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they aren’t out to get you! So, you call in your favorite A10 and blow the threat away. Only to be told it is just ordinary folks in line for gas. Any wonder why the US soldiers might make up a story to cover their rear ends in a situation like this?

Or is it rather the fact that “insurgents” (read: Iraqis and their friends who don’t want the US military in Iraq) really were getting ready to attack, and the Iraqi Information Ministry, for political reasons of its own (i.e., Iran wants the US forces out, and the best way to accomplish that is to prove that the US forces are attacking ordinary citizens for no good reason), decides to convert a “terrorist attack” into just a bunch of ordinary folks lining up for gas?

It is clear that the US forces and the Iraqi Ministry of Information were telling two very different tales about this same incident. It is also clear that ordinary Americans have little chance at ascertaining what the real truth of the matter happens to be. But I rather believe that the irregular forces which the US military is battling would not line up nine vehicles in a row before mounting an attack against an organized military force. Nowhere in the past have they shown such tactics. Thus, I rather tend to believe the Iraqi Ministry of Information this time around.

But that means our US forces were lying, and that does not bode well at all for any kind of an eventual victory. If we can’t admit our mistakes and take corrective action to prevent repeats, then we are doomed to be the bad guys in the eyes of these poor Iraqi citizens for a very long time to come.