Beneath The WaPo's Iraq Headline

Researching the latest bit of WaPo bad news out of Iraq, I found it interesting that the WaPo's Iraqi journalist killed there was from Tikrit, a former Army Captain in Saddam's regime. Given his age, rank and education, almost certainly a Baathist with a nice life in front of him, if not for Saddam's fall. If nothing else, it provides a layer of complexity to Iraq the WaPo doesn't seem interested in conveying.

It's a disturbing head line out of Iraq coming at a time when many of the headlines happen to be good ones. But there's one item you need to search fairly deep to uncover, the Washington Post obviously doesn't think it relevant. It at least adds a layer of complexity to the story of Salih Saif Aldin, the WaPo journalist recently killed in the very neighborhood upon which the Post bases its bad news story. Perhaps the murder served as something of a motivation to bless us with just a bit more bad news out of Iraq.

'I Don't Think This Place Is Worth Another Soldier's Life'

The streets of Sadiyah are deserted again. To the right, power lines slump down into the dirt. To the left, what was a soccer field is now a pasture of trash, combusting and smoking in the sun. Packs of skinny wild dogs trot past walls painted with slogans of sectarian hate.

Salih Saif Aldin, a Sunni, was recruited as a reporter in Tikrit, Saddam's home town.

Aldin began working for the newspaper in early 2004 as a stringer in his hometown of Tikrit, 80 miles north of Baghdad, and later moved to the capital, the newspaper said.

"Courageous beyond imagination, Salih was determined to unveil the truth," said Sudarsan Raghavan, the Post's Baghdad bureau chief. "He was instrumental to the Post's coverage of Iraq."

He came under threat for exposing some alleged corruption within the mostly Shiite Iraqi Army:

In July 2005, he received a note threatening his life if he did not quit journalism and leave the city. He refused. "This is my city, and I'm a journalist," he told colleagues.

Not reported, but mentioned in a journalist's comment here, prior to the invasion, he was a Captain in Saddam's Army. For all I know he was a decent man who wanted peace across all factions in Iraq. But it's also true that he enjoyed many advantages as an Army Captain from Tikrit in Saddam's Iraq. And rather than pursue the dangerous, if not impossible career of journalism, in those days he was apparently content to take his marching orders from a vile dictator who killed Shiites by the hundreds of thousands. There was no one to report on the all too many silenced voices then.

We talked about his work as a Captain in Saddam Hussein's army. We talked about his ongoing education, how he already had one university degree but wanted another. In halting English, he gave me a piece of advice that continues to guide my work as a reporter: "For you, Megan, Baghdad is your university. You should learn from everyone you speak to and everything you see."

Comments

[Capitalist Infidel]

Looks like the Washington Post is eulogizing a terrorist they employed. Niiiiiice

[Xanthippas]

For all I know he was a decent man who wanted peace across all factions in Iraq.

Of course, the fact that you know nothing will not stop you from baseless "speculation" questioning the man's motives. Whereas if he were say, Average Joe Iraqi writing about how great Bush is and how much better things are now than they were before the surge, you probably wouldn't even think to explore the man's background.

[Xanthippas]

Oh and by the way, if someone could loan Capitalist Infidel a copy of a dictionary so that he may look up the word "terrorist", that would be nice.

[Pablo]

That quite a set of psychic powers you've got there, Xanthippas.

Do you have anything you'd like to say on the topic at hand? You know, like instead of predicting how Dan might act, any comment on how the WaPo did act? Or do you just have the strawman?

[bobInStamford]

The 'necks are right afeared of terrurr. They go to sleep/pass out every night worrying that their trailer encampment might be a target of terrrurr.

[Thom]

Riehl writes a post based on pasted together crapnoodles and impossibly-far-reaching speculation, Xanthippas points that out, and Pablo accuses Xanthippas of speculation and strawmanning (yes, that IS a word). Wow.

And holy freaking crap that is the stretchiest bit of stretched out bullshiat of a story I've perhaps ever seen.

A rewrite:

"Researching the latest bit of WaPo bad news out of Iraq"...I found a way to make a wholly unrelated thing to the story, which is about how these American soldiers feel about being in Iraq - which is NOT GOOD - seem related to the story in a way that, it you follow me, makes it seem like the MSM is lying about the GOOD NEWS in Iraq. To top that bit of absolute truth-buggery, the wholly unrelated thing that I duct-taped to the story is...wait for it...the story of an Iraqi reporter who was murdered in Iraq.

BOINNNNNNNG!

Pablo and Dan Riehl. A match made in truth-buggery.

[Terry Gain]

"Whereas if he were say, Average Joe Iraqi writing about how great Bush is and how much better things are now than they were before the surge, you probably wouldn't even think to explore the man's background."

Well I certainly would and I point out the difference in honor and character between every average Iraqi who supports the Surge (which the Iraqis call "impose rule of law" ) and the pathetic know-nothing leftist partisans who want to see the suffering in Iraq continue, if only it will help put their harridan in the White House.

[Terry]

The Atlantic's second most popular blogger, Matthew Yglesias, has a more radical take on the WaPo story arguing that the Administration's surge policy initiated earlier this year is essentially some kind of PR hoax, and that the declining levels of violence are unrelated to the surge:

"There's a lot to chew over in this Washington Post feature on the experiences of 1st Battalion, 18th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division in Baghdad's Sadiyah neighborhood. Perhaps the most important is what the story suggests about the declining violence in Baghdad (and perhaps elsewhere in the country), namely that the spike in violence was associated with competing sectarian efforts at ethnic cleansing and the decline in violence represents the success of those efforts..."

Naturally, The Atlantic's most popular blogger, Andrew Sullivan, provides a favorable push to this idiotic spin of Yglesias.

[Zuzu]

I didn't think you people could go any lower than your stalking of the Frost family.

Then I saw your stalking of a young reporter who was stupid enough to be rude to a soldier at a checkpoint and then post about it. Hang him!!!!!

Then I saw this.

You people are the scum of the earth.

[southdakotaboy]

zuzu, so in your world it is alright to disrupt, stalk and otherwise harrass people on the right; but heaven forbid the idea that people on the right point out lefties bad behavior. Must be nice to live in your little bit of lala land.

[Terry Gain]

As it becomes indisputable over the course of the next six months that Iraq has been pacified, there will be many more leftist reporters, like Yglesias, becoming unhinged and more and more nobodies like Zuzu jumping off the cliff.

Gateway Pundit has a post up aboot an Iraqi army unit donating to the victims of the California fires. Expect more stories like this as it becomes clear what America has done for Iraq.

Expect the left to go stark raving mad when it sinks in that a Christian conservative is more progressive than they could ever hope to be.

[Fred Beloit]

The Wapo waxes so caring about this "Courageous beyond imagination..." former captain in an army that our army and marines kicked the crap out of a few years ago in order to liberate the Iraqis from a tyrant. Our forces are attempting now to maintain Iraq as a stable democracy in that violent region ruled by theocracies and monarchies.

And this tyrant, Saddam, stayed in power because he had an army of which this Wapo writer was a member. As for our casualties in this effort? Well they are good for one thing, anti-war propaganda, a Wapo specialty. Wapo cries for her reporter/propagandist and makes us care. Well boodeehoohoo.

[curious bystander]

"As it becomes indisputable over the course of the next six months that Iraq has been pacified, there will be many more leftist reporters, like Yglesias, becoming unhinged and more and more nobodies like Zuzu jumping off the cliff."

Can we have your promise that, at long last, you will jump over the cliff if it doesn't become indisputable?

[curvedbrain]

"I didn't think you people could go any lower than your stalking of the Frost family."

No one "stalked" the Frost family. But you've been told to believe that they were, so you repeat the lie mindlessly.

[curvedbrain]

"Riehl writes a post based on pasted together crapnoodles and impossibly-far-reaching speculation"

Just to be clear, you are asserting that "impossibly far-reaching speculation" = Dan noting that Salih Saif Aldin was a captain serving under Saddam's army who was also from Saddam's home town. Is it reallly so 'far-reaching' to speculate that this Captain likely enjoyed privileges for carrying out, and/or remaining silent about Saddam's murderous atrocities? He wasn't a grunt, he was a captain in Saddam's army for chrissakes.. that background may, or may not have, colored his reporting. And that aspect of his background is relevant.

As Dan pointed out, for all we know, this former captain may have had good intentions in building a new Iraq (he exposed alleged corruption in the army, as Dan points out), but why in the hell didn't the Washington Post make clear the background of this reporter? The answer of course, is because they want to decide for us what's important for us to know and what information to withhold, depending on the narrative they're pushing.

I love how the oh so open minded progressives try and shout down anyone and everyone daring to raise obvious questions.

[Observer]

If Iraq continues to progress with the successes we are now seeing does any one think that as much coverage and attention will be forthcoming for the next mandated appearance in front of congress by Gen Petraeus? If the news is good I wager the crickets will be chirping.

[Capitalist Infidel]

I'm sure Xanthippas is no longer around, most faux intellectuals won't stick around after such an assinine statement. Here is a list of 41 Baathist terrorists that the government put out last year.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/07/03/iraq/main1773952.shtml?source=RSS&attr=HOME_1773952

Most people with an IQ over 80 could put 2 and 2 together, lets see, the guy was a Baathist and a high ranking member in Sadaams army, just like the 41 mentioned above. It sure is easy to embarrass far left wing fanatical nutjobs like Xanthippas.

[JustADude]

I will just point out this is the same unit that is the home for Scott Thomas Beauchamp.

Think about it , your mileage may vary.

The soldiers are welcome to their opinion but they only see the area they are in and they may have drawn a bad one that on the to do list after others are cleaned up.

What they are saying of the conditions matches up to other sources, but it seems the paper is cherry picking the worst area they can find to report on without a counter example of how many of the other areas have experienced marked improvement.

[Wapo Senior Reporto Clappers]

Nah, we ALWAYS tell the truth.

::wink::

[Michael Volpe]

You are right, there is a ton of context that the MSM will never explain about this and many other stories. Unfortunately, the Post has become front and center for slanting the Iraq war news. There will be plenty of tragedy in Iraq no matter how well we are doing. This is the Middle East and even under the best of circumstances there will always be plenty of evil lurking in the background. If the Post insists on playing up sensationaists stories that try and tug at heart strings then so be it. They can ignore the nature of what is actually going on for so long before everyone starts to realize it with or without them. The month of October is almost over and the deaths civilians and military are down dramatically from September and they were down dramatically in September. The media ignored a dramatic decrease in deaths in September and I have no doubt they will do the same in October. What we as citizens need to do is call them on it. It is not enough for this to be written in your blog, but rather that everyone reading your blog contact their ombudsman and demand a fuller explanation of what is going on. The Post and the rest of the MSM will need to be pulled kicking and screaming to finally report the truth, and we need to be the ones pulling them. Here is how I saw the unbelievable bias of the Post.

www.proprietornation.blogspot.com/2007/10/washington-post-covering-or-slanting.html