Ralph Peters: Iraq 'Civil War' A Media Myth
NewsMax ^ | March 5, 2006 | Carl Limbacher

Ralph Peters: Iraq 'Civil War' A Media Myth
NewsMax ^ | March 5, 2006 | Carl Limbacher

Instead, he reports: "I saw children and teenagers in a Shia slum
jumping up and down and cheering our troops as they drove by."

"Cheering our troops," he repeated.

Ralph Peters: Iraq 'Civil War' A Media Myth
NewsMax ^ | March 5, 2006 | Carl Limbacher

Ralph Peters: Iraq 'Civil War' A Media Myth
NewsMax ^ | March 5, 2006 | Carl Limbacher

Reports that Iraq has descended into a civil war are not only not true
- they're being promulgated by anti-war journalists eager to see U.S.
efforts to establish a stable democracy in the country fail.

So says military analyst Ralph Peters, who just spent a week touring
Baghdad with the 506th Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division.

"I'm looking for the civil war that The New York Times declared. And I
just can't find it," Peters declared in his New York Post column on
Sunday.

Instead, he reports: "I saw children and teenagers in a Shia slum
jumping up and down and cheering our troops as they drove by."

"Cheering our troops," he repeated.

Everywhere the 506th traveled, he said, the reception was warm. "No
violence. None. Iraqis went out of their way to tell us we were
welcome."

Instead, said Peters, the bombing of the Golden Mosque in Samarra -
the alleged catalyst for the so-called civil war - has "caused popular
support for the U.S. presence to spike upward."

"In place of the civil war that elements in our media declared, I saw
full streets, open shops, traffic jams, donkey carts, Muslim holiday
flags - and children everywhere, waving as our Humvees passed," he
recalled.

"Even the clouds of dust we stirred up didn't deter them. And the
presence of children in the streets is the best possible indicator of
a low threat level."

So why is the U.S. press full of reports that Iraq is spinning into
chaos?

Says Peters: Many journalists who pretend to be out on the streets of
Baghdad getting the story are instead hiding out in their hotel rooms
and getting their news from Iraqi stringers.

"And the Iraqi stringers have cracked the code," he explained. "The
Americans don't pay for good news. So they exaggerate the bad."



--
"The president and I cannot prevent certain politicians from losing
their memory, or their backbone, but we're not going to sit by and
let them rewrite history." -- ***** Cheney 11/16/2005

"War is God's way of teaching Americans geography" -- Ambrose Bierce

"America is a vast conspiracy to make you happy." -- John Updike

"Long term commitment in relationships is only necessary because it takes
so damn long to raise children. Marriage may well be some kind of trick
to keep the males around beyond sexual satiation." -- Captain Compassion

"Progress is the increasing control of the environment by life.
--Will Durant

Joseph R. Darancette
daranc@NOSPAMverizon.net

Ralph Peters: Iraq 'Civil War' A Media Myth
NewsMax ^ | March 5, 2006 | Carl Limbacher
=20
Reports that Iraq has descended into a civil war are not only not true
- they're being promulgated by anti-war journalists eager to see U.S.
efforts to establish a stable democracy in the country fail.=20
=20
So says military analyst Ralph Peters, who just spent a week touring
Baghdad with the 506th Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division.=20
=20
"I'm looking for the civil war that The New York Times declared. And I
just can't find it," Peters declared in his New York Post column on
Sunday.=20
=20
Instead, he reports: "I saw children and teenagers in a Shia slum
jumping up and down and cheering our troops as they drove by."=20
=20
"Cheering our troops," he repeated.=20
=20
Everywhere the 506th traveled, he said, the reception was warm. "No
violence. None. Iraqis went out of their way to tell us we were
welcome."=20
=20
Instead, said Peters, the bombing of the Golden Mosque in Samarra -
the alleged catalyst for the so-called civil war - has "caused popular
support for the U.S. presence to spike upward."=20
=20
"In place of the civil war that elements in our media declared, I saw
full streets, open shops, traffic jams, donkey carts, Muslim holiday
flags - and children everywhere, waving as our Humvees passed," he
recalled.=20
=20
"Even the clouds of dust we stirred up didn't deter them. And the
presence of children in the streets is the best possible indicator of
a low threat level."=20
=20
So why is the U.S. press full of reports that Iraq is spinning into
chaos?=20
=20
Says Peters: Many journalists who pretend to be out on the streets of
Baghdad getting the story are instead hiding out in their hotel rooms
and getting their news from Iraqi stringers.=20
=20
"And the Iraqi stringers have cracked the code," he explained. "The
Americans don't pay for good news. So they exaggerate the bad."
=20
=20
=20
--=20
"The president and I cannot prevent certain politicians from losing=20
their memory, or their backbone, but we're not going to sit by and=20
let them rewrite history." -- ***** Cheney 11/16/2005
=20
"War is God's way of teaching Americans geography" -- Ambrose Bierce=20
=20
"America is a vast conspiracy to make you happy." -- John Updike
=20
"Long term commitment in relationships is only necessary because it =

so damn long to raise children. Marriage may well be some kind of =

to keep the males around beyond sexual satiation." -- Captain =

=20
"Progress is the increasing control of the environment by life.=20
--Will Durant
=20
Joseph R. Darancette
daranc@NOSPAMverizon.net