Iraq, the Washington Post’s Editorial Page, and the State of Denial

By Brigitte L. Nacos
The Washington Post’s editorial page has not only been a staunch supporter of the Bush administration’s
Iraq war and its utopian goals but also hospitable to like-minded conservative and neo-conservative columnists and contributors of op-ed articles. Today’s editorial (“on the need for an American presence beyond the current surge of troops…”) is a case in point as is a column by Robert Kagan, one of the neo-conservative most persistent Iraq hawks.After mentioning a senior U.S.commander’s remark that the results of the military surge have been ‘small’ so far, the Post editorial states, “While the deployment of more American troops may further improve security in the capital during the summer [emphasis added]…” Further improve security in Baghdad? Whom are the editorial writers kidding? Just read Terry McCarthy’s “Life in the Inferno of Baghdad” in today’s Outlook section of the Post.  McCarthy reports, “Car bombs punctuate life here with percussive malevolence. They have become more frequent since the U.S. troop "surge" began three months ago. Loud enough to be heard across much of the city, they quickly throw up a characteristic plume of black smoke, which comes from the instant vaporization of the tires by the heat of the blast.”
While increasingly targeting American soldiers since the “surge” began, insurgents continue to kill and maim far more Iraqis--civilians and members of Iraqi security forces.

Like the Post’s editorial page,Iraq war and “surge” advocate Kagan ignores what correspondents on the ground see, hear, and report. Otherwise he could not write, “Signs of life are returning to Baghdadand elsewhere.” This claim is so far removed from reality that war supporters Senator McCain and Senator Lieberman were ridiculed, when they made it after a visit in Iraq’s capital.

These hardliners, who are in a state of denial, see Iraq not as it is but as they want it to be. Little wonder that Kagan states in his column, “The fact is that, contrary to so many predictions, Iraq has not descended into civil war.”

I rather trust the remaining press corps’s daily dispatches from Baghdad and elsewhere in the country. Reporting from the ground in Iraq. Edward Wong, for example, writes in Sunday’s New York Times, “Caught in the middle of the civil war are the Americans.”

Do we really want to be in the midst of another nation's/religion's civil war?

 

Comments

[Brigitte]

I have seen reports from Iraqi politicians saying the same--they want American troops and other coalition troops out.
I guess they may be able to figure out to get their own problems solved without outsiders.

[Tony]

I spoke with a Ft Drum helicopter mechanic who just returned, and he said the Iraqis don't want us there. We're going to talk more about it next week while I help him paint his house. I have no reason to doubt him.