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Ralph Peters is a regular columnist with the New
York Post.
Register here for access to the Post's Online Edition.
| PETERS |
Bush
In Iraq, Media In Misery
by Ralph
Peters [author,
novelist] 6/15/06 |
June
has been a miserable month for our left-wing media.
First, the
death of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi forced the alleged "massacre" at
Haditha off Page One, frustrating media attempts to manufacture
a sequel to Abu Ghraib. Then, President Bush made a midnight
ride to Baghdad to put one very important pair of boots on
the ground. He didn't hug the airport, either, but crossed
the city to the Green Zone for a face-to-face with Iraq's
new prime minister. It was a brave and inspiring act. And a
worthy one.
Strategically
wise, good for Iraqi and American morale - and, yes, politically
savvy - the president's trip blew apart the media's
effort to recover from their loss of Zarqawi.
Contributors
Ralph Peters - Contributor
Ralph
Peters is a retired Army officer and the author of 19 books,
as well as of hundreds of essays and articles, written both
under his own name and as Owen Parry. He is a frequent columnist
for the New York Post and other publications. [go to Peters Index] |
It also
shut down their bid to refocus our attention on the suicides
of three
poor, deprived terrorists at Guantanamo - thugs
we're expected to mourn as victims of our inhumanity. Hate-America
journalists just can't get a break these days.
But they're still trying. One cable-news anchor yesterday asked
if Bush's visit to Iraq was a "publicity stunt." Her
own network's correspondent shot that down, on-air. True reporters
know a missile can kill a president as easily as a private. The Gitmo suicide-trifecta was the real publicity stunt.
This accurate statement should never have been retracted: It was an
act of asymmetrical warfare. And every save-the-terrorists jerk
behind a mike knows it in his or her shriveled bleeding heart.
The strategic momentum has shifted. Fighting
a terrorist movement takes time, sometimes a frustrating amount
of it. But Bush's
trip drove home some undeniable facts:
- The American president can go to Baghdad.
And our enemies can't stop him. And the White House didn't black out
news of this visit until the prez was wheels-up for home; word
broke while he was still in the Green Zone. One big Bronx cheer
for the bad guys - for whom Bush's visit was a humiliation.
- Iraq has an elected, functioning government of a quality
that deserved a presidential visit. Image matters
in the Arab world, and the symbolism of our president going to
Baghdad to confer with Iraq's prime minister instantly raised
that new government's stature.
- Americans aren't quitters. As Bush pointed
out to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, when Americans give
their word, we
stick to it - at least under this president. The
terrorists and their media sympathizers haven't been able
to budge us. And we won't come back 'til it's over,
over there.
- Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is dead and won't
easily be replaced. The months ahead will still see plenty of
violence, but Iraq's already better off.
- The hundreds of raids and arrests of terrorists
in the wake of Zarqawi's death have received scant media
coverage (those three sweet, virtuous Gitmo terrorists were
more important,
you see), but this is huge news.
- Once you crack a terror system open, one success
leads to another. For a long time, the terrorists held the
tactical initiative;
now we've grabbed it. It's a credit to fine intelligence
work, good soldiering - and to the Iraqis struggling to save
their country.
- One presidential visit to Baghdad is worth a thousand pathetic
declarations of defeat from Nancy Pelosi, Howard Dean or Ted
Kennedy - none of whom has shown the least respect for the democratically
elected and courageous leaders of reborn Iraq.
Bush's visit forced the media to briefly stop whining about
the phony issues of Haditha and Gitmo and to acknowledge that
Iraq has a free, functioning government. But for ambitious journalists,
inventing or exaggerating American misdeeds will always be more
rewarding than telling the truth: Zarqawi's death was written
off, while Haditha was written up.
Still, glints of truth force their way through.
And the truth is: We've got a president with guts; our
efforts in Iraq are paying off, and their new government is
far more important
to Iraqis than Gitmo or Haditha.
Yesterday, President Bush dominated the news. And the news
was good. Tomorrow, the America-haters in the press will try
again to convince you that nothing our president, our soldiers
or free Iraqis do can make a difference.
You know better. CRO
Ralph Peters'
latest book is New
Glory: Expanding America's Global Supremacy. His next book, "Never Quit the Fight," is due
out July 10.
This
piece first appeared in the New York Post
copyright 2006 - NY Post
Rush
Limbaugh
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