4000 Americans and thousands and thousands of Iraqis have died in this war

What is there to say. No picture today. We have no picture of what is going on in Iraq really, just lots of misleading pieces of information, lots of deaths, and lots of money.

Here ‘s an example of “news coverage” This is from Navy Lt. Patrick Evans a military spokesperson in response to raids on the Green Zone today. ” There have been some significant gains. However this enemy is resilient and will not give up, nor will we.”

What are the gains? The destruction of the entire country and the killing of probably over a million Iraqis. The gains? fewer Americans killed?? Many fewer would be killed if they all left. The enemy?? Who is the enemy, the enemy is us. Why are we there ?

This particular article which has already been buried online, blamed the attack on “probably tensions between rival Shiite groups” What on earth does that mean? More prominent online is the article blaming Iranian backed militias. More propaganda for Cheney’s next campaign to start a war against Iran. Later on we have Mosul where the area is “the last major urban area where the Sunni extremist al-Qaida group maintains a significant presence>” What are they talking about here?

For a revealing view of the resistance from their own perspective, see the excellent movie Meeting Resistance which interviews the resistance and finds out their motives. Steve Connors and Molly Bingham embedded with one community of resistance fighters, not a “group” but a series of individuals affiliated in different ways, for ten months. They gained their trust enough to be able to interview them about what they were doing. The immediate impact of the movie is that we see the occupation by the US from their perspective, huge machines, soldiers, heavily armed invading every street, action, neighborhood. We look up at these enormously armed men and wonder what on earth do we think we are doing.
Steve Connors one of the filmmakers commented to me “I think a major problem for people attempting to remain informed by reliance on the media here in the United States is that only rarely are Iraqi’s as motivated human beings, driving events, taken into consideration. The view from here is that they lay passive as Americans enact their policy decisions upon them.”
This is so true.