Iraqis Unite at Historic Promise of the People Conference
Monday, July 16, 2007 at 10:40PM Bottom Line Up Front: For every car bomb story in Iraq the MSM puts on the nightly news, there are dozens of feel good progress stories that go unreported. The Promise of the People Conference is such a story.
The Promise of the People Conference celebrated the people of Iraq as they work with Coalition Forces, united against terrorism and the insurgency. Citizens from all over Anbar Province met in Ramadi along with more than 400 political and tribal leaders on July 7, 2007 as an in-your-face show of force against the influences tearing at the stability of Iraq, such as al-Qaeda, the insurgency, sectarianism, hatred, violence and intolerance.
Literally, the Promise of the People Conference was about Iraqis making a covenant with each other; not a contract, but a covenant, binding together of peoples regardless of religion, sectarian division or ethnic makeup.
Iraqi Police LT COL Salah Arrak al Awani at the end of the video says:
“Catholics, Muslims, Sunnis and Shiites act as one, work as one to rid the country of terror and fear.”
He went on to urge the United States to continue its presence in Iraq saying,
“Do not leave us.”
I don’t recall seeing this story in the main stream media. Go ahead, Google Promise of the People Conference. You’ll find a few links from military sources since MNF-I and the Marines finally uploaded their articles on the event. Go to Google News and you’ll find one entry… ONE, from a pro-troop news site.
This is the bias that soldiers don’t understand. The MSM is quick enough to headline car bombings and violence in Iraq, but not the good stuff, not the real stories, not the human interest, inspirational, optimistic stories that occur on the ground in Iraq every day, no matter what Harry Reid and John Murth say.
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Reader Comments (8)
There is some possibility that dance bit will make it onto primetime, I suppose. It could be called, "Dances With Guns" to sell it to the libs, who'd spout off deploring it. But real people would get the message anyway.
Brian, the Pentagon Channel had this story out last week, which is how I found out about it... so the story's over and the chance that the MSM will be reporting on it is little to none.
As for the guns, that's actually an encouraging story (if you know how to look at it). When my husband was in Iraq in 2003-04, Iraqis routinely, particularly on Thursday nights for weddings, would fire their guns in the air celebratorily. Of course there were always some sort of injuries and deaths. In fact, a soldier in my husband's unit was killing playing cards (I think it was) on the compound when a bullet came down from such an occassion and my husband helped get treatment for a small Iraqi boy who had a bullet lodged in his head for the same reason.
Our military has trained the Iraqi military/police/security to maintain their cultural tradition while NOT firing the weapons for those obvious security reasons. My understanding is that the law now forbids it from civilians. It's reckless, but has been a part of their culture for....as long as there have been firearms in Iraq. Remember the photo ops of Saddam on a balcony with adoring on-lookers as he fires in the air?
When Uday and Qusay were killed (my husband was on a convoy in Baghdad at the time), he reported to me that the sky was alight with Iraqis firing celebratory gunfire for joy over their deaths.
The Iraqi police, military and security forces have come such a long way in a few years. Everyone likes to point toward their shortcomings, but their progress has been immense. They are being trained by the best and acting quiet professionally for the most part. I wrote back in January an article titled Iraqi Police Set Historic Precedent with Democratic Principles which describes the evolution of the Iraqi military and police forces. It's quite remarkable considering all they've had to overcome.
It is sad that in effort to hold tightly to their designed slant, media outlets ignore good news stories. It is sadder still that as young people give their lives, while at the same time doing good, their stories of good are not aired.
To watch the news one comes away with the idea that a few terrorists exist, but mostly the killing is by the Americans, and if the terrorists kill, it isn't really their fault, and somehow justified -- but fighting terrorists is not justified.
This is why I come here. I cannot get news like this from the major networks.
Taking guns away from the terrorists does not seem a concern to the libs here in the US, but proposals for legislation to take guns away from Americans, law-abiding citizens, seems a great concern for the libs today.
ToxieAme(R)ica: "...To watch the news one comes away with the idea that a few terrorists exist, but mostly the killing is by the Americans, and if the terrorists kill, it isn't really their fault, and somehow justified -- but fighting terrorists is not justified ..."
SG: Well there Toxie, here's just one example below, of a myriad of MSM articles directly contradicting (R) whining ...
ARTICLE: By Kim Gamel, ASSOCIATED PRESS
2:16 p.m. February 27, 2007
BAGHDAD, Iraq – The Baghdad security operation has been under way less than three weeks, but it has already registered a success: a sharp drop in the number of bullet-riddled bodies found in the streets – victims of sectarian death squads.
The number of bodies found so far this month in Baghdad – most of them shot and showing signs of torture – has dropped by nearly 50 percent to 494 as of Monday night, compared with 954 in January and 1,222 in December, according to figures compiled by The Associated Press.
SG: Clearly it contradicts your claims:
* the MSM never presents good news (death squad killings down in Baghdad Iraq after surge)
* death squad killings in Baghdad at over 1000/month (death squads aren't US Troops, last time I looked)
All the whining about being victims of the 'Left' can not avoid Bush's flawed foreign policy, incompetence implemented, which has got 'us' in this mess in the Middle East.
For 6 years the (R)z had the Executive Office and the Vice Presidency, and the Congress and the Senate, and a blank cheque with their Iraq Wa(R) AND still, it is all someone else's fault - the (R)z are the '(R)eal' victims, apparently!
Personally, if the (R) folks had any quality of character, even any pretense to 'accountability', they would admit their errors ... but chickhawks seldom have sufficient strength of character to do so ... blame is much more palatable.
Snerd
PalCat(R)iot: "Taking guns away from the terrorists does not seem a concern to the libs here in the US,"
SG: What concerns your 'Libs' there CalPat(R)iot, is the US arming Sunni Insurgents in Iraq, a policy that is a tacit admission of the failure of US military action to solve a political problem, but one with continued, unswerving, reliance on the military option, i.e. the solution is more killing ...
An interesting consequence of arming Sunni Insurgent in Iraq, is that they have tended to fight along side the Terrorists AND against US troops ... a bit of empirical evidence which would suggest these weapons will find their way into Terrorist hands, targeting US Troops.
P(R)og(R)ess, which puts guns in Terrorist hands, while claiming to be removing them, is the sorta thing that bothers your average Lib, there CalPat(R)iot, but not your ave(R)age (R), it would seem ...
Snerd
Great video, it is linked in The Barnyard,
Snerd,
1) please post a link to your citations.
2) the stats you posted are from Feb. before the surge began.