When the absence of news is political

A friend sent me an email that I found fascinating on two levels. The first level was the email’s content, which describes all the huge positive strides occurring in Iraq that somehow never manage to get into the mainstream media:

Did you know that 47 countries have reestablished their Embassies in Iraq?

Did you know that the Iraqi government currently employs 1.2 million Iraqi people?

Did you know that 3100 schools have been renovated, 364 schools are under rehabilitation, 263 new schools are now under construction and 38 new schools have been completed in Iraq?

Did you know that Iraq ‘s Air Force consists of three operational squadrons, which includes 9 reconnaissance and 3 US C-130 transport aircraft (under Iraqi operational control) which operate day and night, and will soon add 16 UH-1 helicopters and 4 Bell Jet Rangers?

Did you know that Iraq has a counter-terrorist unit and a Commando Battalion?

Did you know that Iraq averaged production of 2.4 million barrels of oil per day in November, according to the global energy information firm Platts. That’s nearly a half million more than the post-2003 average. Oil exports, around 1.9 million bpd, fund nearly the entire federal budget!

Did you know that Iraq’s higher educational structure consists of 20 Universities, 46 Institutes or colleges and 4 research centers, all currently operating?

Did you know that 25 Iraq students departed for the United States in January 2005 for the re-established Fulbright program?

Did you know that the Iraqi Navy is operational? They have 5 – 100-foot patrol craft, 34 smaller vessels and a naval infantry regiment.

Did you know that the Iraqi Police Service has over 55,000 fully trained and equipped police officers?

Did you know that there are 5 Police Academies in Iraq that produce over 3500 new officers each 8 weeks?

Did you know there are more than 1100 building projects going on in Iraq ? They include 364 schools, 67 public clinics, 15 hospitals, 83 railroad stations, 22 oil facilities, 93 water facilities and 69 electrical facilities.

Did you know that 96% of Iraqi children under the age of 5 have received the first 2 series of polio vaccinations?

Did you know that 4.3 million Iraqi children were enrolled in primary school by mid October?

Did you know that there are 1,192,000 cell phone subscribers in Iraq and phone use has gone up 158%?

Did you know that Iraq has an independent media that consists of 75 radio stations, 180 newspapers and 10 television stations?

Did you know that the Baghdad Stock Exchange opened in June of 2004?

Did you know that 2 candidates in the Iraqi presidential election had a televised debate recently?

OF COURSE WE DIDN’T KNOW! WHY DIDN’T WE KNOW? BECAUSE OUR MEDIA DOESN’T TELL US!

Without researching each and every fact, I’m assuming that most or all of them are true, because I have stumbled across references to at least half of them in other sources.

What was just as interesting to me as the facts above was the way in which my friend chose to present the email.  He said “not politics, but good news out of Iraq.”  I know what he meant, of course:   this is not an email about either the elections or specific Congressional or Presidential actions (or attempted actions). Nevertheless, buried in that throwaway line is a deeper truth, which is the fact that the absence of this factual material is actually highly political.  The American media’s decision to withhold this information isn’t just about editorial or business calculations.  It comes about, instead, because the media has made the political decision to back the anti-War horse.  Since that horse is stumbling, the only way the media can avoid losing the race is to hide the finish line.

This kind of hide the ball reporting has huge political significance:  Obama, the current fair-haired boy of Democratic politics, is running on an anti-War platform, one so strong that he insists that one of his first acts in achieving office will be to yank Americans out of Iraq post haste, without regard for the consequences.  This is a salable position only if it’s predicated on the belief that Iraq is a failure and that it’s no use throwing good American money and after bad (not to mention the American troop lives that can be saved).  It’s an unsalable position, however, if the underlying truth is that America is making a positive difference, that things are improving, and that the overly hasty removal of Americans from Iraq will result in a maelstrom that makes Pol Pot’s Killing Fields look like a mere trial run for mass slaughter.