9/25/2003

facts on the ground

illusion vs. reality:

MEDEA BENJAMIN: Well, I challenge to you go there with me, Mr. Perle, because I was there in July, I was there in August, I don't stay in the presidential palace, I don't go around with bodyguards and helicopters and sniffing dogs like Paul Bremer and Colin Powell. I challenge to you go with me, without any bodyguards and let's walk around the streets of the cities of Iraq and see what it looks like six months after the U.S. occupation.

RICHARD PERLE: With all due respect, your sojourns in the cities of Iraq are hardly the appropriate measure of how well we have done in restoring electricity and getting water back on track. I don't think --

MEDEA BENJAMIN: You know better sitting in Washington, D.C.?


In fact, the best (and most balanced) coverage of what's happenning is NPR's Iraq coverage, which also shun the Presidential Palace tours and goes straight to the Iraqi street. The situation is much more complex than "they hate us" or "they love us". The War Diaries and Essays from the Field are especially informative. The main theme underlying all of NPR's coverage is just how essential it is that we suceed, now that we are committed.

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