If you've been watching cable news shows or reading major American newspapers over the past few weeks, you'd think the biggest debate regarding the Iraq war isn't about the war itself, but how it is covered.
Commentators often rip the media for only reporting the negative news, overemphasizing the latest car bombing or outburst of mass sectarian murder and not covering the positive changes that have occurred in Iraq since Saddam Hussein's dictatorship fell. New York Post columnist Ralph Peters this month called most press coverage "lies and exaggerations" and describes those reporters naming the situation a civil war as "anti-war journalists eager to see U.S. efforts to establish a stable democracy in the country fail."
An American military spokesman joined in yesterday, saying at a news conference that 75 percent of insurgent attacks take place in three of Iraq's 18 provinces and arguing, "There is not widespread violence across Iraq. There is not."
Certainly, there are problems with American media coverage of the war. Most journalists are restricted to heavily guarded Baghdad compounds, forcing them to rely on United States and Iraqi government press releases to describe the day's violence as well as reconstruction, military raids capturing insurgents or new political developments.
Perhaps the best way to settle this is to read the official reports describing the situation from the military and the State Department, to avoid any media bias.
Unfortunately, those three provinces cited as the focal point of the insurgency include the capital, most of Iraq's oil refining capability, more than a third of the population and about that proportion of Iraq's land mass. In addition, the more than 2,250 insurgent attacks reported by the military per month mean that even the less volatile provinces still see more than 500 attacks per month.
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For a broader view of the situation, the highlights of a State Department Country Report on Human Rights issued this month include a "pervasive climate of violence," "arbitrary deprivation of life," "disappearances," "torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment," restrictions on "religious freedom," "speech, press, assembly and association," and "large numbers of internally displaced persons."
It must comfort those who deride the media for "lies and exaggeration" that if it were somehow safe enough to accurately cover the war, it might look even worse than it does now.
Chris Narkun
Opinion editor
