Did you hear the good news from Iraq? I didn't think so.
Whether a McCain supporter or not, one has to admit the guy is doing yeoman's work in his support of the notion of achieving success in the Iraqi front of the war. As I noted in this prior post about McCain and others being heckled by a CNN "reporter," he is in Iraq for a first hand look at how the latest strategy, the so-called "surge" is working. Yesterday I participated in another "bloggers' conference call that featured members of McCain's staff giving an update on what Senators McCain and Graham have found out on their trip.
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After the mainstream media focused on the fact that the visiting Americans needed security to visit a Baghdad market, the speakers in the conference, Mark Salter, Randy Scheunemann, and Dan McKivergan, sought to tell the rest of the story. Here's the gist:
The surge appears to be working. In Anbar province, McCain reports through his advisors, 16 of the 24 Sunni tribes are working directly with us to fight Al Quada..Yes there are car bombs. This tells us that a war is going on. Nobody said there wasn't one. What is happening now is that due to our actions, the insurgents have been pushed out of Baghdad proper into the outlying areas. The thought is that they will be easier dealt with beyond the city area. While this by no means indicates an end to the war, or victory, it is a step in the right direction.
A direction that the McCain guys were adamant to point out that has been ignored and overlooked by the media.
The newsmedia is dedicated only to bad news. They report the individual tactical stories, but are neglecting the overall strategic picture-- one that shows a fundamental shift from what was occuring before this new phase.
I asked during the call if Senator McCain had any comment on the heckling he took from the CNN reporter Mike Ware. Apparently he chose to just ignore the guy altogether and it was noted that Mr. Ware never bothered to participate in any real way, like asking a question.
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I appreciated the opportunity to participate and beyond that am pleased that several of the major Republican presidential wannabees have chosen to include the bloggers in their media outreach. Congressman Mike Pence is travelling with McCain as well. He has a great blog where he details more of the trip. Click here to check it out.
