Interview with Major Bob

Gabrielle Reilly interviews Major Bob Bevelacqua, author of Major Bob Unvarnished: Why We Keep Making The Same Mistakes:

Gabrielle: What good news is there from Iraq?

Major Bob: Well let me see………New schools have opened, new water lines and sewerage lines are being dug in Sadr city and there has been NO fighting in the city for weeks. Sheep and Chickens were handed out by the thousands to smiling Iraqis, local civilians are starting to turn in and report on insurgents, tons of grain has recently been handed out to farmers, thousands of book bags, pencils, soccer balls, shoes, note books have been given out to Iraqi school children, heaters are being supplied to schools and poor families, food packages have been handed out to the needy, the Al Farat medical clinic has been reopened and repaired after rocket attacks, insurgents have been arrested and killed by the hundreds in the past week…………. How much of that did you see on the news………..??

Gabrielle: How is it being on the ground in Iraq compared to the coverage you see on American TV?

Major Bob: There is no comparison, the news has it all upside down. Yes there is killing here, yes there is corruption in the government, yes security is poor at times, but that is only 25% OF THE STORY! I have run the streets of Baghdad for 6 months and have mostly seen prosperity, commerce and a buzz on the street corners and store shops in the city.. the problem is the news crews don’t find any of that SEXY and it does’t support their agenda.

Nothing terribly surprising, but more ammo for those of us trying to make the case that post-war Iraq is not the unmitigated disaster that the media are portraying.