Ellington

Today, after you've had your first cup of coffee and stumbled out of your home to join society, walk up to somebody and say, "What do you think of when you hear the word 'Iraq'?"

Chances are, they'll make some vague reference to terrorists, bombings, assassinations, kidnappings, corruption, prisoner abuse, hatred, rampant crime and/or pretty much anything else that could induce one to call a mental healthcare professional and order a bulk shipment of Prozac.

And why wouldn't they feel this way? They're getting their information from the crack journalists of CNN, The Associated Press, The New York Times, etc.—all of whom are telling the same stories with the same emphasis on the same things.

In fact, I could probably summarize in one short paragraph just about every news article that comes out of these reputable organizations:

"Today in Iraq, a whole mess of people were killed by a whole mess of other people, while even more were kidnapped, tortured, spat upon and/or taunted. The locals blame America for their country's troubles, as well they should—our president is an idiot, the troops who aren't dead (yet) are ignorant brutes, everyone in authority is a self-centered, greedy liar, and nobody has any idea how to beat the bad guys (who, by the way, aren't all that bad—they're just feeling suppressed). This is The Media, where we give you the whole story."

I'm not claiming to be an authority, but unless the devil himself has wandered up from Hell and taken over the country, thus voiding it of All That Is Good, I might be suspicious that the "whole story" may have more than one side.

Sensationalism sells papers. Papers employ journalists. Journalists produce sensationalism so that papers will sell and they will continue to be employed.

But the catch is that, generally, the only sensational events are mean, nasty, rough, tough, in-your-face events. You won't see the headline SEVERAL MILLION PEOPLE REMAIN ALIVE IN BAGHDAD, because that's not going to get anybody's attention.

Now, let's take a gander at the other extreme. I work in a military public affairs office in Iraq, where our goal is to spread the word about all of the Great Things our troops do each and every day.

To read our publications, you'd think each one of us was Superman in desert camouflage. Every upstanding Iraqi citizen rushes out of his home to greet us with open arms and volunteer any and all information he has about the bad guys.

Sure, people die, but we don't focus on the circumstances of their deaths. We just honor them as the brave, heroic soldiers/airmen/marines they are, and then we move on to the next mission.

The military wants to give itself credit where credit's due (which it should, since nobody else is doing it), but it goes about the giving of props in an extremely annoying We Can Do No Wrong way.

We're over here—we see the bad and the good, the happy and the sad. There's no point in only emphasizing one or the other. It's like going to a deli, ordering a sandwich, and having the manager describe how delicious the sandwich is, as you are eating it and deciding for yourself—useless.

Since The Media and Military Public Affairs are like two equally charged ends of a magnet that will never, ever touch each other, it would be a waste of time to plead for compromise. FAIR news coverage? Inconceivable!

But that's the only way the American people and the rest of the world can ever truly understand what's really going on over here, and the only way we troops can truly regain trust in our leaders. Tell the truth, plain and simple.

We know this is a war, no matter how many times we are reminded that combat operations are over. This many people don't get killed this frequently without it being war. We also know that all the ass-kicking that has to be done over here is balanced by a considerable amount of care-providing and assistance-giving. Those who have to kill are not cold-blooded killers 24 hours a day. No matter what our respective jobs are here, most of us have one thing in common—we just want to get home alive.

We know that there are many, many different opinions about why we're here. In fact, just about every single one of those opinions is represented within our own units. This is because we are all individuals—not military drones.

We know that everyone wants to tell the Iraq Story—what we'd like is for them to tell it with open minds, open hearts, open ears and open eyes. We'd like them to tell it from our point of view—all of our points of view.

We'd like them to treat every interview and event as if they were the most important, because they all are the most important. We'd like them to put aside their own ideas and those of their employers, and feel free to give us the news straight up—let us decide how we feel about it without having to hear about how they feel.

In other words, we'd like them to give us the truth: "the whole truth, and nothing but the truth." Is that too much to ask?

E. Joy Damiani joined the Army in June 2002 as a print journalist/public affairs specialist. Iraq is her first deployment. She has completed six months out of 12 total in this deployment.

Previous Comments

ID

70585

Comment

Yo Meany, I love you so much I want to squeeze you until kittens come out of your eyeballs. Thank you SO MUCH for being completely miserable, dirty, and having some alien intestinal disease and doing it ALL with a smile on your face. Perspective, anyone?

Author

Lori G

Date

2005-08-18T07:21:47-06:00

ID

70586

Comment

YES! More than one side, and more than two sides! Imagine! If one thing is good; it doesn't make the other bad!

Author

emilyb

Date

2005-08-18T07:57:34-06:00

ID

70587

Comment

Thanks, Ali! I feel the fur oozing from my retinas already.

Author

EJD

Date

2005-08-18T12:58:47-06:00