So let's say the threat is real

There are those who believe we're already there...

 

Putin... a homicidal maniac in his own right.

 

I have some input here.

I get weekly e-mails from a friend who's now the intelligence officer for a battalion in 4th Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division, who's currently in Afghanistan.

I feel I can safely say, Joe's unit is winning. The numbers of weapons, arrests and enemy kills Joe is reporting is simply staggering.

 

I don't doubt your information; the "spring offensive" by the Taliban wasn't a secret, and it appears to have failed pretty miserably thanks to Joe's unit and others. The problem is that al Qaeda's core leadership and a whole bunch of sympathizers have crossed the border into Pakistan, where they don't have to worry about anyone attacking them.

 

And another chest hair sprouts.

 

I'm not saying we won't get our hair mussed. -- George C Scott

 

Why isn't the media reporting it?

 

1. I wouldn't expect "Joe" to post e-mails saying he was losing. Sorry, but three-quarters of the people over there believe Saddam was behind 9/11. They know what's going on in their own unit. Beyond that, they know what the government tells them, and little more.

2. Assuming he's winning---and I have no reason to believe otherwise---his is just one tiny unit. This entire debacle has been about gaining ground in once place and losing ground somewhere else. Then when you try to regain the ground "somewhere else", you found you lost what you once had won. Rince. Repeat. For 54 months.

3. I don't know about you, but I often see stories of soldiers seizing insurgent strongholds, of soldiers killing insurgents, etc. But as I noted above, that's like a first down in football. It's good, but a sack on the next play pretty much gets you back to square one.

4. When I see a casualty list for a particular month that isn't "among the highest since the invasion began" . . . then I will expect to see media reports of "winning."

Now, let me ask a question:

Assuming the question you asked really means "why is the liberal media hiding the facts?", do you really believe a typical media member is risking his life to report on the happenings in that hellhole . . . just for the perverse pleasure of "hiding good news that could benefit the Bush administration"?

 

Or Cher.

 

I don't believe they hold info for the sake of making people look bad.
I think bad news makes a better show.

 

Joe wasn't the common reference to all soldiers. Joe is my friend's name. He's a captain in 2nd Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment. He doesn't "post e-mails." He sends them to his family and me. He is one of my closest friends, and wouldn't lie to me. Period. Hell, he wouldn't lie to anyone.

 

The media are reporting on it.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/13/AR2007071300400.html