Umar Bill and gratitude
So, this afternoon I played hooky. I surfed the internet with abandon. Well, with abandon with an eye to liberty. I spent time on Michael Yon's website . He is a forty something former Green Beret who has taken it upon himself to cover the war at a distance from the Green Zone (I've written about this in my prior post). And at his own expense. One of his dispatches I read is titled "'Hello Ameriki!'" from the Kurds". Yon is up in Northern Iraq and is invited to a picnic outside a Kurdish village named Umar Bill. The general who has called the picnic asks Yon if he'd like to meet and talk to a man who has lived his entire life in Umar Bill. Yon says absolutely. And he is ushered into a world of gratitude, genuine gratitude, for America, for Americans that has not been reported here. The man's name is Saamad. He is fifty-four. He tells of Saddam Hussein's troops coming to attack the village. Saadam tells of the village's resistance. And temporary victory. Until more troops return. And Saadam tells of what happens next.
Saadam also speaks of the coming of the Americans. He says of the Americans:"The Kurds are so happy to see you. The Americans are like the angels from God.” But his expression changed dramatically to one of hidden anger: “The Arabs accuse the Americans of being murderers and criminals,” he said with finality, “but when Americans came, they brought justice."
Yon goes on to speak of the Kurds and their affection for Americans is definitely returned:"The Kurds are becoming stronger by the hour. But make no mistake about it: the Kurds are not getting stronger by the hour because the Americans like them. Americans like them because they are the kind of people who get stronger by the hour."
It's a very interesting read about the difference between the Kurdish north and the Arab (Sunni and Shia) south.
Go and read this dispatch on what is really happening in Iraq.
And shame on the MSM (including Fox News) for not reporting this type of news.
P.S.- On another dispatch, Yon relates about questions that he is asked. One of the questions is "Why didn't you write about that?" Yon replies:"The answer is simple. Often I am asked to withhold information due to the immediate sensitivity. And so, I never release the slightest hint. But then somebody in Baghdad - three steps removed from the action here in Mosul - releases it to CNN and the rest of the world. What is seen on television and in the papers is practically always inaccurate, or is at least poorly framed. But I rarely waste a breath trying to correct the information. It’s too late. Life is busy here." And so the war of bad information or disinformation runs like fast flowing sewage from the MSM.
My next blog "Radical patience" will be about how the MSM's reporting is not just bad, but dangerous and treasonous.
posted by Amendment X at 2:25 PM permalink
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