I read a book by a guy that was in Iraq from day one as the BBC correspondent.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Red-Zone-Bloody-Years-Baghdad/dp/0955830257One of the things that struck me was how much bullshit we get fed about what is going on in Iraq. I mean, we all know media is bullshit, but I always thought in the back of my mind, that I could sort through the BS and understand the truth, I was wrong. The book would talk about some event that happened, then mention how it was portrayed in the western media, he never makes a big thing of the disparity, but often I could remember the event and it's presentation in our media, and there was always a big difference. A quick example is the beheading videos, the 3 or 4 western guys that were killed like that, huge news. Our media never mentioned that there was another gang doing something very similar to Iraquis with a power drill a couple of times a week for months.
Thats the thing that really suprised me, it isn't all about the coalition forces. The coallition is a side show at best, the real story in Iraq is about the Iraqis, and it makes perfect sense, Sillen and Swarley both touched on it. Consider you have a racial minority in control for decades, ruling through fear and violence, using toture, kidnapping and execution to maintain their position. They get ousted out of power, the ruled become the rulers....man....think about, there are a lot of scores to be settled, and all of a sudden the boot is on the other foot.
We are fed utter rubbish by our media and it isn't a stable foundation to build an opinion on. If you want to understand what is going on in Iraq, I highly reccommend that book. I grew a real respect for the Iraqi people after reading that book. Those people were put through hell, and they have an incredible sense of community that held them together for a lot longer than I think Australians would last before we descended into seperatism and violence.
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