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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: John Carragher who wrote (152148)	12/21/2005 4:41:18 PM
From: Nadine Carroll	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 793928

Just heard Dexter Filkins of the NYT on Fresh Air with Terry Gross. It was interesting. Filkins has been a steady source of pessimism in Iraq, yet even as Terry kept feeding him softballs (eg. "President Bush said we are winning in Iraq. How does that accord with what American officers say?"), giving him ample opportunity to say "Bush is detached from reality," Filkins didn't take the bait - but had to admit that American officers did think this thing was winnable, though they were more cautious about how much progress had been made to date, and that the situation was complex & volatile. He compared Iraq to a kaleidoscope that keeps turning and presenting a new picture. Similarly, he poo-pooed the LA Times story of Pentagon-planted stories in the Iraqi press, saying most of these were pretty benign - "Captain Jones finishes painting a wall in a newly built school in Baquba" - and that the reality of Iraq was so intense that a 100 mile screen of American propaganda would hardly change anybody's mind about anything. He did mention that Iraq was safer for reporters now than a year ago, and that the mood was different and much more peaceful on election day. Basically, even the Sunni insurgents told their Al Qaeda allies to sit down and shut up, we're voting. Though it may just turn out to be like voting in Sinn Fein in Northern Ireland.