Anatomy Of A War Story
By Greg Guma
19 October,2004
UPIAs the Bush administration struggles to win the battle of perceptions at home concerning what is happening in Iraq, facts on the ground become more difficult to suppress or ignore. One major reason is the Internet, where information not yet acknowledged by many news outlets can circulate globally and influence opinion.
Sometimes such Internet "revelations" amount to little more than unsubstantiated rumors. But when the source of a dire analysis is a Wall Street Journal correspondent actually working in Iraq, the stakes get higher.
In late September, Journal staff member Farnaz Fassihi wrote an e-mail message to friends in the United States about what she was seeing. "Being a foreign correspondent in Baghdad these days is like being under house arrest," it began, then went on to describe the countrywide scale of the insurgency and what Iraqis think about it. "One could argue that Iraq is already lost beyond salvation. For those of us on the ground it's hard to imagine what if anything could salvage it from its violent downward spiral."
The letter quickly found its way into dozens of computer mailboxes, including some at U.S. publishing houses and The New York Times. One recipient, Deputy Editorial Page Editor Andrew Rosenthal, son of the legendary Times Executive Editor A.M. Rosenthal, was on a list with at least 40 other people. Impressed, he forwarded the letter to his wife, warning that it was "incredibly powerful," as well as "terrifying and profoundly depressing."
In less than a week, it became, in Fassihi's words, a "global chain letter."
Both Rosenthal and Fassihi confirmed that the letter was genuine. Once a month, she writes privately to a group of friends "about my impressions of Iraq, my personal opinions and my life here, and then it got forwarded around as you can see in a very unexpected way." Rosenthal also claimed to be surprised by the letter's appeal.
And what did Fassihi write to provoke such a reaction? "I avoid going to people's homes and never walk in the streets," she explained. "I can't go grocery shopping any more, can't eat in restaurants, can't strike a conversation with strangers, can't look for stories, can't drive in any thing but a full armored car, can't go to scenes of breaking news stories, can't be stuck in traffic, can't speak English outside, can't take a road trip, can't say I'm an American, can't linger at checkpoints, can't be curious about what people are saying, doing, feeling."
In one four-day period, she reported, 110 people died and more than 300 were injured in Baghdad. The numbers are so shocking, she explained, that the Ministry of Health has stopped disclosing them. Insurgents attack U.S. forces and workers 87 times a day, she claimed, and driving through Sadr City, you can watch young men "openly placing improvised explosive devices into the ground."
At an emergency meeting for foreign correspondents about the current wave of kidnappings, they were told their fate "would largely depend on where we were in the kidnapping chain."
"Here is how it goes," she wrote. "Criminal gangs grab you and sell you up to Ba'athists in Fallujah, who will in turn sell you to al-Qaida. In turn, cash and weapons flow the other way from al-Qaida to the Ba'athists to the criminals."
The comments about ransoms are significant and newsworthy. Italian and Kuwaiti news outlets report that a ransom of up to $1 million was recently paid for the release of two Italian humanitarian aid workers. Italy's foreign minister denied it, and such an action conflicts with Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's public refusal to "negotiate with terrorists." Yet he sidestepped a direct answer when questioned, referring instead to "difficult choices."
Fassihi's account suggests that the Italian incident is not isolated. Other countries may also have exchanged hostages for cash, with the money then used for weapons that help keep the insurgency going. In the 1980s, a similar policy was called "arms for hostages."
The U.S. administration is determined to "curtail distribution" of reports that show the situation growing worse. One step, announced by the U.S. Agency of International Development, is to "restrict distribution" of a report by contractor Kroll Security International that shows the number of attacks increasing dramatically over the past few months.
Another tactic is to send out Iraq Americans who can bring what the Defense Department calls "the good news." Fassihi, a 32-year-old Iranian who is a U.S. citizen and has worked for The New York Times, Providence Journal and Newark Star-Ledger, clearly doesn't fall into that category.
Of the elections, for instance, she said half the country remains a "no-go zone," out of the hands of the U.S. or Iraqi forces and beyond the reach of journalists. "In the other half, the disenchanted population is too terrified to show up at polling stations. The Sunnis have already said they'd boycott elections, leaving the stage open for a polarized government of Kurds and Shiites that will not be deemed legitimate and will most certainly lead to civil war."
Her observations contrast sharply with President Bush's insistence that steady progress is being made, and also with Democratic challenger John Kerry's assertion that the war can be won with a fresh strategy and a broader coalition. Despite Rosenthal's assertion that Fassihi's letter is important and "worth reading," however, the Times and other media have opted to pass. This non-response goes a long way toward explaining the ongoing disconnect between mass perceptions and what those who follow closely know about the war.
Like others who have questioned the fundamental assumptions of this intervention, Fassihi may be guilty of excessive candor. "Iraqis say that thanks to America they got freedom in exchange for insecurity," she explained. "Guess what? They say they'd take security over freedom any day, even if it means having a dictator ruler."
Then she added a punch line sure to spark days of "Crossfire"-style arguments if it ever gets the exposure it deserves: "I heard an educated Iraqi say today that if Saddam Hussein were allowed to run for elections he would get the majority of the vote."
(Greg Guma edits the Vermont Guardian, a statewide weekly, and Toward Freedom. He is the author of "Uneasy Empire" and the historical thriller "Spirits of Desire." He can be reached at [email protected].)
Copyright © 2001-2004 United Press International
