Monday Morning
BAGHDAD — The reports so far are pretty unanimous. The
Constitution has been approved by the voters of Iraq, according to
most media sources. Some of the reporting seems to be substantiated
by semi-official, or even leaked, information from provincial
polling centers.
As if in an effort to muffle all the sound and fury of the past
few months, the weather this morning is declaring the start of a
dust storm. And I just read that the storm is complicating the
movement of ballot boxes from the countryside into Baghdad since
sandstorms cause problems for helicopters. The wind is blowing
briskly, something it rarely does here. Skyline features ordinarily
very clearly visible have disappeared from sight altogether. One of
the veterans here tells me this is a sign the weather is going to
start to turn noticeably colder “within the next three days.” Maybe
this guy should apply for a job at the Farmer’s Almanac, but it was
so much cooler this morning that I found myself trying to recall if
I brought a sweater to Iraq. Probably not.
All the news reports today speak quite clearly about the “very
apparent victory of the Constitution.” In two of the “critical
provinces,” the Constitution is garnering over 70% of the vote and
the anti-Constitution Sunnis only a bit over 20%. This is a huge
and bitter disappointment for the them.
In order to defeat the Constitution, the Sunnis need 67% of the
vote in at least three provinces. When the Shiites agreed to this
provision, it seemed like an enormously bold and risky move from
their standpoint. Lest any of us forget, now that the election is
over, the final version of this document was a bitterly fought
agreement. Most observers felt the U.S. backed government had
simply taken an unjustifiably risky gamble in agreeing to the
three-province veto rule. Most felt the Sunnis would, in all
probability, exceed the results they needed and the Constitution
would go down to defeat. But, the Shiites, by whatever means,
appear to have prevailed. The Sunnis are now resorting the last
refuge of all whiners. They are asking to be declared the winners
even though they lost, simply to “keep peace in the family.”
This is also a bitter pill for the American MSM. They were
hoping the Constitution would lose, not because they felt that
would be good or bad for Iraq, or that it would be good or bad for
the U.S., but because it would enable them to stick a finger in
President Bush’s eye. That is all that matters to them. To hell
with the U.S.! Let’s bring down George Bush even if it hurts the
country!
Monday Afternoon
I NOW SEEM TO BE GETTING at least a partial reply to a question I
have been asking ever since Thursday. For four days, and for part
of today, the U.S. Air Force was a very significant factor over
this part of Iraq. Too high to be seen, but a very major presence
with the roar of their jet engines which are obviously so much more
powerful and noisy than the ones that drive civilian airliners.
The questions I kept asking were: Why is the Air Force out in
such large numbers? This is the first time I have heard
any of its aircraft since I arrived here seven months ago.
Where are they headed? Obviously to the west. Does that mean Anbar
or maybe even the Syrian border?
A few minutes ago the AP started reporting through their
“Writer” Thomas Wagner that yesterday American planes “killed 70
militants” in an attack near Ramadi. He immediately added “that at
least 39 of the dead were civilians.”
Wagner went on to report that, according to the Air Force, “a
crowd was setting another roadside bomb when F-15’s hit them with a
precision-guided bomb killing about 20 described by the military as
‘terrorists.’” Wagner’s use of quotation marks is an interesting
exercise. If the military describes a group planting a roadside
bomb as terrorists, he puts the word in quotes. When he uses the
word civilians he uses no quotes, but gives no explanation for this
inconsistency.
All this action took place around Ramadi, “a stronghold for
Sunni insurgents” (not terrorists). “Few people cast ballots
there… out of rejection of the Constitution.” They might not have
voted “out of rejection of the Constitution”? How would he
know?
Throughout his report Wagner speaks of “witnesses” or of
“witnesses who corroborated” certain versions of a story. However,
the witnesses of whom he speaks “refused to give their names for
fear of their safety.” And on this preposterously unsubstantiated
evidence we are supposed to believe that we have “killed 39
civilians”?
Wagner never says whether he was in, or even
near, Ramadi for all this action. He tries very
hard to give the impression that he was in Ramadi without
actually saying so. But, he never says “witnesses told me,” or “I
saw.” The story is datelined “Baghdad.” I believe he wrote it in
his Baghdad hotel room.
Ironically, as I was writing that last paragraph, Mike Boettcher
of MSNBC was on my TV set telling me the same story about the 70
killed by air attack. He then went on to add that: “Other sources
have reported that in this operation 39 civilians were killed.” He
concluded his report saying: “We are not at all prepared to say
that 39 civilians were killed. And, if and when we sort it out, we
will let you know.” I will keep listening.
Monday Evening
AS THE DAY WEARS ON, what were described as the “apparent results
of the election” this morning are now being offered as the definite
final results by an increasing number of news outlets.
One story has it that “an anonymous foreign election observer
speaking under rules of anonymity because he is forbidden to speak
with the media [that disclaimer should really raise your
trust level] stated in an interview with the Associated Press, that
passage of the Constitution is almost certain.”
As for Wagner’s AP “report” it had an interesting day. The
story’s original headline was: “U.S.: 70 Insurgents Killed in
Airstrikes.” By 3;00 p.m. the headline changed to: “Iraqis:
Civilians Killed in U.S. Bombing.” The story ran without the change
of a single word. At 5 p.m. the identical report became the lead
story on Yahoo News with the headline: “Iraqis: 39 Civilians Killed
in U.S. Bombing.”
A guy can do a hell of a lot of damage to his country from a
hotel room in Baghdad, or wherever he was when he wrote that.
