"They want a chance"

We've often seen a disconnect between mainstream media coverage of the Iraq war, and the accounts of military people who, you know, are actually there. We had another example yesterday, when Hugh Hewitt spoke on his radio show with a Chief Warrant Officer who's a three-tour veteran of Iraq. The Chief, who's with Army intel, described how the vast majority of Kurds, Sunni, and Shi'a get along together in Iraq, how there are "a lot of relations, marriages, between Sunni and Shia, Kurd and Sunni, Kurd and Shia, interrelations between the different groups".

HH: And Baghdad itself is a network of warrens that sometimes overlap, but are often…you just can’t separate them.

Chris: It’s impossible to separate them. It quite literally is impossible.

HH: All right.

Chris: And in most instances, those people get along quite well.

HH: Yup.

Chris: But we don’t see it in mainstream media, because it’s not popular, it doesn’t sell news. So those are the things that would like to be seen more by us.

The Warrant Officer also describes his strong feelings on the idea of prematurely withdrawing from Iraq:

HH: When you hear people talk about withdrawing and let the chips fall, does that strike you…

Chris: It infuriates me.

HH: Tell me why.

Chris: Because just as in America, Iraq has their bad seeds, their bad eggs, whatever you want to call them. But it’s a minority. It’s a very small percentage, but just like anywhere else, that very small percentage makes the most noise, and therefore, they’re the most noticeable. Most of the Iraqi people that I’ve dealt with would give you the shirt off their back if you ask for it, not even needed it, not wanted it. If you just ask for it, it’s yours. You show interest in something of theirs, it’s yours. They’re very giving, they’re very kind, they’re very smart, and they just, just like us, they want a chance. I’m biased, because I have spent one heck of a lot of time with the Iraqi people. And by and large, they are one heck of a good group of people.