On Demand
Reporting Stateside
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
NPR's Baghdad bureau chief Jamie Tarabay stops by while in the U.S. to talk about her posting in the Iraq war zone.
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Some questions on my mind as we get ready for Petraeus:
1) Is the improvement in al-Anbar because we are keeping soldiers in the bases and out of harms way, or because of the work the Sunni militias are doing for us?
2) Is there evidence of Iranian training at militias and if so, how wide spread is it?
3) Have we limited the civilian casualties at all?
4) Have we managed to decrease Iraqi-on-Iraqi violence?
5) How many of the Iraqi police brigades can be trusted to operate without sectarian motivations?
6) Who are the major power players that are likely to secede or rebel if America pulls its troops out?
7) How effective is al-Sadr's new Iraqi nationalism message? Is this something similar to the shifting sectarian/nationalistic rhetoric coming from Hezbollah's ibn Fadlallah and Nasrallah in Lebanon?
Hi Jamie,
Thank you for all you do. Aside from basic personal security, I wanted to know what horrible basic living conditions do you believe most Americans don't hear about, which occur in Iraq? Is it the frequent rolling black-outs, lack of schools (b/c of safety, no resource, etc), or something else?
Thanks,
Russell
What is the morale of the troops? Do they believe that they will spend their whole 20s and 30s going back and forth to serve in Iraq?
Hi Jamie,
Some politicians talk about a complete pull-out of Iraq. Many Americans agree with this idea. In your view, what kind of effect would this have on not only Iraq, but the middle east in general?
Thanks
Barb
Shopping. I loled.
Jamie - ultimately, do you personally feel more hope or more despair as your time continues in Iraq?
Typical of WNYC avoid talking about the OIL.
DISGUSTING!!!!!!!!!!! This is goal of the war. Way to evade the question.
Done. You are the reason we are at war, you the so-called "liberal" media that isn't very liberal.
What does she know about this?
Iraq: Killings In Shi'ite Holy City Expose Growing Splits
August 17, 2007 (RFE/RL) -- Four aides to Iraqi Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani have been killed in Al-Najaf over the past two months, raising many questions as to the safety of Iraq's supreme Shi'ite leader and the motives of the perpetrators of the attacks.
http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2007/08/22663f9b-f2f0-4993-8e11-570a966bcf03.html
We should just get out out Iraq and SAVE OUR SOLDIERS and let the Iraq people handle this themselves PERIOD! Yes Bush started this and leaving the Iraqi people in his mire but that's where we are and they have to get through this themselves. We are NOT helping, not really.
When is this show going to grow-up or man-up and address the REAL issues?
When the media starts talking oil then maybe they will be talking reality.
Americans are so mislead by assuming everything the media says is everything.
This woman needs to talk about the real issues. Please don't send anymore money to WNYC until they start with the real issues.
I am going to start a anti-campaign.
Mr.Anibar, don't fall for the right wing's extremely slick move in framing unbiased media, such as PBS, NPR, WNYC, as the "liberal media".
Yes, some editorial pieces may be left-leaning, but I believe the aforementioned news outlets' news programming tends to be informative and unbiased rather then blatantly slanted (i.e. Fox News, Air America, etc).
Taraby was great, but you should also have on Gareth Porter:
Anbar 'Turnaround' Undercuts War Rationale
http://www.antiwar.com/porter/?articleid=11428
>>>But the new situation in Anbar cannot be attributed to US military operations or presence in the province. After five years of unsuccessful US military operations in Anbar, the US military's agreements with Sunni tribal leaders in Anbar represents an acknowledgment that it was dependent on the very Sunni insurgents it once considered the enemy in Iraq to reduce al-Qaeda influence in the province.
In an interview with ABC News May 30, Petraeus admitted that the Sunnis "can figure out who al-Qaeda is a heck of a lot better then we can."
The apparent success of Petraeus's shift from relying on US military force to relying on Sunni troops to take care of al-Qaeda could be used as an argument against continuation of the US military presence in Anbar.<<<<
You should also book Robert Dreyfuss
Is There a Nationalist Solution In Iraq?
The ethnic and sectarian conflict engulfing the country has gotten the most attention. But under the radar, a rough coalition of nationalist political elements in Iraq has been emerging.
>>>>Over dinner in a quiet corner of a restaurant in Washington, D.C., a few months ago, a leading Iraqi activist and politician laid out a hopeful plan that, in his view, is the only viable political solution to Iraq's civil war: a new coalition to replace the failed, sectarian regime of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki with a nationalist, Sunni-Shia alliance. The Iraqi, on a brief Washington visit, is deeply involved in efforts to create a broad-based alliance within Iraqi politics that could oust Maliki. "We have a detailed plan," he said.
Many Iraqis, representing a wide range of Iraqi parties -- moderate and secular Sunni and Shia, Sunni religious parties, supporters of Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, the dissident Shia Fadhila party, the Sunni resistance-linked Association of Muslim Scholars, much of Iraq's armed, Sunni-led resistance, and various independents -- are working toward this goal, he said. <<<<
http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=is_there_a_nationalist_solution_in_iraq
RD,
I don't find any of the media other than Rhandi Rhodes on Air America and Truthout.org, Rawstory.com and Democracy NOW! as actually unbiased.
Why I ask you is Brian and the rest of WNYC so reluctant to talk about oil?
It's crazy. It IS about oil, and we will not leave until the Iraqi parliament meets the so-called "benchmarks" (code for the privatization of Iraqi Oil) then we will not be backing down.
They don't have running water or electricity, and we will stay until those people are exhausted.
Don't believe me? http://www.thebushagenda.net/article.php?list=type&type=7
The Australian government even mentioned this.
It is a huge no-no with Hillary Clinton, Obama and Edwards who keep blindly following Bush. Only Kucinnich and Gravel talk about the OIL!
IT"S ALL ABOUT THE OIL! Follow the money.
What is the state of public education in Iraq? To what extent are young people are getting a way of understanding their nation, the United States, and the world?
"air america" unbiased? lol
"democracy now" unbiased? are you blind?
the hosts of those extremist left shows have never met an anti-american despotic tyrant they didn't like
wnyc, pbs + npr are center left, but somewhat fair.
fox is center right.
3 networks are about as center as you can get, but unfortunately, need to balance real issues with Pris Hilton & other fluff.
RD, there is no easter bunny, santa claus, or tooth fairy. All news is biased,it is inherent in how it is framed, it's the job of the gray matter between your ears to not only hear but to listen and analyze data that's all around us. All we can do is to try to make a better decision ini where the truth may lie;) Three people have six sides of a story.
Jamie - are any Marine or Army commanders at the rank of Lt. Col or above telling you anything that is remarkably different from what the Generals or the DoD/White House are saying? Are the isolated successes being reported meaningful and do they indicate any real promise, or are they just that, isolated and individual? And finally, based on your time covering the intifada, in your view is partition feasible?
This comment was removed in accordance with our guidelines because it was deemed offensive.
Sunphat, I do understand there is no easter bunny, santa clause, and whatever else you bothered to immaturely write.
I also have to strongly disagree with your belief that all news is biased. I challenge you to take the time to watch the news summary (the first 10 min or so) of any broadcast of the News Hour with Jim Leherer on PBS, and then humor me with how any portion of it was slanted/biased. It's pure fact reporting with no editorial.
Of course most people also find that form of journalism extremely boring, and would rather pass for the convenience & shock value of mainstream/commercial news-complete with all its wild graphics and ominous music.
Have fun in LA dude! :)
RD, good point, and I do like those news casts the most, but I still believe that news is always biased in some sense like documentaries; perhaps I'm too cynical. Also apologize for the crack I opened up with, one of the drawbacks of the faceless internet!
This sounded more like a long flirt session than an interview...
Jamie u the Best
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