Mark My Words - commentary on news, politics, religion, philosophy, science and social issues

With the mainstream media largely concerned with merely touting our casualty numbers, rather than presenting the entire picture on what is happening in Iraq, it's hardly any surprise that many Americans have an incredibly negative and inaccurate view of the situation. The Coalition has come up with a way to get the information out, that sidesteps this bias and goes directly to the viewer.

Coalition reaching out via YouTube

BAGHDAD — Coalition military officials in Iraq are hoping to reach out to younger, broader audiences by posting clips of servicemembers in action on a popular video-sharing Web site.
Clips of combat and support operations have been posted to the YouTube Web site in an effort to inform Americans of the successes of U.S. and Iraqi soldiers in Iraq, Army Maj. Gen. William Caldwell, Multinational Force Iraq spokesman, said during a phone interview this week.
“How do we reach out to those in mid-town America who don’t know someone serving here? How do they find out what’s going on?” Caldwell asked. “One thing people don’t know is what’s really going on over here on a daily basis.”
The initiative first came about when soldiers began brainstorming about how to reach out and share stories of what’s happening in Iraq with a greater number of people. The group determined that the user-generated Web site would be a perfect venue for the more visually oriented, younger American audience.
“We want the American public, from an unfiltered vantage point, to be able to see what coalition forces and Iraqi security forces are doing here in Iraq,” he said.
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You can subscribe to this channel if you have a youtube profile.

Multi-Nationla Force - Iraq (Youtube channel)

It would be worth saving the following link as well, to keep updated.

Operation Iraqi Freedom (Official site Multi-National Force - Iraq)

(Thanks to Drew who provided a link to the Youtube channel in a comment left at this Ace of Spades post.)

Hopefully, this will help people get information that is so desperately needed. With the way certain news programs report about Iraq, one would get the impression that all our troops are doing is being killed. The fact of the matter is that Iraqis have voted several times now, their voter percentages rivaling our own, especially considering the threats of violence and such a long history of brutal tyranny. They have agreed or are near agreeing to a framework for sharing oil revenue with all Iraqis. The "surge" is already having a positive affect, families are coming back, markets have reopened and hundreds of insurgents have been captured.

Those who claim we have failed must ignore a great deal of information available which is not that hard to find, despite the usual suspects spinning the information into nothing but negatives, or their reluctance to even report it. Too much is at stake in Iraq to merely allow one's lack of respect or even hatred for George Bush, get in the way of being responsibly informed.

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Filed under: Iraq

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