The M.I.A. File — “Missing Information Added”
1) Iraqi oil exports set revenue record.
Hashim al-Hashimi, the head of Iraq’s oil ministry, announced last week that oil export earnings for April reached $3 billion – double the $1.5 billion monthly average since the overthrow of Saddam, and $260,000,000 greater than the previous high (September 2005).
But good news about Iraq’s oil infrastructure is not reported by ABC, CBS, or NBC.
2) Anti-terror tips by Iraqis reach new highs.
Among the untold tales of the Iraq conflict is the rising tide of cooperation between pro-government forces, both MNF and IDF, and the Iraqi people. In March of 2005, the coalition received 483 tips from Iraqis containing actionable intelligence – information useful in designing anti-terror operations. During the first quarter of 2006, tips were coming in at nearly 4,300 per month. In April, MNF and IDF forces received a record 5,855 actionable tips, resulting in another surge of insurgent weapons caches destroyed and terrorists killed and captured.
But the growing popularity of the Iraqi democracy, and the decline of popular support for the insurgency, are not topics ABC, CBS, and NBC report.
You Can’t Always Get What You Want…
Extensive surveys of Iraqis have been conducted by numerous reputable polling firms. These organizations are hired by non-governmental organizations with their own takes on the Iraq war. And whereas these employers do not (to our knowledge) skew the reporting of what Iraqis say, they certainly do influence how the questionnaires are designed.
This results in some amusing questions… and answers.
For instance, the Program on International Policy Attitudes (PIPA) is internationalist in outlook, and therefore critical toward the Bush administration’s doctrine of preemptive anti-terrorism. In its poll “What the Iraqi Public Wants”, PIPA did their level best to find their attitude mirrored in Iraq.
They asked Iraqis:
“Thinking about any hardships you might have suffered since the US-Britain invasion, do you personally think that ousting Saddam Hussein was worth it or not?”
Now, this is question is absurdly slanted. One might as well have queried:
“Thinking about any hardships you suffered under Baathist tyranny, do you personally think that the US-Britain led liberation ousting Saddam Hussein was worth it?”
But the slant proved non-determinative. Although directed by the pollsters to concentrate on “invasion” and “hardships,” Iraqis still pronounced the ouster of Saddam “worth it,” 77%-to-22%. The pro-regime-change Iraqis included 91% of Kurds surveyed, and 98% of Shi’ites – groups that comprise roughly 80% of Iraq’s total population.
Score one for the unilateralists.
But if you try sometimes, you get what you need.
Of course, genuinely committed ideologues can tease a predetermined finding out of a poll, however counterintuitive.
For instance, Zogby International, an organization headed by an inveterate hater of George W. Bush, interviewed 944 U.S. soldiers in January 2006 regarding tactical and strategic aspects of their service. The survey was conducted on behalf of Moyne College’s Center for Peace and Global Studies. In its press release, Zogy International headlined its principal finding this way:
“U.S. Troops in Iraq: 72% Say End War In 2006”
This “finding” was achieved by lumping together three answer groups: soldiers who wanted to see an immediate drawdown were combined with those who wanted to see a drawdown within six months, or within one year.
But based on the survey data itself, Zogby International could also have headlined its report in any of the following ways:
“U.S. troops reject prompt withdrawal by more than two-to-one”
“U.S. troops most commonly cite lack of patriotism as the primary rationale of Americans supporting rapid withdrawal.”
“U.S. troops overwhelmingly believe that removing Saddam Hussein from power and fighting al Qaeda were major reasons for their mission.”
“U.S. troops overwhelmingly believe that finding WMD and securing oil were not major reasons for their mission.”
These findings are contained in the data of the same survey. But none served the anti-war purpose. And none received much play in the press.