Iraq - Media Matters blows it

Media Matters cites a cable approved by Zalmay Khalilzad, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, to Condi Rice describing what Media Matters calls "deteriorating situation in Iraq". I'll get to Media Matters assertions in a minute. But first I want to point out a factual error in their report.

Media Matters has this to say about the cable:

"...was dated June 6, the day before the killing of terrorist leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and one week before President Bush's surprise six-hour visit to the country, during which Bush touted the progress there."

In fact as you can clearly see the cable is dated 12 June at 1430Z (Zulu Time). I was a cryptologist in the Navy for 20 years and unless things have changed date time stamps are formatted this way: day/time (z)/month/year. Media Matters seems to have thought Jun 06 meant the sixth of June when it means Jun 2006.



I think that would make it about 5:30 pm local time in Baghdad on the 12th of June - 5 days after the Zarqawi killing and the evening before Bush's surprise visit to Iraq. In fact, Bush may have already been in the air by this time.

Media Matters goes further and missquotes the cable:

Indeed, the document painted a dire picture of daily life in Baghdad and elsewhere in the country, at one point citing an Iraqi newspaper editor's assertion that "ethnic cleansing ... is taking place in almost every Iraqi province."

Actually, it is an unidentifed Arab editor who said he was making a survey of what he claimed was ethnic cleansing.

As for the cable itself, here's the subject line:



This cable isn't about, as Media Matters puts it, "deteriorating situation in Iraq". The cable is about one department feeling the strain of social discord and details dress code harrasment by some female members, favoritism in electrical supplies and complaints about long fuel lines.

The dress code complaints seem to revolve around conservative elements within the community adopting stricter codes.

In fact the cable cites improvements Media Matters ignores.



And some people are getting electricity from 8 to 24 hours a day.

Note also that in many of the complaints it's one person who is complaining. I don't mean to belittle the problems these people are facing as they do have legitimate complaints that need to be addressed. But it's hardly proof of Media Matters assertion of the "deteriorating situation in Iraq".

Here's the cable itself in PDF form.

UPDATE

True to from the BBC jump on the bandwagon. Media Matters, unlike the BBC, has at least corrected the date of the cable. Here from the BBC:

The document was signed by US ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad and sent to the State Department in Washington on 6 June.

But like Media Matters, the BBC fail to point out the improvements the cable cites.

Media Matters put a correction to the date of the cable at the end of their report. Watch and see if the BBC merely stealth edit theirs. Here's a snapshot.


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