After spending almost three days traveling with and being interviewed by one of the co-writers of a very poorly written article (“Much Undone in Rebuilding Iraq, Audit says”, Washington Post, August 2, 2006), I’m astounded at how distorted a good story can become and what agenda drives a paper to see only the bad side to the reconstruction effort here in Iraq. Instead of distorting the facts, let’s get to the truth.
He then proceeds to rebut the Washington Post point by point and demonstrates how the Washington Post is helping our enemies.
The heart of the article rests on several old statements by the Special Investigator General for Iraq Reconstruction which infer these are recent or recurring problems. The SIGIR knows that, in fact, program management, construction quality, progress, and accountability have all improved significantly since the early days of the effort some three years ago. Yet, the reporters’ “project problems” comments infer that these are recent issues. Such actions inflame public opinion in the United States and create resentment by the very people so many conscientious Americans over here are trying to help here in Iraq and worse, embolden our very enemies.
He also notes the Washington Post reporter knew he was distorting the story.
We discussed this at length with the reporter…and he was taking notes and recording our conversations.
The General goes on to accuse the reporter of out right lying.
What is truly amazing to me is that we took the reporter to the Nasiriyah prison project and, while it is true that we terminated the prime U.S. contractor for failure to perform, the Iraqi sub-contractor continues to work there (now directly for us) and his progress and quality have improved significantly ... and he saw that! We are not turning unfinished work over to the Iraqis as he stated in his article; we are fulfilling the U.S. commitment to the people of Iraq and using Iraqis to do it!
The General then details some things the reporter didn't tell the public.
Why?
Perhaps it’s because some in the press don’t want the American people to know the truth and prefer instead to only report the negative aspects of the news because “it sells papers.”
The General is being too kind. It's because it fits their left wing anti-war agenda.
I've emailed the following to the two reporters and I'll let you know if they reply.
Could you please comment on Maj. Gen. McCoy's rebuttal of your report "Much Undone In Rebuilding Iraq, Audit Says".
Some comments from the General:
"The heart of the article rests on several old statements by the Special Investigator General for Iraq Reconstruction which infer these are recent or recurring problems."
"What is truly amazing to me is that we took the reporter to the Nasiriyah prison project and, while it is true that we terminated the prime U.S. contractor for failure to perform, the Iraqi sub-contractor continues to work there (now directly for us) and his progress and quality have improved significantly ... and he saw that! We are not turning unfinished work over to the Iraqis as he stated in his article..."
The General also notes a lot of good things you left out of your article and is puzzled since "We discussed this at length with the reporter…and he was taking notes and recording our conversations."
Any comment?
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