Liberal Media - not in Baghdad...

It may sound hard to believe, but one the thing that is not talked about here in Iraq is U.S. politics. Don’t get me wrong, you will hear an occasional light-hearted jab directed toward the President and of course Hillary is fair game, but for the most part there is no serious conversation about the Presidential race, the senate and Lord knows congress doesn't make the list. So, for a guy who loves politics and has spent the last two years in DC, this is pleasant surprise. Though I haven’t spend a lot of time thinking about it, it wasn't until today that it occurred to me why we are not more interested in the race here: because there is no media here telling us we have to be.

This afternoon I was showing my pictures from the trip to Karbala. Being a native Iraqi he was able to teach me about the Prophet Muhammad and the holy site the Shrine of Husayn ibn Ali. The pictures depict us at different stages of the day such as traveling in the Blackhawk, being received the Chief of Police and then by the Governor of Karbala, the town and its people, and three farms. In addition to these planned visits two press conferences were held. It was when I was thumbing (clicking to be exact) through the pictures that I had an “ah ha” moment; a revelation about the media.



There are some important things to note about this meeting in Karbala. First of all Karbala is the only province that has been completely handed over to the Iraqi Military. The handover happened took place on October 29. The purpose of our trip was to demonstrate to the Governor, the people of Iraq, and the rest of the world that the U.S. Government is the first in line to establish business relationships. As mentioned in my previous entry we were accompanied by representative from the Prime Minister’s office, the Department of Defense, the State Department and members of the U.S. business community. To capture this historic event many – the rise of a province heavily affected by the way – two press conferences were held. Please see the picture below and tell me what is missing.

It is a bit small, but what you don't see is CNN, MSNBC, BBC, ABC, NBC, CBS, AP, Washington Post, LA Times, Fox News....but wait...this is a signficant event. The United States Government is doing what it has been slammed for not doing; rebuilding Iraq.