Ask Dahr

Last week the mainstream media offered a series of 'revelations' about reconstruction in Iraq. Reader Joe e-mailed on Friday to share that he appreciates "the prominence C.I. always gives war resistance in the Iraq snapshots, but you are aware that the news on reconstruction didn't make any of the snapshots."

No, it didn't. In a slow week, it might have. But it wasn't a slow week and the "news" wasn't "news" nor did it contain "revelations."

The "news" was a governmental report covering what Dahr Jamail has noted for years. In fact, Joe, if you're in the Bay Area, you can see Dahr this week:

Report Back from the Middle East with Dahr Jamail
Friday May 11th, 7:00 pmSan Francisco

We'd suggest, if you're able to attend, you ask him about last week's "news."

He may word it more nicely but there's very little in the so-called "news" that he hasn't already covered at length and, unlike big media outlets, he didn't need to wait for an official government report to write about the realities of reconstruction. He didn't ned to wait for it because he wrote about what he witnessed on the ground in Iraq and what his sources provided him with.

For all the talk last week about the 'revelations' in the 'news,' we found it sad that the articles we read didn't go as in depth as Dahr has. But then, he wrote his own report in 2005: "Iraqi Hospitals Ailing Under Occupation."

We strongly suggest that you attend if you're able to. He can answer questions about Iraq, Lebanon, Jordan, you name it. He can tell you what it's like to report from Iraq without military protection or without adhering to military guidelines. He can refute the popular lie that southern Iraq is restive or has been. (It always amazes us how often that lie gets printed. Especially in the fact of the increase in deaths of US service members serving in that region.)

Ty read your e-mail to C.I. who stated that it was on the "if' list -- if it was a slow week, the reconstruction 'bulletins' would have been covered in a snapshot. Many things drop off the 'if' list when real news related to Iraq comes along. C.I. cites this line: "Reconstruction efforts by US firms have patently failed, while Iraqi contractors are not allowed to do the work." That's from Dahr's report on the hospitals. If last week's 'news' was news to you, probably you're too dependent upon your mainstream outlets.