The Uncredibles

Watched The Incredibles on DVD today. Great film, easily worth the five bucks I paid for it. The only drawback is this new technique American filmmakers have adopted where they make a movie, then videotape a showing of it in a theater and then release that version of it. Must be the new craze; every movie I've seen since arriving in Iraq has used the technique...

Yes, of course I'm kidding. I mean, there are no pirated movies in Iraq! There are no Tanks in Baghdad! The Americans are roasting in the fires of hell...!

Damn, now you won't know what to believe. I've gone and damaged my credibility; become uncredible, if you will...

Hey, is Washington Post Staff Writer Bradley Graham a reader here? Just curious, because he seems to have built this story around the theme Russ Vaughn used in filling Mrs. G's request for a Thanksgiving poem:

A Sharp Shift From Killing to Kindness

U.S. Troops in Iraq Torn by Competing Needs to Battle Insurgents and Win Over Populace

BAGHDAD -- For Army Capt. Rex Blair, the contrast was jarring.

One minute a few weeks ago he was handing candy to a little girl in a southern Baghdad neighborhood. Then, suddenly, he received word over his military radio that a U.S. patrol had been ambushed along the Tigris River a couple of miles away. One soldier was dead, five were wounded.

Blair and his unit rushed to the scene, as did other nearby members of the 1st Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment. They overwhelmed the insurgents and easily won the battle. But Blair discovered that the U.S. soldier who had died was a close friend.

The next day, he was back trying to assist Iraqis by paving a road and installing a water pump.

Here's an excerpt from Russ's version:

How can you warriors fight through the night,
Then hand out food when comes the light?

Unlike other armies, you American G.I.'s
Are not viewed with fear by civilian eyes.

Other nations see this and are amazed
Not us, we know it's how you're raised.

Wherever you serve, the world can see,
You're the fine result of our democracy.

And as Americans know and Russ explains here, this is absolutely not a new phenomenon. Quoting Stephen Ambrose: "When soldiers from any other army, even our allies, entered a town, the people hid in the cellars. When Americans came in, even into German towns, it meant smiles, chocolate bars and C-rations."

The cliché American GI - alive and well, and hat tip to the Washington Post for not being afraid to say so.

Another cliché came to life for me today. I was talking to one of the troops who spends a considerable amount of time working with non-military/non-government Iraqis in a very public location. I was concerned for how he was eating, since he was far from a DFAC and local diets can sometimes produce unwanted reactions in tourists and other invaders - something we already call "Saddam's Revenge". This guy was a recent arrival, and I wanted to make sure he knew where to get MREs to take with him for lunch.

"No," he explained to my mild horror, "I've been eating with the Iraqis. Every day one of the guys brings the food for everyone. A different guy every day. Then we all eat lunch together." He went on to explain he ate only fully cooked foods, avoiding fresh raw vegetables that might have been washed in local water and anything he couldn't readily identify.

"So how do they like having you as an extra mouth to feed?" I asked.

"They love it. Man, being with those guys has completely changed my view of everything we're doing here."

"How so?"

"They just love us so much. They're so thankful we're here..."

I didn't ask for clarification of the "changed my view" remark, just prompted him for more. "Really?"

"Yea, they used to live in constant fear that they might screw up and end up dead for it. Now they know it's still dangerous but they have hope for the future. No, they think we're great. They're glad we're here."

Damn, from time to time you read about Iraqis expressing appreciation for us, but every time you actually hear it from yet another person you get a great feeling, followed shortly after by a question of "why the hell doesn't this sort of story get told more often in the press back home?!? Now here's an American who to some degree has had his views on the war altered by Iraqis! The Iraqis who are feeding him! A guy who even though he's military has until now only had press reports of the war to help him form an opinion.

And yes, I'm going to make sure the local chapter of the Michael Moore fan Club gets to hear from this guy first hand.

So take heart, America, you have the incredibles; the Washington Post is starting to read like Mudville, and average Iraqis are converting lukewarm Americans to enthusiastic supporters of their struggle for freedom. Maybe soon letters to the editor like this one in the Washington Times (from an individual I do not know) will become unnecessary:

As a soldier on the ground in Baghdad, I greatly appreciated Helle Dale's column ("Biased coverage in Iraq," Wednesday, Op-Ed). As sad as I am to say it, the media's bias here is willful. I'm here at what used to be Saddam Hussein's presidential palace, now the U.S. Embassy in the green zone.

The media has an office here in the palace. They see the same things I see, talk to the same people I do, hear the same rumors, etc. Yet they consciously omit the good things. I see it every day, and I find it sickening. I'm also one of those soldiers you mentioned who is constantly having to explain to the folks back home what's really happening here. I shouldn't have to do that. The Iraqi people, at least here in Baghdad, are thrilled that we're here and extremely grateful for what we're doing for them. There's no shortage of them who are more than willing to tell their stories to the media, or anyone who'll listen. Please write more about this subject because the major media refuse.

SGT. PATRICK OWEN, Baghdad

The word is getting out. We're winning. You can't hide that fact forever.

Not if you care about damaging your credibility.