Other Columns by Thomas D. Segel
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Captain Deron Huaght is the commander of Forward Operating Base Altun Kapri in Kirkuk, Iraq. His Army unit was among those assigned to convoy ballots to polling places on January 27. Accompanying his unit were Iraqi police, Iraqi Army and Election representative personnel. This is his account of that mission. "We were hit with an IED (Improvised Explosive Device), followed by small arms fire. The firefight lasted over 20 minutes in its entirety. We got four of the insurgency but they destroyed one of our vehicles and wounded one of my men. The police were with us and they fought bravely beside us for the entire engagement. I think, perhaps, if they had not fought as they had, we may have lost much more that day. I walked away from that experience with such a tremendous sense of pride in our policemen. They have often told me that they would gladly take a bullet for us and they would fight to their last breath to prevent the shedding of American blood. That day demonstrated they meant what they said."

The captain called for a Med Evac, a new vehicle and two more soldiers. They arrived and the mission continued. I don't recall reading about that engagement in any American press report.

The media was quick to report a story about a suicide bomber in an ambulance that detonated at a wedding party near Yusufiyah. The bomb killed 18 people and severely wounded several more.

Not reported was that American Marines conducted the scene analysis, which led them to several terrorists who were apprehended. The Marines also visited with the Sheikh of the tribe who told them why he thought the tribe was attacked. "Because I have prepared my tribe to vote", he said. "I have educated them. I have signs throughout my village telling them to vote. We do not want a Shia government, a Sunni government or a Kurdish government. We want a government of the people."

"A government of the people." Where have we heard those words before...and why were they not included in the news accounts?

Some observers feel significant events are never reported because they would detract from a pre conceived media version. If the reality of what happened was reported, it might paint a much different picture than the press wants to present.

Dozens upon dozens of journalists, photographers, and electronic media representatives are crammed into the high-rise hotels of Baghdad. With very few exceptions, these correspondents never venture beyond the protective barriers of the "Green Zone". Instead, they rely upon poorly trained local representatives to bring in the news. This they augment by attending the daily media briefings. The few reporters who do submit positive stories to their publications or news departments claim those accounts are never put in print or prepared for broadcast.

This is not unlike what military correspondents observed in Vietnam. During the early days of that war, there was a Combat Information Bureau (CIB) in Da Nang. Those of us assigned to report on specific units would join an operation and remain with it until the action was complete. Seldom was there a civilian reporter among us. Instead they could be found crowded into the CIB bar just waiting for our copy to be filed.

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