Once Iraqs civil war started, we should have left then. It's their civil war not ours! Even the Iraqi Government and police forces are part of it. This is becoming worse than Vietman and might go on as long orlonger, but only with the assistence of our wonderful government!

Keep on reporting. I only wish there were more reporters everywhere because we are simply not getting the full story fast enough. And, go ahead, use some adjectives. I really do want to know whether something is very good or bad, just pretty good or bad, or simply dismal or super cool. It is hard to judge cold facts; use your eyes and your mind and interpret what you see.

If the poster making the WWII comparision is trying to say bombs were going off in the 3 years after WWII, he needs to buy a history book. The number of US soldiers killed in the European Occupation was 0, as in "zero".

Given what you say, can you really say there is hope, or are you trying to stay optimistic? Somehow I think it was never winnable, simply because Iraqis have a long history of resisting occupation, and they'd rather have a home grown tyrant that be at the mercy of some foreign occupier. What is it you hope for?

I hope I am not overdoing it with my posts here- but maybe this is a good time to thank you, Jane Arraf, for the fact that you *are* choosing to stay in Baghdad. You are right: You could find a better place to live, or an easier way to make a living.
For that, I am deeply grateful.
I only had access to a PC and to the Internet for a short while; before that, I got my information from an old shortwave-receiver my father left me.
It allowed me to compare news-stories from many different sources, and make up my own mind.
The Internet is an amazing window to the world for me, and at the same time it allows me to have my voice heard for a change.
That's a good feeling- because it makes me feel a little less helpless. At least I can scream.
Many Iraqis don't have even that.
Don't take any of the criticisms here too seriously:
Those who accuse you of being "biased" against the war still have not grasped the magnitude of the mess and would dearly cling to whatever kind of illusion feels most comfortable for them.
And those who criticize the media of their failings before the war (like myself) don't neccesarily mean you personally.
We owe you a debt- for being there and doing your job, and for taking the time of running a blog like this. Most of all, we owe you a debt for putting up with having to read through dozens- even hundreds- of postings when by rights you should be getting some rest.
So- thank you very much!!!

It's just a shame that war has become so painless for Americans today. It's kind of like a video game for most of us. No "real people" get killed, just characters on the tube. Heck, our taxes even went down, since the beginning of the invasion. Many Americans have a simplistic belief in a "clean" war, the "good fight". Every war results in lots of innocent deaths. It makes me a little ashamed, frankly.

I ask again, is this the "Salvador Option", that Newsweek had discussed some time ago, in action?

In Central America the CIA-backed police and military was slaughtering people. Is it just a coincidence that this is now happening in Iraq?

Kameel,

Unfortunatly, you are probably correct. George Bush claims to be a Christian, but acts the opposite. Attacking the "King" of a country is against one of Christ's exhortations.

His behavior and philosophy are quite anti-christian.

Good rebuff Jane. Keep reporting the facts and be safe ou there.

I served in Iraq for 12 months july 05-june06 in Ramadi. It was a tough tour, but not nearly as bad as it would be percieved by the general public. When I came home from leave and watched the news, I thought all hell had broken loose in Ramadi. I had to e-mail a buddy to make sure all my comrades where fine. He e-mailed me back and said nothing significant had happened and that things had actually been quiet. There is a major disconnect between public perception and the reality on the ground. People look at me with trepidation when they find out I served in Iraq. They are often afraid to ask "what was it like?", they already have a preconceived notion of what it was like, a notion shaped entirely by the liberal media. Im no neo-con and I think we have made many mistakes in Iraq, but the whole story is not being reported.

I have a fiance in Iraq who is still on her first tour and she describes the massace in Iraq truthfully to me as she possibly can.

It doesn't matter how you word it, it doesn't matter how you describe it, and it doesn't matter what you write, its a reality. My fiance describes how soilders have holes in their bodies the size of a tailpipe, she tells me how they would pick up body parts and intestines of soilders, anything that was a part of that soilder whom was blown up to pieces due to an IED.

If anything, I am ashame of the media for not truly protraying the truth of the GORE that truly is going on in Iraq. We have millions of people watching the TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE: THE BEGINNING. Americans want to see the gore and violence in a fictional movie so why doesn't the media bring the violence and gore in Iraq unedited into every American household?

Have a blog with pictures and video of soilders bleeding with no hands, legs, arms, chest blown apart, and also show the funerals where the caskets are closed and filled with bricks because there wasn't enough body parts to sustain the weight of the slained soilder. I can guarantee you if Americans including those Republicans in Washington who after a hard days work can go home and play with their children and kiss their love ones, see these images, there would be a change.

So I am asking why doesnt the media show the truth instead of describing it?

i think we should reinstate the draft, train & send enough troops to properly get the job done. remove politics from the war, be of one mind free the iraq people &get er done.

No bias in the media? As stated in a previous comment, there is a definite imbalance of positive stories compared to the negative ones. Let's face it; dramatic stories of car bombs, kidnappings, and mass mayhem sells more papers than stories of rebuilt schools and normalization of daily life. American media is a money making enterprise just like most businesses in the U.S. Add to that, the fact that most journalists personally lean towards the left and the resulting articles speak for themselves. I am not naive enough to say that all is well in Iraq. However, I do know for a fact that there are many postive stories that are not being told in the news and that is a disservice to all the successes that our troops have sacrificed so much for. The most damaging aspect of this is the swaying of public perception towards one opinion or outlook. I for one have not been brainwashed by the biased American media. I served in Iraq with the Army and have seen what it is like with my own eyes. I see hope just as long as there is resolve. There is resolve among the troops. Unfortunately, thanks to the media, American resolve is waning and without this support we might as well admit defeat.

Good job guys! Im sure that all this war bashing is going to make things better. I'm not saying what oyu are reporting is "bad","wrong" or "spun" but you have to do more than report the bad stuff. If there are two stories up for the front page, do we pick the Car Bomb story or the story where Iraq has steady power for the first time in years? Let me guess which one you will run with. And as for you saying, "I spet nore time on the front lines, covering firefights, ambushes and all out battle than alot of soldiers." Do you want a medal? An award? A cookie? How about this a pat on the back? I have never heard a more disrepectful comment about soldiers from a reporter in Iraq in my three times here. It seems that even though you were "in firefights" you have had your eyes closed the rest of the time. A moajority of the people here want our elp, strike that, need our help. Do we give up on the majority who need us, to appease the minority who hate us? I could type for hours. Feel free to call me out like you did "Baghdad Bob", Jane, I wont shy away. Even if you dont call me out, You will hear more from me. Remember, I fight for everyone's right to degrade me.

I'm sorry Jane, but it is clear that many journalists are bias in their reporting and not just concerning Iraq...and for some seems to stem from their bias against the current White House.I sincerely hope you will present more of the good things that are being accomplished in Iraq and yes, I believe there are a lot more happening than is being presented to us. NO one is going to forget the horror and suddenly dismiss that atrocities are taking place should you do so. I appreciate the news coverage but how much better if I knew I was getting a balanced report and that it was truthful in general.

I believe in Freedom and Liberty for all people, how we got there doesn't matter we are there and lets face it our troops are in grave trouble. This war can't be compared with WW1 or WW2 as we have an enemy which does not have a dress code such as the Germans or Japanese and this makes it hard to tell the good from the bad. Further more I don't believe we are using our best military might in order to be self rightous. However I do believe if we cut and run all those boys and men who have died will have died in vain, this would be shameful. I'm for getting it over quick don't dilly dally around sorting out the good from the bad. When your on a duck hunting trip if it looks like a duck you take it out no buts about it. I know this may sound terrible but sometimes it is the only means to an end and I know we all want an end.

I guess I'm wondering why the media doesn't compare the conditions in Iraq now with the conditions in Iraq under Saddam Hussein. Of course we have a long way to go before significant, measurable improvements are visible -- but are they better off today than they were prior to the entry of Allied troops? I have to think they are. We forget that we're trying to turn around years (probably decades) of chaos. In our American want-it-now-can't-wait society we are unwilling to give this the time is requires.

The untold story about Iraq is what continues to happen in the mighty USA every day, which on the outside looking in, is much worse than Iraq. It really sucks to see American solders being killed and innocent Iraqis every day, but why don't you report the 30 Americans who are murdered every day on American soil with guns. Instead of reporting the updated total of American soldiers who have been killed since the Iraq war started (almost 3000), why don't you mention that over 30,000 Americans have been murdered by guns in the US since the Iraq war began. There is continued talk about pulling out of Iraq, therefore no more American soldiers will die. Where's the talk about preventing the deaths of 100,000 Americans by guns in their own country over the next 10 years. What about that pull out. Is this not an important crisis. Have reporters and Americans just come to a conclusion that 10,000 murdered Americans a year by guns is just acceptable. Or maybe that the NRA is no different then Hezbollah. It seems to me that the biggest threat to Americans, are Americans. How can you not report all these deaths. Honestly, what is worse, 4 American soldiers being killed in action a day in Iraq, or 30 Americans being murdered a day in their own country without a war.

The U.S. is what it eats. Now it has transformed itself
in the Great Guantanamo, where all of its citizens are prisioners of Bush,the Patriot Act and the Media lies. You are not free anymore. Pity..., but you deserve it.

I THINK WE COULD ALL USE A TIMEOUT! HEARD ANYTHING GOOD LATELY?

I think this war is crazy, I feel for the soldiers, since I served in the US Army. I just wished they would find a solution quick.

The war's purpose is or has eroded. If and when American's pullout the country will be what it decides to be, but it will be their's - good or bad. They indeed may go through civil war or another dictatorship but it's identity will develop. America has to get out, now. Why are we really still there?

Actually, when I took an award-winning technical writing course in college, they taught us that adjectives have little place in non-fiction writing. One of my own biggest complaints about journalists' writing over the years has been their injudicious use of adjectives. And when I eventually became a courtroom lawyer, I didn't forget it. Rather, as demonstrated here, the facts alone can speak for themselves with a clarity which is only diminished with the often-gaudy ornament of adjectives. Forget the adjectives, Jane - for the rest of your Iraq coverage (hell, for the rest of your CAREER), forget the adjectives - the risk of hyperbole inherent in them only detracts from your message. Verbs (kill, die, suffer, cry) and even nouns (explosion, execution, bomb, corpse) are for more effective, and much less suseptible to idle criticsm. In fact, such is the essence of the problem with much of the Bush administration's speechifying in support of their policy in Iraq to date.

And now it's back to the more cheerful pastime of watching tonight's NLCS game with the Mets up 4-0.

ONE Question. If you knew a group of people were being persecuted by someone with great authority, and you also knew you had the power and people to do something about it ...would you even bother to help? It seems like our society is unwilling to support this war b/c we do not care about other countries...they can take care of themselves right?? We are only looking at one side...that Bush did this for all the wrong reasons. But among those wrong reasons, there are many great things that are happening. Please quit discouraging yourselves and others by saying/typing such immature things..It is possible that our country is falling apart internally, because we cannot agree to disagree.

Jane, be safe. If you get the chance let me know how Tall Afar is doing since I left.