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July 06, 2004
Good Advice
Mohammed, a dentist from Baghdad advises:
Don't believe everything you read:
How is life in Iraq? Depends on your point of view. A bunch of us were talking the other night; one friend, very angry, said: "Did you see what happened today in Antar Square? The Americans came, blocked the street and attacked the toy store. They were smashing kid's bicycles!" Another friend, listening carefully, asked: "Was there a big loading truck with them?" Yes, came the reply. The second friend then told his version: it turned out he'd been at the store buying a bike for his son. "I was in the middle of tough bargaining with the shopkeeper when two Humvees and a truck stopped out front. One of the Humvees waved all the cars to pass. Soldiers from the second Humvee said they wanted to buy some bicycles. It didn't take a long time, as they didn't bargain, and they bought a huge number of bicycles and filled the truck with them and left." Whom to believe? Here are two good friends and both were on the scene. As for me, it didn't take a lot of effort to figure out who was closer to the truth. Those bikes have probably been delivered to a local school.
It's not just Iraqis who are ready to believe the worst about American troops. I can't count the number of times an otherwise intelligent person quotes a news story that contradicts the ground wisdom. It's frustrating. I try to stay away from those discussions - my normal coping technique of red wine and dark chocolate is playing havoc with my diet. But, I keep thinking that someday, somehow, someone will be able to look past his or her biases and realize that the doom and gloom reported by the mainstream media is mostly sensationalism. Balance would be so refreshing.
Posted by Deb at July 6, 2004 01:39 AM
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Posted by: Eddy Certosimo at December 21, 2011 01:29 PM