True Journalism

NBC Correspondent Richard Engel, who I think has led the pack in the reporting from Iraq for the past few years, has a video primer about Iraq. It reveals the bigger geopolitical picture that is behind the conflict, even moreso than religion.

Engel has been reporting from Iraq since BEFORE we even invaded. His experience and the insight he provides cannot be discarded as just another reporter who flies into Iraq for two weeks and then buzzes out again.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17722026/ There is also quite a few other good links to Engels's fine reporting from that page.

A personal look into Engel's life and how being in Iraq has affected it : http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17725245/

I almost never put my comments on MSNBC's webpages, it's filled with quite a few loud, abusive morons that make my own resident troll look like a Rhodes scholar.

But I put my thanks in to this man, who has spent the last four years of his life in danger, and has reported ALL sides of this complex story in Iraq. It's a thankless job, an adrenaline rush to be sure, but there's many many things that Engel isn't allowed to report on, for fear that it might affect Americans "delicate" sensibilities. You won't find the real pictures of the bloodshed, the mayhew, the ripped apart bodies and the corpses of children killed by both sides on your television or even on a mainstream media's website. Those images have been carefully screened lest we portray "war" in a bad light.

And the wacked out pro-war morons still dare cry "liberal media". But, these are also the same idiots that are commenting about civil war casualties or how staying the course in Viet Nam would have "Won" the day.

You can't explain to these fools that we didn't lose a damn thing by leaving Vietnam. And you can't make a man see the light when he has blindfolded himself with an American flag. True patriotism means believing in your country so much that you CAN HANDLE THE TRUTH and can make informed decisions based on the truth- not the lies that the President's men think are better for you.

True Patriotism is standing up for your country's ideals and it's constitution- NOT for a certain political party or dreams of empire.

To Christians, I ask : Is the kingdom of America greater than the kingdom of Heaven?
To Americans, I ask: Is greed and power greater than freedom and the rule of law?

Which ideals should you be supporting for the greater good of your soul and the soul of our nation? Which ideals should you be sacricing on the altar of your fear and insecurity?