As American commanders declare victory in the Iraqi city of Falluja, it is becoming increasingly obvious how little anyone knows about what is actually going on there. The American media has been blinded by U.S. military restrictions, the inevitable difficulties of reporting from a war zone, and the extreme dangers faced by reporters in Iraq. As a consequence, insights into events in Falluja and the rest of Iraq are almost impossible to obtain.
The sharp-eyed hunter for news about the battle, scanning multiple online sources, would soon realize how many of the stories filed from Iraq these days contradict each other if not themselves. Just today, the New York Times wrote that rebels in the city had been "routed", while Reuters noted that rebels battled on.
Much of the confusion is deliberate. In September, Iraq's Prime Minister expelled al-Jazeera from the country. And as its first move in the Falluja offensive, US marines captured a city hospital, claiming that they wanted to stop propaganda (read: news) about civilian casualties from escaping the city.
A good deal of information is unknowable or just not reported. What is happening to the civilians in Falluja? How fierce was the fighting? And what do Iraqi politicians have to say about the attack?
Equally disturbing is the lack of transparency from the media about the extent and nature of the "military restrictions" that their Falluja correspondents are under.
Civilians
According to Marine Colonel Mike Shupp, there were few civilian casualties in Falluja during the assault. "There is no need to bring supplies in because we have supplies of our own for the people," Shupp told Reuters. "Now that the bridge is open, I will bring out casualties and all aid work can be done here," he said from Falluja's hospital. This line follows claims that anywhere between 50% - 90% of Falluja's civilian population had fled before the bombing began.
Numerous reports from the city contradict the claims of American marines. BBC correspondents Paul Wood and Fadhil Badrani speak of bodies rotting in the streets, no food, water, electricity, or medical aid. There are also scattered reports of typhoid outbreaks.
Of course, none of this may be true. But at least some of it probably is, and there's no way to know for sure.
Fierce Fighting or Pushover?
There have also been widely varying accounts of the severity of the fighting. Marine commanders say that the battle was "easier than we expected," while at the same time, wounded Marines tell the AP that "it seemed like they have a pretty unlimited amount of RPGs and mortars ... they were locking on us with RPGs and mortars from buildings all around us. Even from mosques they were firing — from all over the place."
One day, news reports will note a lull in the battle, while the next, they will describe "intense urban combat."
Much of the discrepancy here can be attributed to the nature of covering an urban combat zone. Reporters only see what the troops they are with see. The gap, however, allows military spin doctors to fill the void with reassuring reports of an easy victory.
Reaction
Also underreported have been the reactions of Iraq politicians to the fighting.
Much of the media coverage of this sort has noted the muted reaction Ayatollah Sistani and the angry reaction of the anti-American cleric al-Sadr.
Unreported (except by al-Jazeera) was the angry denunciation from the top Shiite cleric in Baghdad, Shaikh Muhammad Mahdi al-Khalissi.
A statement issued by the Shaikh, obtained by Aljazeera.net on Sunday, condemned the US assault on Falluja and described it as "aggression and dirty war". "No matter how powerful the occupation forces are, they will be driven out of Iraq sooner or later. The current savage military attack on Falluja by US occupation forces and the US-appointed Iraqi government is an act of mass murder and a crime of war," the statement said.
Again, such a statement may mean nothing. Or it may just be propaganda. But we wouldn't know, because the American press doesn't seem to want to report on it.
As other cities across the Sunni triangle are wracked with fighting a week after the commencement of Falluja assault, the most disturbing thing about the Iraq situation is that many battles like the battle of Falluja may be coming down the road. Information about them is likely to be even harder to come by.
For citizens of a nominal democracy, many of whom are sending their children to the sands of Iraq, such a lack of knowledge may be the most dangerous thing of all.
This work is in the public domain.
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