While Allied forces continue to hammer terrorists in Iraq, the battle for control of public perception continues in newspapers, on the internet and airwaves. Some contrarian news agencies are nosing around the Marine footage discussed yesterday; others seem disconcerted by the pace of events, where fresh possibilities for enemy gain emerge only to be pounded flat by Americans and Iraqis, and the result is not unlike watching the operators of a classic two-man cow suit each trying to walk in a different direction. One Associated Press story is particularly revealing: the headline reads "Fallujah Offensive Intensifies," complete with a sub-header "Heavy Fighting," only to be followed by a sentence declaring that "airstrikes and gunfire waned considerably after a week of heavy fighting." Come again?

Media consensus is admitting Mosul to be "calm" (or at least "calmer")shortly after journalists were highlighting it as proof of a "spreading insurgency." "Loud explosions" seem to have been a staple of the Allies' restoration of order in the northern Iraqi city; in fact, the past few days have seen a dearth of "quiet explosions," and "heavy machine-gun fire" is rather outproducing "light machine-gun fire," too.

Another favorite media phrase, "wave of violence," seems not to describe the reality of Iraqis living in the same section of Baghdad as Omar Fadhil does:

Being out of the events' field for a week and having the media as the only source of information made me understand more why many people have a blurred vision about the situation in Iraq, I mean watching Al- Jazeera and the CNN for a relatively long time made Iraq- at certain moments-look like "hell on earth." Fortunately I lived my whole life in Iraq and when it comes to events taking place over there I can distinguish between the truth and the lies to a certain degree but my concern is about people who have never been there because the media twist facts and exaggerate things in an unbelievable manner.

As a matter of fact, from the news I got from the media I expected to find Baghdad in a terrible condition when I return; no gasoline, no electricity, fighting at every corner and dead bodies everywhere but of course I didn’t find it this way when I returned. Actually I haven't seen any significant difference except for losing some hours of electricity!

Omar and his brothers were recently in Jordan working with Jim Hake' Spirit of America on a public outreach to encourage democratic participation among Iraqis. Weblogs, discussions, lectures, you name it:

We've already carried out some activities that are related to this project including lectures like this one at the college of physical education for girls. We were worried about the way students would react to a lecture like this one but amazingly the hall was full and the seats were not enough for the students. Moreover some of them engaged the lecturers in questions and discussions and most of them were eager to participate in the elections but they knew little about elections, democracy and constitution, etc., and were so pleased to find someone willing to teach them. The way we see it is that the most important thing is to educate as many Iraqis as possible about the upcoming elections, their significance and how important each vote is.

The upcoming elections are what, of course, the thugs fighting our troops and killing innocent Iraqis seek to prevent.

Talk of the Geneva Convention obscures the bestial nature of those who oppose a democratic Iraq, application of the same dehumanizing these killers' victims. For those momentarily disoriented by the near-disgraceful judgment of a Marine trying to defend himself and his fellow men, a point of clarity from Interim Deputy Prime Minister Barham Salih:

Iraqis are striving to construct a society where freedom of choice, the democratic process and the rule of law are paramount. They want - as they continually tell me and my colleagues in the Iraqi interim government - freedom, peace and stability for their children. No one should be able to deny them this dream. But a small minority of Saddam loyalists and foreign terrorists who have nothing to offer but violence are trying to do just that. They exist in various parts of Iraq, but their base has been Fallujah for some time.

From this city they have terrorized the local population and spread murder across the country. They have blown up women and children and executed in cold blood fellow Iraqis trying to end the lawlessness in our country. No civilized person can stand by and allow this to continue. No civilized person should support those behind this campaign of murder.

Good for those who publicized Mr. Salih's appeal, as it is the true voice of Iraq.