Two Sources On An Iraq Pullout

Believe it or not, the popularity of a pullout from the Iraq War fluctuated a bunch of times within the last year. Currently, a little over 50% of those polled in the United States believe that the conflict in Iraq should be properly solved before pullout occurs. Here, I present to you two sources, one a blog posted by a user "allahpundit", and the other an article written by a writer for The Australian.

The blog is rather interesting in that it is a reaction to a report made by a Time Magazine reporter. The reporter spent an inordinate amount of time interviewing Iraqi citizens to get an idea of how they feel about the American presence in Iraq. Interestingly, the majority of Iraqi citizens are "praying" for a John McCain victory come November. They feel that a Democratic win this year would devastate any peace and order that was created in the last few years. John McCain is the only candidate left that plans on maintaining troops in Iraq until the situation is resolved. This report is in direct contrast, however, to the next article that I will introduce.

The Australian, an Australian news source, published an article about a new report, released by the Institute of Peace. This report's main claim is that "the U.S. is no closer to pulling out than it was one year ago." The report also claims that we are in a certain conundrum, where we may not leave due to imminent threat of genocide, nor can we stay indefinitely, as there seems to be no end in sight. This article makes it sound like zero progress has been made in the last year, whereas many articles show evidence of positive changes in Iraq; citizens feel safer, streets are safe for businesses and commercialization, etc.

The difference between these two media sources is clear; the blog is the opinion of one man, whereas the article is the opinion of a media giant overseas. Both try to make a point and persuade the reader to adopt his or her views, but the article reaches out to more viewers than the blogger does. Also, more people are willing to trust a published article than an individual's blog.

As for bias, both sources are heavily partisan. The blogger is clearly a conservative who supports the continued troop surge in Iraq. The Australian reflects the sentiment of Australians who do not wish to support the war. This makes sense, since recently the new president of Australia has withdrawn troops from Iraq (with President Bush's approval). Thus, the opinions of the citizens of Australia have been heard.

Links:
"Every Iraqi I know is Praying for a McCain Victory"
Iraq Pullout Could Spark Genocide