Nick Smith, March 30, 2003

In Congress, we are deluged with information on the war. The best information comes from the daily classified briefings. These briefings include presentations from Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, General Richard Meyers of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and others. In addition, we have so-called "Blackberries" - a hand held computer that can display information and e-mail - which carries bulletins of war and terrorism information. Unfortunately, some of the news I received this week was of the death of a brave, young Seventh District resident, Senior Airman Jason Plite of Lansing, in a plane crash in Iraq. Our hearts and prayers go out to his family and the families of all our troops serving and sacrificing for their country.

The conflict in Iraq has received more media coverage than any war in history. Yet it has done little to dispel the age-old fog of war. The embedded reporters and the assembled media deluge us with information. The around-the-clock news channels provide breathless coverage of skirmishes, battles, treachery and atrocities. Yet this information conveys only bits of the total picture of the war. These scraps of information combine with conjectures, disinformation and rumors to fuel wild swings from optimism to pessimism and back again. This coverage is more exhausting than exhaustive, and we need to look away from media spotlight to gain perspective.

In fact, the pictures of tanks in the desert, downed helicopters, explosions in Baghdad, or POWs on display may provide human drama and riveting television without increasing our understanding of our progress in the war. Our military leaders have and will continue to guard their military plans and intentions, as well they should. Despite the media speculations, only Commanding General Tommy Franks and a few others know at this point how closely events in Iraq are conforming to their plans and expectations.

We can, however, judge the larger picture. The operation has made very significant gains. After ten days, allied forces controlled more than one-third of Iraq’s land area. Though that control is not quite complete in some areas, it is sufficient to have stopped the destruction of oil wells, establish supply lines and begin the delivery of humanitarian relief to the Iraqi population. Allied forces are surrounding Baghdad and will start the stranglehold on the capital. At the same time, the bombing campaign continues and intensifies as we establish more airfields within Iraq, allowing more bombing and better close air support for our troops.

What we have to do now is resist the tides of hysteria in the media and support our troops. Congress did that on March 21 with the near unanimous passage of a resolution supporting our President and our forces involved in Operation Iraqi Freedom. I especially hope that opponents of the war can support the thousands of our young men and women in Iraq now that we are in the fight. We are in combat. The time for disagreement and debate was before we started and after we finish.

We are in this war and its outcome will be important. Let’s give our total support for our military men and women now risking their lives in Iraq. Give them and their families our support and our prayers in the days ahead.

Congressman Nick Smith represents the 7th District Congressional of Michigan in the U.S. House of Representatives.