Quotes of the Morning: A Booming Free Press

“Newspaper headlines have borne much bad and frightening news lately: car bombs in Baghdad, missile fusillades launched at hotels, deadly attacks on U.S. soldiers, Iraqi police and governmental officials, and representatives of the international community. But there is plenty of good news, too, even though it doesn't as often make the papers. And that good news stems from a single irreversible and critical truth: the Iraqi people are free. . . . Real progress is being made on the ground that gives Iraqis hope that life will get steadily better. . . . We have renovated more than 1,500 schools.”
-Colin Powell, October 31, 2003

“People just aren’t seeing all of the good news put of Iraq. I mean, Powell said that back in 2003. Since conditions in Iraq have been improving ever since (I’ve listened to the Administration, and they’ve never said anything about it getting worse), I expect that things there are just about perfect now. I’m sure that the press is finally getting around to reporting the good news.”
-Skippy

“A CBS news correspondent who had reported on the deteriorating conditions in Iraq for three years was in critical condition at a U.S. military base in Germany, a day after a roadside bomb killed two of her colleagues.
Kimberly Dozier, a 39-year-old American, had undergone two surgeries for injuries from the bombing, said Kelli Edwards, a CBS news spokeswoman. By early Tuesday, doctors had removed shrapnel from Dozier's head but said she had more serious injuries to her lower body, CBS News reported on its Web site.
Dozier arrived at Ramstein Air Base in Germany early Tuesday and was headed to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, military officials said.
British cameraman Paul Douglas, 48, and British freelance soundman James Brolan, 42, were killed Monday when a car bomb exploded as they were working on a story about American troops in Iraq on Memorial Day, the network said. The U.S. military said an American soldier and an Iraqi interpreter were killed in the same blast and six American soldiers were injured.
‘Our deepest sympathy goes out to the families of Paul and James, and we are hoping and praying for a complete recovery by Kimberly,’ CBS News President Sean McManus said in a statement.”
-Associated Press, May 30, 2006

“Oh sure, there might still be the occasional bombing that might occasionally still inconvenience the press, but that doesn’t mean that things aren’t going well..”
-Skippy

“The Voice of America's bureau in Baghdad has been closed for the past six months, ever since the government-funded agency withdrew its only reporter in Iraq after she was fired upon in an ambush and her security guard was later killed.
All Western news organizations have struggled with the dangerous conditions in Iraq, which have led to such high-profile incidents as the kidnapping of Christian Science Monitor reporter Jill Carroll and the wounding of ABC News anchor Bob Woodruff. But for a federally funded information service to pull out of Baghdad for such a prolonged period raises questions about the Bush administration's insistence that conditions there are gradually improving.”
-Washington Post, May 23, 2006

“Well, I have to say that if the Voice of America (which is run by the Federal government) is closed due to the violence... um… Well, that might be a bad sign.”
-Skippy