Dave Coughanour in Iraq
Posted by Ben Reubenstein Thu, 25 May 2006 23:11:45 GMT
I have been sitting on an interview with Dave Coughanour for way too long! Dave is currently in Iraq and has set up an ISP there for the soldiers on his base. Read the interview to find out more. I hope to do more interviews in the future. A big thanks to Dave for his time.
"In reality, only about 20% of the country disapproves of coalition forces, and the majority happen to be in Al Anbar province."
mainstream media what? where does the 20% number come from? is that related to the poll that said 70-some-odd percent of iraqis think it's o.k. to shoot american soldiers? Was that 20% number gotten when the iraqi CIVILIAN body count was 10,000, 20,000, 30,000 or 40,000 less than what it is today? Was that before or after the 6 month strike of 50 smart bombs, only 5 hitting their targets, the other 45 hitting civilian buildings and locales? I'd love to share Dave's outlook, but everyone, including soldiers, whom I've spoken with who's been in Iraq since the war began has a less 'rosy-fox-news' take on Iraq.
I loved this interview. The idea that even soldiers in the "backwater" sections of Iraq are getting such amazing technology is great. What a cool "hobby" Dave has!
As far as the disapproval ratings go, I'm of the opinion that unless you're there first hand you'll never really know what the approval ratings are. That goes for fox news, cnn, and reports from soldiers all over Iraq. Dave gives his opinion and I think we should give him at least a nod of recognition for witnessing it first hand. :)
Thanks for the good reporting Ben.
I'm with ya D. My point about disapproval ratings is that polls have a source. I simply would be interested to learn where he got the 20% thing... sounds like pre-war intel to me.
I've spoken to 6 people who've been to Iraq, four of whom soldiers and friends, and they aren't nearly as optimistic.
to each his own. I definately respect the opinion. Pretty crazy that he uses cdw and newegg! Shipped to Iraq? Do you just give them the APO ZIP? I've only used US Mail to send stuff to troops. Do FedEx and UPS use APO zip codes? How does that work? Same cost as shipping to US or crazy higher because of UPS/fedex/dhl/whatever??