Swarm what swarm??

Isn't it funny how a bee likes honey,
Buzz, buzz, buzz, I wonder why she does?

I was interviewed today on BBC World Service news to talk about my opinion that the media is totally disconnected with what is happening on the ground in Iraq. They were leading on the huge American air offensive north of Samarra dubbed Operation Swarmer. So I was asked if any bloggers had anything to say about the offensive and what what was going on. So I looked and said - "sorry nothing."

My initial feeling was, "what's up guys, you let me down in front of the BBC!" Thinking about it again, the bloggers were proving my point. Swarmer was a complete non-event as far as Iraqis were concerned. It did not even register a blip on the bloggers' radar. The fact that the BBC chose to lead on this story shows even more how out of touch the media are.

Operation Swarmer is no more than a sideshow put on for a story-hungry media to lap up. The timing speaks volumes - 3rd anniversary of the war and nothing to show. On the Iraqi scene it is completely irrelevant. It changes nothing. The government is still actively failing, US diplomacy is actively failing and the US military presence is fast becoming more pointless. The obvious fact is that after three years occupation, all the US military is able to do is to fly around Iraq and blow up a few sand dunes. Not much results for an occupation that is costing American taxpayers a billion dollars a week.