"American forces and Iraqi police continued raids on insurgents in the Baghad slum of Sadr City..."
How many times have you read or heard a very similar statement over the past month or so? Quite a few, I'd venture.
It's all part of the government / media manipulation of U.S. public perception of the 'war'. Hundreds, if not thousands, of Iraqis have died in this particular neighborhood of Baghdad in the past 18 months.
But it doesn't resonate with most Americans. First, it's half a world away. Second, the word "insurgent" has become a code word for "any brown people not like us". Third, it's happening in a slum.
What's happening in Sadr City might as well be happening in South Central L.A. (California), or Harlem (NYC), or Little Havana (Miami). You know why? 90 percent of Americans could care less what happens in those slums, either. It's brown (or black) poor people who cause nothing but trouble and suck on Uncle Sam's teat.
And there you have the lense through which the average American views the operations in Sadr City.
