Pictures That Never Make The Front Page

Today was a bloody day in Iraq - over 100 killed by terrorists making the journey to visit the 72 virgins. Most of those killed were college students - Iraqi college students. They were killed by terrorists - most likely Iraqi. The media has pictures of the blackened cars and the blood in the street. It is a tragedy that the innocents are killed by their fellow muslims.

But while flipping through the pictures over at Yahoo this evening I came across a couple of pictures that fly in the face of the "Iraq is going to Hell" theme that the media and the Dems have been trumpeting for months. These pics do not minimize the carnage of today's events but they do show another side of the violence.

Firemen hose down burnt vehicles after a car bomb attack near a university in Baghdad January 16, 2007. (Mahmoud Raouf Mahmoud/Reuters).
These are IRAQI FIREMEN. Did anyone else know that Iraq had working fire departments? I didn't. How many pictures have you seen of Iraqi firefighters doing their job printed in the media?


US soldiers treat wounded Iraqis at the site where two bombs exploded in central Baghdad's Bab al-Sheik neighbourhood. More than 34,000 Iraqis died violent deaths in 2006, often after being tortured, the UN said, as gunmen massacred shoppers at a Baghdad market and bombs ripped into university students.(AFP/Ahmad Al-Rubaye)

What's this? US Soldiers treating injured Iraqis? Iraqis that were injured by their fellow Iraqis? You don't see that in the media.

Iraqi men donate blood for the victims of sectarian violence in Shiite enclave of Sadr City in Baghdad, Iraq, Monday Jan. 15, 2007. At least 78 people were reported killed or found dead on Sunday, including 41 bullet-riddled bodies discovered in Baghdad. (AP Photo/Adil al-Khazali)

This picture stunned me. These are Iraqi men donating blood for bombing victims. Did you know that Iraq held blood drives for the injured? Did you even know that Iraq had the capabilities to hold blood drives?

Granted these are just 3 pics out of God knows how many but they tell another side of the story. They tell a story of Iraqis that ARE doing their jobs. Iraqis that have not given up. Iraqis that are willing to help their fellow Iraqis. And guess what - our soldiers are helping them - not running down the street randomly shooting innocent bystanders as some would have us believe.

While the pictures do not erase the violence, they do give us a peek at the bigger picture. Don't look for these pics on the front page or leading the news. If they make it to publication, they will be buried deep in the paper or as a brief blip on the television. Such a shame that we don't get to see the whole story.

Technorati Tags:
Iraq, suicide bombers, photos, firemen, blood drive, Iraqis, US soldiers, terrorists, media bias