While many Iraqis are very concerned about the future, they do have some things to be cheerful about. One is that Saddam Hussein is gone, which really is cause for celebration. The other is that with the Americans in charge, they should get some really outstanding TV. They say that countries with a British colonial past have excellent administrative systems but bad food, and former French colonies have excellent food but lousy administration. I think that the people of Iraq can look forward to excellent televised entertainment but extremely short attention spans.

So far, though, the new age of Iraqi television is not looking so exciting. The US occupation authorities are broadcasting a diet of public access style TV. First, viewers were treated to a televised address from President Bush and Prime Minister Blair. President Bush assured the Iraqis that in fact everything is going great, despite what they may conclude from having looked out their windows. He assured the country that Coalition™ forces “will help maintain law and order, so that Iraqis can live in security.” This would be an embarrassing statement, but likely nobody was watching because the power plants have been so thoroughly looted that nobody has any electricity to run their televisions with.

“You are a good and gifted people… an inventive, creative people,” intoned the President slowly, raising his voice slightly in hopes that this would help Iraq’s non-English-speaking people understand.

According to the Washington Post:

After the addresses by Bush and Blair, viewers mostly saw slides of what [an] official called “Iraqis being liberated,” interspersed with screen-size versions of the U.S. military's psychological warfare tracts. Programming also includes military public service announcements including warnings to Iraqis not to evade checkpoints, with the advice to slow down and let the soldier come to them.

This was followed by subtitled editions of newscasts from various US news networks, including Fox News's hour-long politics show, “Special Report With Brit Hume.” An official from the US government authority in charge of the broadcasts said they were intended as “an example of what a free press in the American tradition actually is.” Which would explain the inclusion of Fox News.

But the Baywatch reruns will start soon, and only then will the Iraqi people know they are truly free.