fighting in basra

Just watched video on CNN [http://www.cnn.com/video//video/world/2008/03/25/blake.iraq.basra.itn] that purports to show Iraqi Army and Police fighting in Basra. What they showed was Iraqi military, but they didn’t show any fighting. They pretended to show some fighting, but the one sequence of someone firing a weapon was clearly staged: the Iraqi army soldier firing an AK wasn’t aiming, just firing at a high angle with a typical disregard for where the bullet might land. The soldier was wearing digital camo; they were still almost all wearing chocolate chip fatigues when I left Bagdad last summer. Makes me wonder whether the units in Bagdad are considered elite by the IA and NP. Also, the remainder of the footage showed IA/ NP soldiers standing around in the street. I’m assuming NP based on the older style body armor. Umm, you don’t stand around in the open if you can help it- assuming you’re actively fighting.
How does this generation of journalists live with itself when it people like David Halberstam were (RIP April 23 2007) so much braver about showing the costs of combat, and either are still or were until recently alive to witness their cowardice?
Or maybe the "major combat operations in Basra" aren’t all that major. The British at the airport haven’t even left their base.