The opposite of
a bird's eye view--describes a situation viewed up close or the people in a position to view a situation up close, in detail. Typically used by someone at a level of remove from the situation being discussed. George Bush uses this phrase frequently to describe the situation in Iraq or
the troops in Iraq--i.e., to refer to the reality, with which he is only faintly
acquainted.
the situation on the ground
the troops on the ground
Far off in Washington or at best confined to the Baghdad
Green Zone, the American leadership had only a vague knowledge of the actual situation on the ground, so the extent of
sectarian violence caught them by surprise and completely ruined their
luftslott dreams of democratizing the Middle East by deposing Saddam.