1. You can see through the "Clouds" at various points, and see the stars behind the Nebula and the black of space etc.

 

2. All the stars visible, and even the "blackness of space, have an "infrared spectrum" EXCEPT, the bright light in the center. (Discovery Channel)

 

3. You can see this "center" light shining forward, but consider, compared to the brightness of the other stars, the magnitude of the centers light source or even light "sources".  Yet you do not see the source providing illumination toward those stars to the rear/behind the Nebula.