Headlines in various media outlets include the usual stuff
The BBC
Fresh violence rocks Iraq capital
The US military in Iraq says another five American soldiers have been killed by insurgents in the past day.
2 GIs Killed In Iraq Attack
Insurgents Send Suicide Bomber To Combat Post Near Baghdad, 34 Iraqis Die In Attacks
The LA Times
Insurgents strike U.S. outpost in Iraq
Two troops are killed and 17 wounded in an assault north of Baghdad.
And even the Washtington Times
Crackdown in Iraq spurs violent day
But few outlets carry this, more hopeful AP story which was carried by Worcester Telegram
Baghdad’s quiet, at least for now
NEWS ANALYSIS
By Robert H. Reid THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
BAGHDAD, Iraq— U.S. troops rolled into Baghdad primed for a showdown with Sunni insurgents and Shiite militias. But most of the shooting has come from Iraqi police firing weapons in the air to clear the way for their convoys.That doesn’t mean the extremists have given up or that Baghdad is on a course toward calm. At least 63 people were killed and more than 120 injured in car bombings yesterday.Nevertheless, the capital has been relatively quiet since the operation began Wednesday.But it also appears that all the players — the Iraqi government, Sunni insurgents and Shiite militias — are saving their resources for the next and perhaps climactic round — the civil war that could break out once the U.S. push is over and American troops begin to pull out.
“The Sunni resistance needs to keep its powder dry for the internal war that commences when we go,” said retired Col. Douglas Macgregor, a prominent writer on military affairs. “The Shiites are waiting to see if we push them the way we have pushed the Sunni population.”
As evidence, U.S. officers report an influx of Sunni militants into Diyala province and other areas around the capital, apparently insurgents moving temporarily from Baghdad so they can live to fight another day.
In Baghdad, Shiite militiamen, too, have largely put away their weapons. But they can still be seen milling about on the streets of neighborhoods like Hurriyah, scene of bloody sectarian purges three months ago, and seem certain to reassert themselves when the crackdown is over.Most importantly, the Shiite-led government appears to be stalling on key U.S. demands, including a quick military move into the Shiite militia stronghold of Sadr City, where an ally of the prime minister holds sway.
That raises questions about whether the much-advertised U.S.-led security crackdown will deliver on expectations and set Iraq on course for a stable, functioning society.
Clearly that will not happen without American resolve: a resolve that is being eroded daily by the Democratic Leadership in Congress. A major part of the new plan is to hold the areas and do reconstruction with US Military elements embedded with Iraqi Army and Police providing long-term security. The whole idea is to kill, capture, or drive underground insurgent forces. And as long as a security presence is maintained long enough for reconstruction occur, the benefits of a strong central government will become apparant to the locals who will learn they do not need militias for protection and there is no benefit to them for joining the Islamists.
But for political reasons, Democrats will not see the plan; they refuse to acknowledge its existence and try to convince people its the same old, same old.
Clearly most media outlets are complicit.
For now, however, Baghdad is calmer than it has been for months. Weeks ago, police were finding 50 or more bullet-riddled bodies in the capital every day. That figure has dropped to below 10 a day since the crackdown began last Wednesday.
And unless Congress intervenes, it will stay calm in each area the new security elements move into: Areas which will increase daily unless Democrats stop the progress.
Now you do the Google search for this story. And not only will you find that it is carried in now major outlets (the biggest one I could find is in the Military Times (Army, Air Force, etc) but you will also find two different versions: one less hopeful than the other.
Still, it reflects a growing reality that larger media outlets, and most Democrats, deny.
