Washington Post; Al-Qaeda In Iraq Reported Crippled
I know, it’s almost paralyzing, isn’t it? After a week of publishing old news on the front page of their newspaper, in the form of an expose on IEDs merely two weeks ago so they could avoid reporting the good news pouring out of Iraq, the Washington Post finally admits that the US-led coalition has made substantial headway;
The U.S. military believes it has dealt devastating and perhaps irreversible blows to al-Qaeda in Iraq in recent months, leading some generals to advocate a declaration of victory over the group, which the Bush administration has long described as the most lethal U.S. adversary in Iraq.
It doesn’t take long for the other shoe to drop, however;
“I think it would be premature at this point,” a senior intelligence official said of a victory declaration over AQI, as the group is known. Despite recent U.S. gains, he said, AQI retains “the ability for surprise and for catastrophic attacks.” Earlier periods of optimism, such as immediately following the June 2006 death of AQI founder Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in a U.S. air raid, not only proved unfounded but were followed by expanded operations by the militant organization.
The article is also followed on the front page with the story of the Washington Post reporter, Salih Saif Aldin’s, death in Baghdad.
The 32-year-old Iraqi reporter in The Washington Post’s Baghdad bureau was shot once in the forehead in the southwestern neighborhood of Sadiyah. He was the latest in a long line of reporters, most of them Iraqis, to be killed while covering the Iraq war. He was the first for The Washington Post.
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“The death of Salih Saif Aldin in the service of our readers is a tragedy for everyone at The Washington Post. He was a brave and valuable reporter who contributed much to our coverage of Iraq,” said Leonard Downie Jr., executive editor of The Post. “We are in his debt. We grieve with his family, friends, fellow journalists and everyone in our Baghdad bureau.
Yes, it’s indeed sad, but if the Post had put even one article about a single soldier or sailor or marine or airman that had died on the front page, I wouldn’t be rolling my eyes this morning. In fact, did they run a front page story of Medal of Horor recipient SEAL Lt. Michael P. Murphy last week? Nope. Here’s the Post’s reportage on the page 11A column “Nation in Brief“;
Navy Seal to Be Given Posthumous Honor
    ÂGARDEN CITY, N.Y. — A Navy Seal who was killed while leading a reconnaissance mission in Afghanistan will be given the nation’s highest military award, the Medal of Honor. Lt. Michael P. Murphy, 29, of Patchogue on Long Island is the first Medal of Honor recipient for combat in Afghanistan, the Navy said in a statement.
That’s it – the whole thing. It’s not even the first item in the series. Yet a 32-year-old reporter gets the front page. So my excitement at a front page story of success in Iraq is tempered by my disdain for the elitist retards at the Washington Post.
Deebow at Blackfive noticed the same poor reportage from NYT on Lt. Murphy. Linda SoG at My Vast Right Wing Conspiracy goes off on the Associated Press for ignoring our heroes and naming several they should get to know.
I’ll continue to get my news from the internet – like this news from Iraq and this from Afghanistan, both by RTO Trainer at Protein Wisdom (h/t Ace of Spades). And Victor Davis Hanson (by way of Curt at Flopping Aces and Michele Malkin). And from Gateway Pundit who has the numbers as well as the good news.
Category: Media, Politics, Support the troops
