After all, they cannot let good news be seen as good news.

The number of civilians killed in Iraq fell sharply in June to the lowest monthly total since a U.S.-backed security clampdown was launched in February, Iraqi government figures showed on Sunday.

The data, obtained from the ministries of interior, defense and health, showed 1,227 civilians died violently in June, a 36-percent fall from May and the lowest level in five months.

U.S. military officials said it was premature to draw conclusions about the effects of the crackdown, which is seen as a last ditch effort to avert full-scale sectarian civil war between majority Shi'ites and minority Sunni Arabs.

"We continue to be cautiously optimistic, (but) we are still very early in this process," said U.S. military spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Christopher Garver.

The rest of the article then seems more interested in "what's wrong" rather than "what's right". Maybe it is that this story otherwise wouldn't fit with the "America is losing" template that most of the media and the Democrats (but I repeat myself) have adopted, or maybe it is the failure of the news media to recognize that in war you very rarely have instant complete success.

UPDATE: Not that we can forget the real problem is the brutal nature of the enemy we fight.

Posted by: Greg at 01:19 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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