Strategypage takes this on. Morale has improved a great deal since 2003 as measured by polls and by suicides:
In both cases (suicides and morale), there was marked improvement from 2003 to 2004. However, reading the AP versions of this story would leave a much different impression. In many cases, this is a case of the media going for the worst-case scenario or an “if it bleeds, it leads” approach (car bombings tend to draw more interest than efforts to teach Iraqi kids how to play baseball). In a pattern that has characterized the press coverage of Iraq, the media is often ignoring or downplaying the facts that show the situation is improving.
Strategypage is simply indispensible. And it comforts me that they can explain things beyond my information access but which make me scratch my head in puzzlement. The original story made no sense to me and now I know why it didn't make sense to me--it didn't make sense, period.
