Going to War With the Press We Have

I already lamented the sorry state of reporting on Iraq or military matters generally. With few exception, these people know so little about the subject they report on that they should be embarassed. A fashion reporter wouldn't dare show their face in public with a comparable lack of knowledge about their beat.

For a more complete report on how poorly the media has reported the Basra operations read this:

WHILE THE RECENT FIGHTING AGAINST the Mahdi Army in Basra, Baghdad, and Iraq's south was not a stunning victory for the Iraqi government and military, neither was it the resounding defeat that many believe.

It isn't entirely clear why the media leapt to the conclusions that it did about the Basra operations. Perhaps impatience coupled with a lack of knowledge about military affairs was the biggest factor. Perhaps, tired of six months of generally positive reporting about the surge, journalists were gleeful to announce that the situation on the ground was deteriorating. Or perhaps a negative angle was irresistible in light of General David Petraeus's upcoming congressional testimony.

Whatever the reason, the press has done a major disservice to readers by misreporting the events in Basra.

Fortunately for our press, they save a lot of effort by assuming defeat from the start. Then the story just writes itself!