The MSM Spoonful of Sugar 2

Shhh… don’t tell anyone, but… we just transitioned another province of Iraq back to Iraqi control. Red State has the details, but this map tells quite a story:

Sure, those provinces were not as violent as Baghdad. True, things are not all sweetness and light. However, it is difficult to say that progress is not being made when you see how much of the country we no longer have to directly control.

As usual, the MSM needs a large dose of bad news to ease the passage of that good news down. Check out the Google News results for a search on “George Casey Iraq”:

That “New bloodbath” headline is classic. But CNN has the most reach of the top few results so I’ll focus on them once again. CNN article: “Baghdad rocket attacks kill dozens.” Since the main topic of that article was not the latest transition to Iraqi control, to be fair, I searched the CNN website for more pertinent articles. There were none. I also searched for “Iraq transition” and “12 to 18″ (months) since those terms were relevant. This “rocket attacks” article was the only article I found that referenced the latest transition of power.

So let’s look at the breakdown of the article. An opening paragraph about the “wave of apparent sectarian violence.” Then –

The violence came as U.S. President Bush launched a new series of domestic speeches amid flagging support for the war, and Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said Iraqi security forces will take over a southern province next month.

[See?! He's lying! Smirky McChimphitler is a lying liar who tells lies!] Four more paragraphs give extensive details on the bombings, leading to this –

The attacks occurred as Iraqi and U.S. security forces press ahead with an extensive security crackdown in the capital. (Watch Iraqis seek treatment, hope lull in attacks will last — 2:36)

[It's a quagmire! We're pressing ahead just like the fascist fundie demands, but it's not helping! We're losing, losing, I tell you!! And just look at the poor brown people just hoping the eeevil Zionist Americans will give them a break for a change.]

Six paragraphs, and then the explanation of why we shouldn’t care about this so-called good news which didn’t even rate its own article -

The Shiite province to be handed over to Iraqi forces next month hasn’t faced the raging violence common in Baghdad and in other locations.

Al-Maliki said Iraqi forces will assume leadership responsibility in Thiqar province and that “this year will also witness the transfer of responsibility in other provinces.”

Iraqis took control of security in Muthanna province from the British last month.

“The transfer of responsibility gives us confidence that we become closer to taking over overall security responsibility throughout Iraq,” al-Maliki said in a statement from his office.

Bush on Thursday praised al-Maliki for his “courage” and again asserted that the battle for Iraq is the “central front in our fight against terrorism.” (Watch Bush position Iraq war in broader context — 2:04)

In a speech before the American Legion convention in Salt Lake City, Utah, Bush likened the effort to World War II and the Cold War and warned that failure to persevere will lead terrorists to take their battle to U.S. shores. (Full story)

Some Democrats disputed Bush’s claim that the Iraq war is essential to the fight against terrorism.

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada in a written statement called for “beginning the redeployment of troops from Iraq, refocusing our efforts on the war on terror and protecting Americans from terrorism here at home.”

Why bury this good news in a larger article about bombings that are, sadly, fairly routine? They have invested so much in recreating the Vietnam protests and in forcing us to lose the war that they can’t afford to report the good news in an even-handed way. I don’t suggest that they stop reporting the bad news. I understand that if it bleeds, it leads. But when there is legitimate good news, I don’t think it’s too much to ask for CNN to report it with the same attention to detail that they lovingly list each death and injury in the bad news.

It’s a pity we couldn’t just classify it and leak it to the New York Times with a note that says if the terrorists find out, it will make them fight even harder against us. Then it might get the amount of coverage it deserves.