Look What's Made the News

There was a time, not so long ago, when the only news out of Iraq was bad news. Good news, if there was any the mainstream media thought necessary to report, would be tucked into the inside pages of the newspaper. What's that old newspaper saying? If it bleeds it leads? Well, now it's AQI that seems to be doing the newsworthy bleeding.

USA Today started it with a story about how al-Qaeda in Iraq was working hard to salvage its damaged image. WaPo followed with a report on the sorry state of the AQI terrorist. Today WaPo has a front page story based on the writings of a killer, a document that reflects the decline of AQI. The author of the sad diary, Abu Tariq, lists the woes of the gang.

"Over 16 pages," writes WaPo, the al-Qaeda in Iraq leader detailed the organization's demise in his sector. He once had 600 men, but now his force was down to 20 or fewer, he wrote."

It's worth nothing that the journalist who wrote the story, Sudarsan Raghavan, has been the author of many reports about the resilient insurgency, reports that offered a narrative of Iraq as a lost cause. Today he writes: "Abu Tariq focused his anger in particular on the Sunni fighters and tribesmen who have turned against al-Qaeda in Iraq and joined the U.S.-backed Sunni Sahwa, or 'Awakening,' forces."

Abu Tariq also talked about finances. "He provided details of what appears to be one of the ways his group financed its activities -- buying and selling trucks and cars, which he called 'spoils.' He recorded incomplete transactions, including details of money still owed to his group." Doesn't sound like he got many donations from the supportive locals.

AQI has attacked the Sunnis who side with the U.S., because Sunni Muslim militants feel squeezed by the grass-roots security effort, which has grown to include at least 70,000 members who stand guard at checkpoints across the nation.

Whatever motivates the mainstream media to report on the Iraqi forces as effective is fine with me. I must admit that I got quite tired of their saying that the Iraqis will never be ready to defend their own country. And I won't even bother to talk about all the stories about the Iraqiness of AQI and its massive support among the people.

WaPo even had a story the other day about injured Iraqi civilians seeking medical aid in Jordan. Iraqis know that the overwhelming majority of civilians maimed or murdered were deliberately attacked by terrorists. Some were injured when the killers aimed at soldiers. Of course the U.S. military killed some civilians, but the terrorists know they're guilty of killing the most, which is why they've decided to shift gears.

These interesting reports follow stories about the decline for the support of al-Qaeda by Muslims everywhere. And though these stories often discuss the terrorists' miscalculations instead of linking the weakening al-Qaeda with the success of the U.S. and Iraqi forces, readers can draw their conclusions.