Re: Is This News

If one relies on Joshua Partlow of the Wapo to form ones World Views who last week opined on the front page of said newspaper -

Reconciliation Seen Unattainable Amid Struggle for Power

Not only would it not be news...but it would be so inconsistant with preconceived notions that it would be dismissed as an aberration.

First one must become cognizant that the Iraqi Civil War/Unrest is waning as demonstrated by steadily declining "Bodies Found in Baghdad" numbers ...25+(some say 100+) a day in January, 12 a day in August, 8 a day in September, less than 6 a day so far in October. Of course...to do that one must intellectually un-tether AlQueda's war against all of humanity from Iraqi Civil unrest.

Is this News?

This title is becoming an ongoing series...

Here in Iraq, over 40 Shiite political leaders met with leaders of the Anbar Awakening in Ramadi.

The title is actually a question I'm asking. I'm in Iraq - the real one, not the make-believe place you see on Cable News, and I don't know how much coverage the real stories are getting.

Re: Pinch

AKA: Yes, Now we can Talk

Spotted the sliver of the new moon in the sky yesterday.

That means Ramadan is over.

It's hard to stay ahead of the news on Iraq...

Don't get me wrong, I'm not declaring victory. I am saying that the race to a tipping point - something we've discussed here throughout this year - may have been won. (Caveat: runners can always be tripped up near the finish line...)

I'll close, however, with a repeat of what I said yesterday: ...Lailat ul-Qadr - the "Night of Power" - the key point in Ramadan commemorating Allah's revelation of the Koran to Mohammed, is still to come. If we pass that point without anything "newsworthy" happening - then we can talk.

And the reporters aren't.

Meanwhile, over the weekend I was surprised to see the Israel/Syrian nuke strike story show up on cable news. GI Korea had that story (and more intel on North Korean involvement than I've seen anywhere else yet) last month.

re: someone pinch me

I about fell out of my chair when I read this in the weekend Washington Post.

NEWS COVERAGE and debate about Iraq during the past couple of weeks have centered on the alleged abuses of private security firms like Blackwater USA. Getting such firms into a legal regime is vital, as we've said. But meanwhile, some seemingly important facts about the main subject of discussion last month -- whether there has been a decrease in violence in Iraq -- have gotten relatively little attention. A congressional study and several news stories in September questioned reports by the U.S. military that casualties were down. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.), challenging the testimony of Gen. David H. Petraeus, asserted that "civilian deaths have risen" during this year's surge of American forces.

A month later, there isn't much room for such debate, at least about the latest figures. In September, Iraqi civilian deaths were down 52 percent from August and 77 percent from September 2006, according to the Web site icasualties.org. The Iraqi Health Ministry and the Associated Press reported similar results. U.S. soldiers killed in action numbered 43 -- down 43 percent from August and 64 percent from May, which had the highest monthly figure so far this year. The American combat death total was the lowest since July 2006 and was one of the five lowest monthly counts since the insurgency in Iraq took off in April 2004.

Escapism

A scuttled ship.

A long sea voyage.

In an open boat.

A great sea story almost no one remembers.

A hero among many.