Five Years of the Iraq War End in Utter and Total Failure!

I'm getting over some near-cousin of the flu, so this may be a side-effect of my illness: but it seems that the title I gave this post reflects traditional news media coverage.

The headlines are actually a bit more reserved. A typical one is "Marches, solemn memorials as US marks 5th anniversary of Iraq war" Pioneer Press (March 19, 2008). The content is the same standard-issue reporting that I became familiar with in the sixties:

• Serious protesters braving the elements, enlightening the apathetic masses
• Harrowing tales of human misery from bereaved fathers, tearful mothers, bitter veterans
• Dutiful reporting of anti-war slogans and talking points
  • "Out of Iraq"
  • "No war, no warming"
  • "No blood for Oil!"
  • " ' I've watched with horror as Bush has lied about this war,' ... 'I'm appalled at the number of civilians we've killed just as we did in Vietnam.' "
    [emphasis mine]
• An optional report of vandalism by anti-war protesters
  • Today, that seems to be the recruiting station in Milwaukee with anti-war slogans painted on it

News would seem to be uniformly bad, when it comes to the war in Iraq. There are, however, grudging and qualified admissions now and again that the prospect isn't entirely bleak.

For example, buried at the bottom of a standard Associated Press article: "The Iraq war has been unpopular both abroad and in the United States, although an Associated Press-Ipsos poll in December showed that growing numbers think the U.S. is making progress and will eventually be able to claim some success in Iraq." [emphasis mine]

"Eventually ... some success." I suppose that "success" doesn't include:

• Removing a dictator whose brutality and genocidal tendencies earned him a place among the world's top tyrants: and a death sentence
• Helping Iraqis set up an independent and 'democratic' government
• Working with Iraq, to repair more than three decades' worth of neglected infrastructure

If those accomplishments were "success," you'd think that the news would report it. Right?