Progress in Iraq

Although he's not my first choice for President, John McCain would be a much better leader than anyone the Democrats can offer. Sunday, Senator McCain wrote a great piece in the Washington Post about his recent trip to Iraq. Thanks to Marcus for the heads-up.

I just returned from my fifth visit to Iraq since 2003 -- and my first since Gen. David Petraeus's new strategy has started taking effect. For the first time, our delegation was able to drive, not use helicopters, from the airport to downtown Baghdad. For the first time, we met with Sunni tribal leaders in Anbar province who are working with American and Iraqi forces to combat al-Qaeda. For the first time, we visited Iraqi and American forces deployed in a joint security station in Baghdad -- an integral part of the new strategy. We held a news conference to discuss what we saw: positive signs, underreported in the United States, that are reason for cautious optimism. . .The new political-military strategy is beginning to show results. But most Americans are not aware because much of the media are not reporting it or devote far more attention to car bombs and mortar attacks that reveal little about the strategic direction of the war. I am not saying that bad news should not be reported or that horrific terrorist attacks are not newsworthy. But news coverage should also include evidence of progress. Whether Americans choose to support or oppose our efforts in Iraq, I hope they could make their decision based on as complete a picture of the situation in Iraq as is possible to report.

McCain goes on to give some examples of the progress actually being made. It's well worth the read. We need to start writing the mainstream sources of news and begin demanding that they start doing exactly as McCain suggests: stop focusing solely on the negative incidents that are more anecdotal and begin reporting on the big picture.

Bill Roggio, of The Roggio Report, validates and expands on the progress being made in Iraq.