[walford]

Not only is the international media biased, reporters who don't tow the line are punished. Good people die, bad people are protected as a result...

[optimistically_conservative]

That said, the shift in momentum is unmistakeable: for those who doubt this, run a search on the last time any of the usual suspects used the word "Vietnam" or "quagmire" in relation to Iraq.

That's actually the second sign of progress. When's the last time you heard the "its a powder keg" reference to the Middle East.