More Media Bias on Iraq

Most of us have gotten the impression the last few days that things were getting worse in Iraq, despite the stepped-up joint effort made by us and the Iraqi military to secure Baghdad. Powerline tracks the media bias. (Also here):

Violent deaths in Iraq in August were less than of one-third of what they were in July, USA Today reports. But the Washington Post doesn't want its readers to know this. Rather, the Post wants to focus only on statistics that paint a picture of unmitigated disaster. How else to explain this highly one-sided and glaringly incomplete story by Ann Scott Tyson?

The Post looked at the last 3 months in context of the last 2 years, but the real story is that our security sweep in Baghdad is making progress, that we continue to adjust to events on the ground, that we continue to fight to win. And this morning we have news Al Qaeda in Iraq has lost another leader.

UPDATE: Post story on the capture:

Saaydi, also known as Abu Humam or Abu Rana, ordered the February attack on the golden-domed Shiite shrine in Samara that ignited the ongoing ferocious wave of sectarian killings, Rubaie said. He accused Saaydi of trying to spark a civil war between Iraq's Sunnis and Shiite Muslims.

In typical fashion, the terrorist was found hiding among women and children to shield himself.