It's Christmas, the surge is undeniably working, and December, 2007, could end up being the least violent month in Iraq since America invaded in March, 2003.
Despite all that, the Associated Press, in an article published Thursday dealing with the top news stories of the year, couldn't restrain its antiwar proclivities, and, instead, chose to put a lump of coal under everybody's tree.
Bah, humbug!
Coming in third place in this unscientific poll of 271 AP members, the Iraq War, with a dash of pessimism only Ebenezer Scrooge could enjoy (emphasis added):
The "surge" that sent more U.S. troops to Iraq was credited with helping reduce the overall level of violence. But thousands of Iraqis and hundreds of U.S. personnel were killed nonetheless during the year, and Iraqi political leaders struggled to make meaningful progress toward national reconciliation.
Good grief! Was such shameful editorializing either important or appropriate?
After all, the real news concerning Iraq this year is indeed that the surge - despite all the media's advanced and coincident errant pessimism - is working.
That's the story!
And, if it continues to be successful, history will look upon March, 2007, as the turning point in this war. That the AP ignores this, especially in a summary of the top news stories of the year, demonstrates bias beyond belief.
On the flipside, isn't it refreshing that Anna Nicole Smith, Britney Spears, and Paris Hilton didn't make the top ten?
Maybe we should count our blessings rather than looking this gift horse in the mouth.