The mainstream media's acknowledgment of recent successes in Iraq has the Republican spin machine going full-blast.
In the past month, successes like the turning of Sunni tribes in al Anbar province against al Qaeda and the elimination of most of the terrorists from Baquba have only been hailed in GOP-oriented media, such as talk radio, Fox News and the right side of the blogosphere.
This past weekend, the good news stories have been picked up even in anti-war newspapers like the New York Times and by pundits on the Sunday TV programs.
The talk show hosts went wild Monday over the NY Times' publication of an op-ed piece by Michael O'Hanlon and Michael Pollock of The Brookings Institution, a defense think-tank that is slightly left on the political spectrum. O'Hanlon was called a major critic of the Iraq war, and his view that the operation is now winnable was a major turnaround. But O'Hanlon, while critical, was no anti-war lefty Daily Kos type by any stretch of the imagination, and his past criticisms have been well-taken.
Comments by Washington Post writer David Ignatius on TV that a quick withdrawal was a bad idea were also cited by talk radio hosts. Ignatius, however, has been a supporter of Gen. David Petreus, the leader of the surge strategy, from the get-go. He's well-connected and has traveled to Baghdad in the past to speak with top Iraqi and U.S. officials. For Ignatius to say that a withdrawal now, with the surge only recently at full strength, is a bad idea is not exactly a stretch.
Some of the celebration by GOP supporters is warranted. There has been some success with the surge outside Baghdad, though not much within the Iraqi capital. For an anti-war paper like the NY Times to acknowledge such, especially from a somewhat left-of-center organization like Brookings, is a definite change.
Whether enough of the mainstream media follows, and leads to a major change in the waning public support for the war is questionable, but bears watching. If you start seeing a bunch of "Success in Iraq" stories over the next couple weeks, then the GOP might have something. No question that the Democrats own defeat, and if Iraq appears successful next year it will have major electoral implications. That could help the GOP.
It could also help Hillary Clinton. The primaries come before the general election, of course, and she's the only candidate near the top of the polls who has ever expressed some support for Operation Iraqi Freedom, reserved as it was. But Barack Obama and John Edwards, her closest opponents, have been solidly against the war. Hillary has been running away from the war recently, but she has plenty of time to ease away from that tack and look like the wise senior statesperson. That could wrap up the nomination and set her up pretty well for the presidency.
