Wall Street Journal on Iraqi optimism

Good news on Iraq, if not directly from Iraq:

Even those who were heralding the victory of "the resistance" are now lowering their voices before the simple but compelling logic of young men and women that have never been a part of any political process. I asked the gang at Le Grillion what they thought about the proposed long-term treaty with the Americans. The answer came immediately: "We have nothing to give the Americans; we are the ones who should be thankful!"

Everyone nodded to the remark, except a couple of Egyptian communists sitting nearby. They dared not object, however.

(The Wall Street Journal)

The surge in optimism occurs during a period where the mainstream media have decreased reporting on the Iraq War. More than a coincidence?

I think it counts as a small additional piece of evidence that the mass media serve as one of the more important battlegrounds in modern warfare. If we accept that defeatists like Harry Reid qualify as patriotic Americans then the U.S. war effort suffered greatly from friendly fire.