Paul Bremer's Insights on The Battle with Terrorists in Iraq; And The Media's Influence on Battelfield Decisions There

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This article by Rowan Scarborough and Bil Gertz from the Washington Times will tell you a lot about what is going on there.

And this column by Diana West tells us how the news media's coverage of the war affects the actions of troops there. She describes one encounter:

"In what became a six-hour firefight, Americans battled militiamen of Muqtada al-Sadr to secure the hulk of a burning Humvee. It's not that our soldiers foughtbecausethe flaming wreck amounted to a tin can's worth ofmilitary value.They fought,as Capt. Ty Wilson of Fairfax, Va., explained to The Washington Post, because "we weren't going to let them dance on it for the news. Even [with] all the guys they lost that day, that still would have given them victory.

"Chalk one up for our side, a small win on the way to an underreported triumph over Muqtada al-Sadr's spring uprising. Iraq is sovereign, life goes on ... but I can't get over the chilling description of American soldiers risking their necks to keep the media from awarding a phony victory to the enemy."