It's Worser Than Ya Thunk

Big Don: "'From what I've seen thus far, much of the reporting in the U.S. and abroad has exaggerated the situation, according to General Casey.'" George: "'For every act of violence there is encouraging progress in Iraq that's hard to capture on the evening news.'" Chicago Tribune (03.22.06):

"Repeated suggestions by the White House and friendly commentators that the news media’s selective displays of terrorist attacks in Iraq are warping American public opinion seem to belie even the unclassified assessments of the situation in Iraq produced by the U.S. government. In fact, just two weeks ago the Bush administration publicly released a detailed report stating that 'even a highly selective' inventory of the terrorist attacks inside Iraq 'could scarcely reflect the broad dimension of the violence' there." Harsh reality: Bush administration's own assessment of Iraq situation

The report is the State Department's "Country Reports on Human Rights Practices". The same report Condoleezza Rice was talking about "at a press conference she headlined March 8." The report "contradicts the very raison d'être of the current White House public relations campaign on Iraq — to convince Americans that the 'reality' in Iraq is far better than the constant stream of bad news they see on their televisions every night." "If anything, the State Department’s candid assessments would seem to indicate that things might be far worse than the press is currently able to report, given the fact that journalists are hampered by the same violence racking everyone else in the nation." In Iraq, "(t)he following human rights problems were reported:"

• pervasive climate of violence
• misappropriation of official authority by sectarian, criminal, terrorist, and insurgent groups
• arbitrary deprivation of life
• disappearances
• torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment
• impunity
• poor conditions in pretrial detention facilities
• arbitrary arrest and detention
• denial of fair public trial
• an immature judicial system lacking capacity
• limitations on freedoms of speech, press, assembly, and association due to terrorist and militia violence
• restrictions on religious freedom
• large numbers of internally displaced persons (IDPs)
• lack of transparency and widespread corruption at all levels of government
• constraints on nongovernmental organizations (NGOs)
• discrimination against women, ethnic, and religious minorities
• limited exercise of labor rights

Other than that, things are just ducky. Or are they. From a guy who knows. Richard Engel, NBC correspondent, "the only television news correspondent to cover the entire war in Iraq for an American television network from Baghdad", on the Today Show earlier this week, via Crooks and Liars: "'I think the security problem is the overall story and most Iraqi's I speak to say - actually most reporters get it wrong - it's the situation on the ground is actually worse than the images we project on television."