Iraq Sovereignty Handover; Marine Executed

It is obvious what today's liberal "talking points" are going to be: the US handover of Iraqi soverignty is in name only, the US remains in real control. This is the theme running through many news organizations including the Seattle Times, who in their first paragraph of today's front-page story states "it remained to be seen how much power has shifted to the government of Prime Minister Iyad Allawi".

This openly skeptical statement does not belong in a hard-news story. Clearly, liberals are looking for new ways to attack Bush's Iraq policy as the old stand-by's like "No Blood for Oil" and "Get Out Now" are no longer applicable. Besides trying to argue that the US is still "really" in control, liberal media sources have also been suggesting that the US has left Iraq too quickly. This was the argument put forth in an Op/Ed piece by a University of Washington professor in Sunday's Seattle Times. TOO QUICKLY!?!?!? Clearly, nothing Bush can do will satisfy the liberal media.

As far as the execution of Keith Maupin, it's interesting to note that while his being threatened by terrorists was a front page story yesterday, his death was reported on page A10 of the Seattle Times today. Wouldn't one think his execution would be a bigger story than his being threatened?

Well, not if you understand the mentality of the Seattle Times. Clearly, the Times' staff believe his being held hostage shows how chaotic the situation is over there. This would tend to hurt Bush. His death, on the other hand, might inflame people and increase support for Bush's war on terrorism, which the Times is passionately against.