LA Times surrenders, Reuters is holding out

The LA Times has surrendered in portraying Iraq as a lost cause.

It has taken nine bloody and difficult months, but the deployment of 30,000 additional U.S. troops appears at last to have brought not just a lull in the sectarian fighting in Iraq, but the first tangible steps toward genuine political reconciliation.

Los Angeles Times - 2-18-08

Meanwhile, Reuters is still holding out hope for failure.

The U.S. military and Iraqi officials have hailed vastly better security in Baghdad, western Anbar province and areas south of the capital, which has allowed people to venture out at night to shop at markets and eat at restaurants.

But in the cities of Samarra, Baquba and Mosul, the militants still sow fear.

Yes, as Reuters argues, there are still going to be more battles in Iraq. But here are the facts from a source not known as being right wing about the success in Baghdad.

Here is the latest (January 17) map of trends in ethno-sectarian violence in Baghdad, from the Multinational Force Iraq (MNF-I). The green areas are predominantly Shiite, the blue are mostly or predominantly Sunni, and the brown areas are closely mixed. The yellow-orange-red inflammation indicates “incidents where deaths occurred from any means that were clearly ethno-sectarian in motivation, to include car bombs.” The methodology for determining what constitutes ethno-sectarian violence is explained here.