Media's Basra Narrative Falls Apart. What's the Effect on the Election?

the New York Times and the rest of the drive-by press had determined in late March and early April that Basra was yet another Iraqi and U.S. failure. But it was the predictions which were failures; [a few of the examples given]:

New York Times on March 27th, 2008 -
Iraqi Army's Assault on Militias in Basra Stalls:
New York Times on March 31, 2008 -
Firsthand Look at Basra Shows Value of White Flag:
World Politics Review from April 3, 2008 -
Was Basra Failure Due to Maliki's Poor Planning?:
New York Times from April 4, 2008 --
More Than 1,000 in Iraq's Forces Quit Basra Fight:

And here's the New York Times on page A1 yesterday, May 12th, 2008 -

Drive in Basra by Iraqi Army Makes Gains:

Three hundred miles south of Baghdad, the oil-saturated city of Basra has been transformed by its own surge, now seven weeks old...

One can't help but wonder if the public were presented with the actual narrative of what is going on today in Iraq, good and bad, they'd be able to determine for themselves that the fight is worth winning. And conversely, they'd be able to determine that failure in Iraq would make any of the problems we see today in that region pale in comparison.

[it's ok NYT; you gave it your best try {thanks so much}]

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