The press makes choices, and they show their leanings by them.

[dude1394]

Thank goodness for the NYPost and WashTimes.

http://www.nypost.com/postopinion/editorial/62402.htm

UNFIT TO PRINT?

Let's review some recent editorial decisions made by leaders of the American media establishment that evince the professionalism that separates them from "new media" sources:

* Vice President Dick Cheney's hunting accident: The Washington press corps has a conniption fit that it was left in the dark for nearly 12 hours, citing "the public's right to know."

* Several years-old photos of British soldiers beating rioting Iraqis: Fit to print — endlessly.

* The relatively smooth election of Ibrahim Al Jaafari to serve as Iraq's prime minister: Scattered, scant attention in the print press; barely a blip registered on the broadcast radar.

* An inspiring letter from the mayor of Tal' Afar, thanking the 3rd Cavalry Regiment for liberating his city from al Qaeda: Aside from The Post's coverage of the letter, it appears nowhere.

What a pity.

Every newspaper in the country should have run Mayor Najim Abdullah Abid Al-Jibouri's tribute to U.S. troops.

It's legitimate news — offering detailed updates on Iraq's reconstruction from the perspective of Iraqis.

And it's positive news.

The mayor wrote: "Our city was the main base of operations for Abu Mousab Al Zarqawi. Our streets were silent, and no one dared to walk them . . . Terrorists occupied and controlled the only hospital in the city.

"Their savagery reached such a level that they stuffed the corpses of children with explosives and tossed them into the streets in order to kill grieving parents attempting to retrieve the bodies of their young.

"This was the situation of our city until God prepared and delivered unto them the courageous soldiers of the 3d Armored Cavalry Regiment, who liberated this city, ridding it of Zarqawi's followers after harsh fighting, killing many terrorists, and forcing the remaining butchers to flee the city like rats."

The letter has, as The Post reported last Monday, created a swell of pride in American servicemen.

Military families, fed up with conventional reporting, spread this and other positive stories through e-mail and Web sites. The letter itself was distributed to the families of the 3rd Cavalry Regiment in Fort Carson, Colo., upon the soldiers' return from their second year-long Iraq tour.

"Officers and soldiers alike bristle with the confidence and character of knights in a bygone era," the mayor writes. "The mission . . . deserves to be studied in military science. This military operation was clean, with little collateral damage, despite the ferocity of the enemy. With the skill and precision of surgeons they dealt with the terrorist cancers in the city without causing unnecessary damage."

Inspiring stuff. So shouldn't Americans hear about it?

Don't the troops deserve to?

As traditional news outlets consider how to compete with Internet-driven media into the future, they might consider why it is Americans have to turn to blogs and e-mail to learn about what our troops are accomplishing.

Across Iraq, as Iraqis and Americans together build bulwarks against jihadi violence, their stories are lost to al Qaeda's bombs, which are endlessly rebroadcast around the world.

If the good guys could count on the same kind of press, the long road toward a stable Iraqi nation might seem not quite so arduous.

Hoo Rah men!

[Rhylan]

Thanks dude, that's going straight to my blog.