'Both considered allies by the United States'
You wouldn't know it from the headline or the lede, but the story is really about how U.S. forces have smashed a key insurgent cell in Iraq, cutting off the flow of foreign fighters into the country and reducing the number of devastating suicide attacks. But nooooo. The blowback/irony/gotcha angle had to be played up. ... Sometimes I'm almost sickened by the right's obsession with media bias. But sometimes they're right about media bias. ... OK, let's approach the NYT piece from its own foreign-fighters irony narrative. First, the Saudi angle ain't new. We've known about the Saudi connection ever since Mohamed Atta and his merry crew of mass murders slammed planes into the WTC towers. Second, the Libya angle is intriguing. But another intriguing angle is that one of our 'allies' -- Egypt -- isn't producing many fighters in Iraq. Third, the story brings up the subject of Iran not producing many foreign fighters in Iraq. But would apostate Shiite fighters really show up on lists captured from a cell of fanatical Sunni insurgents? The Iran angle is cleverly brought up and then dropped. It fit the general irony narrative -- but then it quickly had to go because it didn't quite fit this particular irony narrative. ... Hey, I still maintain the MSM -- including the NYT -- has done a far better job covering the Iraq war than the happy-talk pro-war pundits and bloggers who for years were in flat-out denial about the tragedy unfolding in Iraq. But articles like this one make you wonder. ...  ¶ 7:43 AM