Lets re-define this. The media in general usually does not report on good news. Bad news and scandal get ratings. So it's best not to use the "liberal media" as a whipping boy for all of our troubles in Iraq. Sure, we can all hope that what we're seeing in Iraq is a nascent, healthy democracy, but the evidence overwhelmingly indicates that we're seeing the beginning of a highly fragmented governmental system fractured along religious, ethnic, and sectarian lines. Democracy is good, but the political institutions that come along with it have to supply freedom. Without freedom, democracy is worthless. At the rate this is going, a religious government along the lines of the Iranian republic ruled by religious figures will be the name of the game in Iraq. They have democracy in Iran too, but no political freedoms, the critical distinction in all of this. So, there may be some good news here and there, but broadly speaking, our goals to transform the Middle East have not turned out as planned.
