Stupid Media Tricks: The WaPo Prepares The Battlefield Ahead Of Petraeus Report.

A couple of Washington Post reporters recently sat down with General Petraeus in Iraq to discuss the situation there ahead of his appearance before Congress next month.

Marc Ambinder at his blog at The Atlantic seems to think the General's answers call into question the success of the surge.

Here’s the lead from the story:

Iraqi leaders have failed to take advantage of a reduction in violence to make adequate progress toward resolving their political differences, Gen. David H. Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, said Thursday.

Well, this news took at least one person by surprise…General Petraeus. This is from a MNF-I press release:

"Today's Washington Post inaccurately characterized the discussions General Petraeus and their reporters had yesterday. During the one-hour interview General Petraeus never intimated or stated that Iraqi leaders have "failed to take advantage of a reduction in violence to make adequate progress toward resolving their political differences."

The Washington Post has been asked to make a correction on this statement and we are awaiting their decision.

You can read the transcript of the relevant part of the interview at OPFOR.

It looks like the opening shot in The Second Battle of Congressional Hearings has been fired. I think it will take a willing suspension of disbelief to trust much of what you read about it in the MSM.

posted by DrewM. at 10:04 PM

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