The bottom line, according to the Government Accountability Office (GAO): the goal of reducing "the level of sectarian violence in Iraq and eliminating militia control of local security" was "not met." And according to a Washington Post report, Bush administration claims of a reduction in sectarian violence rely on bizarre classifications of violence, under which someone shot in the back of the head is counted as a victim of sectarian violence, while someone shot in the front of the head is counted as a victim of criminal violence.
That's what war proponents have been reduced to: touting a reduction in the number of people shot in the back of the head -- and the media go along with it.
Lessons learned - how the press corp "owned up" to their mistakes, and that ought to be good enough - what's the point in looking back at how we got to here any way? That's old news.
Of the many ways in which the American media failed the nation during the months leading to the Iraq war, two stand out:
They were dismissive of anti-war voices and were insufficiently critical of the administration and its claims. There is no shortage of news organizations and journalists who have acknowledged those failings. It often seems as though journalists think that, since they have acknowledged those failings, critics should stop bringing them up. But there is a very simple reason why that doesn't happen: Those same failings continue to this day.
The media no longer have the (bad) excuse that public opinion lies with the administration, or the (bad) excuse that they don't realize how dishonest the administration is willing to be in order to advance its agenda. And yet those failings continue.
The obsequiousness many journalists displayed toward Petraeus tells us that while they may have acknowledged their pre-war failings, they haven't yet learned from them. Until that happens, they will continue to fail their readers, their viewers, and their nation.
