The AP - caught with their bias pants down again

We all know now how reactionary the Associated Press can be, but (for your amusement) I just caught them with their bias pants down (again) in the last few minutes. I was about to link to their article “Iraq violence down and gov’t confidence rising” (headline here) when they changed the headline to “Iraq violence down; war’s root causes unresolved.”

Can you imagine the internal discussion leading to that creepy political bowdlerization? It’s kind of miraculous that the article begins:

Signs are emerging that Iraq has reached a turning point. Violence is down, armed extremists are in disarray, government confidence is rising and sectarian communities are gearing up for a battle at the polls rather than slaughter in the streets.

Those positive signs are attracting little attention in the United States, where the war-weary public is focused on the American presidential contest and skeptical of talk of success after so many years of unfounded optimism by the war’s supporters.

Unfounded? By comparison to many wars, the Iraq War has been quick with minisucle numbers of American fatalities compared to Vietnam. But never mind, as the AP hastens to inform us, “the war’s root causes are unresolved.” Some of us will have to be excused for considering the AP’s coverage of the same way, in Orwell’s terms, to have been “objectively pro-fascist.”