Associated Press: Petraeus Says Troop Surge Hasn’t Worked “As Hoped”
Which, of course, is a blatant and glib mischaracterization of what Petraeus actually said in his letter.
Here’s how the AP reported on the letter:
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Here is the entire text of Petraeus’ letter (which outlines a largely positive and optimistic outlook on the security aspects of Iraq). Most notably, here is the quote from Petraeus headlined by the AP above put into context (click for a larger view):
Not quite the starkly negative comment the AP headline made it out to be, is it?
Petraeus isn’t saying that the surge hasn’t worked, he’s saying that progress on the political side of things has been “halting,” but remains confident that Iraq’s political leaders are up to the task. What that means is that while the lack of political progress has been slow and frustrating, we can still win. Thus, giving up is not an option. Or shouldn’t be an option, anyway.
Either the Associated Press reporter responsible for the article above lacks reading comprehension skills and critical thinking abilities, or he/she is selectively quoting this letter in order to further a political agenda.
