al-Qaeda admits it is losing the battle in Iraq: Western media yawn

When the U.S. Military released the captured video revealing that Zarqawi is more Baby Face Nelson than Che Guevara, American media leapt to the terrorist's defense. The New York Times had this to say about the overfed car-thief-turned-throat-slitter's apparent incompetence at handling anything more complex than a scimitar:

The weapon in question [an M249 SAW] is complicated to master, and American soldiers and marines undergo many days of training to achieve the most basic competence with it. Moreover, the weapon in Mr. Zarqawi's hands was an older variant, which makes its malfunctioning unsurprising. The veterans said Mr. Zarqawi, who had spent his years as a terrorist surrounded by simpler weapons of Soviet design, could hardly have been expected to know how to handle it.

Now the military has released a captured document showing that al-Qaeda leaders believe they are losing the battle against the Americans and the new government in Iraq. This time around, the media has chosen simply to ignore it. The Times and its brethren continue to reveal that they are not unbiased, nor are they merely anti-Bush or anti-war. They are on the other side.

USA Today deserves credit for noticing the story about the captured letter and publishing the translation of the document.

Here's a brief excerpt, particularly relevent because it reveals the vital role the Times and other antique media outlets play in al-Qaeda's plans for "assuming power in Baghdad":

The policy followed by the brothers in Baghdad is a media oriented policy without a clear comprehensive plan to capture an area or an enemy center. Other word, the significance of the strategy of their work is to show in the media that the American and the government do not control the situation and there is resistance against them. This policy dragged us to the type of operations that are attracted to the media, and we go to the streets from time to time for more possible noisy operations which follow the same direction.

This direction has large positive effects; however, being preoccupied with it alone delays more important operations such as taking control of some areas, preserving it and assuming power in Baghdad (for example, taking control of a university, a hospital, or a Sunni religious site).

Read the whole thing.