Tomorrow the front page of the NYT will try to make it look as though things are as bleak and as dire in Iraq as possible. Citing anonymous sources as if they represent more reliable than our government, our military and the Iraqi's themselves. Roger Simon just rips in to them:

But over all, the officials described the station chief's cable in particular as an unvarnished assessment of the difficulties ahead in Iraq. They said it warned that the security situation was likely to get worse, including more violence and sectarian clashes, unless there were marked improvements soon on the part of the Iraqi government, in terms of its ability to assert authority and to build the economy. [now I get it -- it's likely to get worse unless it gets better. So the first official must be the Mad Hatter - or John Kerry. I knew they would have a job for him.]