Iraq to take command of its army

Story: "will take control of its armed forces command on Thursday, a major step on its painful path toward independence and an essential move before international troops can eventually withdraw...

"It's the prime minister's decision how rapidly he wants to move along with assuming control," Caldwell said. In Thursday's ceremony, the prime minister will take control of Iraq's small naval and air forces, and the 8th Iraqi Army Division.

"They can move as rapidly thereafter as they want. I know, conceptually, they've talked about perhaps two divisions a month," Caldwell said."

Best news in a long time. We're moving right along in the War on Terror.
A But this news article by Elena Becatoros, has got to be one of the worst written pieces of news to every come off the Assosiated Press wire. It is seriously worthy of what the New York Times, or Mother Jones, would publish. How anyone can call this a fair and balenced piece of coverage, I don't know.

What does have me confused: "The 8th Division was recently engaged in a fierce, 12-hour battle with Shiite militia in the southern city of Diwaniyah"

Well, thats great. The 8th division is not a US division, it is a US trained, homegrown, 100% Iraqi soldier division, fighting to defend its country against the bloody terrorists that are killing civilians.
But the fighting wasn't that fierce. Compared to previous wars, where 20 people die getting out of a trench in the morning to go to the bathroom, this is so paltry a battle as to be compleatly insignificant. This is not to degrade the Iraqi division, but the last 3 years have been this sort of combat, the sort of which we still have even in America. I'm finnally getting pretty angry about the media coverage of this war, and the constant, insistant denial of the truth, and of Americas good in this conflict.