Disconnect -- Understatement

The poll I mentioned previously is mentioned in this article, from the MSM no less. Further, Max Boot, echos many things I and much more notable bloggers have been saying -- shinning a light on the media's attempt to paint a false picture.
Iraq's a lost cause? Ask the real experts - Los Angeles Times

WHEN IT COMES to the future of Iraq, there is a deep disconnect between those who have firsthand knowledge of the situation - Iraqis and U.S. soldiers serving in Iraq - and those whose impressions are shaped by doomsday press coverage and the imperatives of domestic politics.

Some more interesting excerpts.

The Pew Research Center and the Council on Foreign Relations just released a survey of American elites that found that 64% of military officers are confident that we will succeed in establishing a stable democracy in Iraq. The comparable figures for journalists and academics are 33% and 27%, respectively. Even more impressive than the Pew poll is the evidence of how our service members are voting with their feet. Although both the Army and the Marine Corps are having trouble attracting fresh recruits - no surprise, given the state of public opinion regarding Iraq - reenlistment rates continue to exceed expectations. Veterans are expressing their confidence in the war effort by signing up to continue fighting.

This is pretty good reading.