What do we do about the fact that Iraqis don't seem to like us and want us gone? How do we keep ours from being a hostile occupation? Do you also feel that "this is significant"? Do you care at all; does it matter?

Glad you asked. In the very first response to Bowser's post, where I brought up the media issue, I said:

"Hearts and minds" is being fought, not on the streets, but on the television sets of Iraq. While alternatives are coming on line, the lack of an outlet for non-al-Jazeera news for much of this year is one of the areas where I would agree that war planning fell flat.

We needed, and still need, to get the other sides of the stories to Iraqi citizens who have nothing else to go by except what they see or hear on the news. Progress along these lines is being made in recent weeks. But if I had been in charge, al-Jazeera would have had competition from coalition or other Western news sources about five minutes after the war started.