I'm not arguing that the prison scandal should not have been covered.

But you must admit, the media spent more time in the past couple of weeks covering troops dressing Iraqi insurgents in women's underwear than they have spent all this past year covering troops rebuilding schools, giving medical aid, creating clean water supplies, rebuilding the southern Iraqi ecosystem, creating a new constitution, rebuilding the entire financial system from scratch, shipping food and supplies all over the nation, and removing a monster from power.

There seems to be an intense interest in stories that make America's efforts in Iraq look bad, and no interest at all in stories that show progress. This can be extended beyond Iraq to the entire war on terror, or in fact, America's entire foreign policy.

One small example: Were you aware that Iraq qualified for the Olympics in soccer? That this was pretty much the biggest news for Iraqis since the fall of Saddam? Remember how the Iraqi Olympic teams were treated by Saddam's sons?

There was some coverage of this in some sports sections. Here's a good example. But this should have been a top story related to Iraq, with films, interviews, and all the rest.

If there was any balance at all in media coverage, I wouldn't be so cranky about it.