Given the "tragedy TV" quality of U.S. media reporting on Iraq, it shouldn't come as a total surprise that a large segment of Americans is demoralized about the war and that President Bush's poll numbers plummeted. But new documents written by a senior member of al Qaeda that were captured by U.S. forces suggest that the terrorists (A) believe, contrary to prominent sectors of the American media, that they are declining in strength; and B) believe that the American military and the Iraqi government have been able to withstand terrorist attacks; and C) appear to view the foreign (i.e., American) media as easy to manipulate into portraying the insurgents as successful -- even if the facts on the ground suggest otherwise.
The documents, captured in an April 16 raid and posted on Central Command's Web site, were written by an unidentified person "of significance" in al Qaeda. Clearly, the writer is deeply worried that the Sunni terrorist networks are losing support from fellow Sunnis and may be no match for Iraqi security forces and Shi'ite militias, particularly in Baghdad...
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