which headline would cause you to stop and purchase a newspaper?: "u.s. soldier digs a well in iraq" or "al-qaida linked terrorist beheads americans in iraq; baghdad car bomb kills 52." one sells papers, one doesn't. american culture prizes titillation over substance, so we get what we deserve.
If AP showed those beheading as prominently, graphically and a often as they showed Abu Ghraib, I think sales and public support for the war would remain strong.