EVERY loss of life in Iraq is a tragedy; you must admit that compared to past wars (VIetnam, WWII, etc) the numbers are vastly fewer. If the 1940s' press had covered the HUNDREDS of daily deaths occurring in WWII as the media does today, Germany and Japan would have won. The enemy knows what happened in Vietnam and Somalia...we cut and run. They are hoping we'll do the same here.
The media must not sugar coat war, however, servicemen that I personally know serving in Iraq are very frustrated that good work they are doing and the relationships they have forged in many of the provinces in Iraq are not covered at all. I think a little bit of balance would honor those fighting AND bring them home sooner. The enemy gets CNN and derive hope from any weakness they see in our resolve. If the west had been unified in bringing the terrorists to account (no excuses for them!!) we would be closer to victory.
In the meantime, I pray that Iraq has their election which the insurgents are SO trying to thrwart so that our servicemen and women can come home!
Both said things were not going well - ie. we were not losing but we were not winning either. A serious concern was that only 2 of the 90 trained Iraqis battalions could actually fight on behalf of the Iraqis and another issue seemed to be the lack of service personnel seemed to be another issue. Widespread infrastructure problems also were serious. Both believed we needed to stay firm and win but both believed this was going to be a long term issue - 7 years out.
Its too bad there is a lower support for this action right now. A lot of people don't see the long term gain that can come out of this.