I was thinking, could there be a little denial at play?
Well of there is one thing liberals, democrats, and their lackeys in the press(AP, reuters, AFP) are good at, is to wait for the spin masters to give them their talking points when they are confronted with bad news to the liberal cause(in this case, the liberal cause, is to try to ensure defeat in Iraq).
Also of course ther will be people on FR who will be more than willing to run with the AP, reuters, AFP, story.