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<p>The long-awaited second front finally has been opened up against the Anglo-American forces. The reporters at Gen. Tommy Franks' operational briefing yesterday focused their inquiry on the general's assessment of the impact of the incoming fire that had been hitting the coalition hard. The sources of the fire were not the Republican Guard or the Ba'ath Party irregulars — but the New Yorker and Reuters.</p>

A wounded Iraqi girl is treated by U.S. marines in central Iraq (news - web sites) March 29, 2003. Confused front line crossfire ripped apart an Iraqi family on Saturday after local soldiers appeared to force civilians towards U.S. marines positions. The four-year old girl, blood streaming from an eye wound, was screaming for her dead mother, while her father, shot in a leg, begged to be freed from the plastic wrist cuffs slapped on him by U.S. marines, so he could hug his other terrified daughter. REUTERS/Damir Sagolj

As we roll along, I reflect that it's already been a long war for those of us in action, a harsh life, deprived of many of the most ordinary comforts. For many, it's been at least three hours since the last taste of biscotti and cappuccino macchiato. There is little to protect us from the brutal weather or road conditions, except a well-sealed vehicle with a soft suspension and air conditioning. We have scant access to information about anything outside of our immediate area, other than twenty-four hour cable news, a satellite dish, cell phones, and the internet. Since the...

Donald Rumsfeld Press Briefing Donald Rumsfield.....Darrell Hammond Reporter #1.....Ana Gasteyer Reporter #2.....Seth Meyers Reporter #3.....Rachel Dratch Reporter #4.....Will Ferrell Reporter #5.....Amy Poehler Reporter #6.....Maya Rudolph Reporter #7.....Dean Edwards Donald Rumsfeld: Uh.. [ checks his watch ] ..good afternoon. Today marks the end of the sixth week of our military campaign in Afghanistan. Although the campaign continues to meet with success, let me remind you, as I've done many times before, it's only part of the larger war on terror! Now, I'll be happy to take any questions you may have. [ acknowledges reporter ] Yes? Reporter #1: Today also...

NEWS ANCHORS? AWAY!-- Let's 'Unembed' Embedded Media Bias by Lin Anderson The best idea to come out of the Iraq campaign thus far -- I mean, aside from bombing the Information Ministry there -- is the "embedding" of reporters with combat units in the field. Whether the combat units themselves consider this a dandy notion is, however, an open question. Journalists can be a real trial in the best of times, as my ex-wife will tell you long into the night. Embedding reporters may, at the very least, finally put the lie to one of those quotes that everyone is...

Here is David Gregory in a White House press briefing, March 25th, wanting, as always, for Ari Fleisher to confirm Gregory's impression/conviction that President Bush is deeply embarrassed about the course of the war. David Gregory: "Ari, not until the President ordered war to begin and he addressed the American people last Wednesday did he prepare the public for what would be, in his words, a longer and more difficult military fight than many have predicted. Why didn't he do it sooner? And what does he believe the level of patience is of the American public? At what cost is...

<p>The Bush administration yesterday ridiculed the news media for prematurely disparaging the week-old war effort, prompting indignation from reporters who resent being viewed as "silly" by President Bush.</p> <p>"One week and a few minutes ago, the air war began in Iraq," Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld told journalists at the Pentagon. "And, interestingly, in that short period of a week, we have seen mood swings in the media, from highs to lows to highs and back again — sometimes in a single 24-hour period."</p>

<p>"Some senior U.S. military officers are now convinced that the war is likely to last months and will require considerably more combat power than is now on hand there and in Kuwait, senior defense officials said today," wrote Washington Post reporter Thomas Ricks Thursday. The gloom and doom in his piece, War Could Last Months, Some Military Officers Say, was so thick you could slice it with a knife.</p>