No Iraq News is Good News for Troops?

TV news has stopped covering the Iraq war. And everyone from the New York Times to CBS News ace Lara Logan (right) is wringing their hands over it. But counter-intuitively, the decline in coverage may actually be good for US troops.  The June Atlantic explores a Harvard research paper about "The Emboldenment Effect":

Two Harvard researchers recently found that in periods following intensified criticism of the Iraq War by the American public and in the U.S. media, insurgent violence in Iraq increased by 5 to 10 percent… Specifically, when insurgents perceive a drop in American resolve, they unleash more destruction, thereby increasing the cost of fighting for the U.S. military and, they hope, tipping the scales toward a withdrawal. The authors conclude that a “systematic response” in the form of “emboldenment” is evident among insurgents.

Of course, in an election year, coverage of the war is more important than ever.  Presidential control over issues like the economy are limited at best. But in this election, Americans are being offered two distinctive choices that will chart our impact our foreign policy for decades. Standing at an election crossroads, a void of information from the front lines is the last thing this country needs.

On a personal note, liberal blogger Eric Alterman has been writing about this issue for weeks prompting an email response from yours truly.  (Eric also suffers from some poor musical tastes.)