And where is the media on stories like this?

Saddam Hussein loyalists who violently opposed January elections have made an about-face as Thursday's polls near, urging fellow Sunni Arabs to vote and warning al Qaeda militants not to attack.

In a move unthinkable in the bloody run-up to the last election, guerrillas in the western insurgent heartland of Anbar province say they are even prepared to protect voting stations from fighters loyal to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, leader of al Qaeda in Iraq.

Graffiti calling for holy war is now hard to find. . . .

But Saddam loyalists have turned against Zarqawi, a Jordanian militant whose fighters travel to Iraq from across the Arab world to blow themselves up in a bid to spark sectarian civil war.

"Zarqawi is an American, Israeli and Iranian agent who is trying to keep our country unstable so that the Sunnis will keep facing occupation," said a Baathist insurgent leader who would give his name only as Abu Abdullah.

Yes there are bad things happening over there but there are good things happening over there too. The voices in the MSM shout about how they are the protectors of truth well this is truth too. The nightly news is 'oh so quick' to give the latest casualty figures for road-side bombs (yes that is news and needs to be reported) but what about how many schools have opened or hospitals? How about a little word on the new freedoms being experienced by your average Iraq in the street? It seems that all of the major news outlets are using the same 'news worthy' filter and it seems to be tuned for bad news only. Half the truth is not the truth. It is called a sin of omission.