Let's try out an adage: for every story about a terrorist attack against Americans, the Allies or Iraqis, there are five or six stories about rebirth, reconstruction, civic or military victories in Iraq. The bombing near Baghdad's Green Zone was a single insurgent success among multiple failures. In Mosul:

Iraqi Security Forces and Multi-National Forces repelled separate attacks by anti-Iraqi insurgents as they attempted to seize a police station and attack an MNF convoy on Dec. 11 in Mosul. MNF Soldiers also detained six people wanted for anti-Iraqi activities and destroyed a large cache of weapons and munitions in western Mosul.

And another victory for Iraq's real "minutemen," whose confident administration appears to be expanding from the south:

Iraqi police and national guardsmen beat back an insurgent attack on a police station just south of Baghdad on Dec. 12, fueling optimism that the fledgling security forces are growing more confident and capable even in the face of a concerted campaign of intimidation and terror.

...In a full sweep of the area, the ING detained 34 suspected insurgents. The soldiers also discovered a car bomb across the street from the police station. Marine explosives experts were called in to defuse and dispose of the bomb.

Talking heads won't be talking about the staggering losses terrorists are suffering for every act of murder they manage to pull off. Most will be publicizing reports that focus on insurgent activity and exclude Allied progress. Then again, who seeks them as a primary source of news these days?