The wrong news

Under the heading So this isn't newsworthy? Iraq Pundit describes a study by Mansoor Moaddel Professor of Sociology at Eastern Michigan University, who found that Iraqis have grown increasingly secular and nationalistic over the period from December 2004 to March 2007.   For example, in March of this year 54 percent of Iraqis surveyed described themselves as "Iraqis, above all," compared to  28 percent who described themselves that way in April 2006.

Is this the image you have of Iraqis? People who largely identify with each other across sectarian lines as fellow "Iraqis above all," and who want a secular state? Or do you think of Iraqis as people who despise one another on sectarian and ethnic grounds, and who seek to be ruled by mullahs? If it's the latter, why? Could it be because so much of the attention given to Iraqis by the Western press is reserved for types like Moktada Al Sadr, a retrograde ignoramus, and so little attention has been given to ordinary Iraqis, who are actually the victims of characters like Al Sadr?

Here's another question: Did you ever hear of these survey results? The account I'm citing has been posted for nearly two weeks, since August 2. Now, I realize that this Michigan survey is not the last word on the subject, and that one should approach its results, its methodology, and even its funding with due care. Still, if a major U.S. university had released survey results indicating that different groups of Iraqis wanted to see each other dead, and that they sought to be ruled by religious zealots, the results would have gotten plenty of attention by now -- no matter what the methodology or funding.

But Professor Moaddel did not find that Iraqis want each other dead.  He found quite the opposite: 

"The escalating violence in Iraq gives a bleak impression of that country's future," Moaddel said. "Sectarian conflict seems to be increasing on a daily basis, with militias massacring hundreds of Sunnis and Shi'is solely on the basis of their religious identities.

"Yet it would be a mistake to think that this bloodlust represents widespread sentiment among Iraqis as a whole. While neither American nor Iraqi security officials have yet found a way to tame the militias, the Iraqi public is increasingly drawn toward a vision of a democratic, non-sectarian government for the country."

Keep in mind that quote is from March of this year, before General Petraeus got all of his troops in place and before the Baghdad and the beltway security operations began.  The "escalating violence" is no longer escalating but in fact declining.

In fairness to the media, the actual results of this study have not yet been released.  However, I doubt that minor detail would have prevented the media from giving us a dramatic survey preview if its results were more to their liking.  But they just don't fit now, do they?  No news.