The Fog of ( Civil ? ) War

For the second time in two days Iraqi insurgent/rebel/terrorists attacked a police station and something happened. It depends on who you ask.

Stop in at Fox News and learn that 50 of the "gunmen" were captured and four Iraqi police were killed.

Not a terribly dissimilar story from that found at Al Jazeera where we learn that police fatalities drop to four and the captures were made in operations following the attack.

Things look somewhat different at the Associated Press where the fight involved a hundred insurgents, lasted ninety minutes and left twenty policemen dead. This AP account is, by the way, the most detailed we've seen so far.

Finally, we get the view from Informed Comment (Professor Juan Cole) which runs along the lines of the AP account, although the good professor counts the attacking force as high as 200.

As (if ? ) the fog of civil war gathers in Iraq, reporting will become worse, accurate information more elusive and reasonable decision making more difficult. It will be necessary to remain skeptical, to trust no one and to

Stay Naked.
JD