“Why aren’t we hearing about this in the news?” asks Alisyn Camerota. Well, increasingly we are, most notably in the pages of the righty blogosphere’s favorite whipping boy. CNN traditionally has been good about reporting gains too, including having Yon himself on to explain them. As I write this, this story is beaming out to AP affiliates worldwide. The problem with the coverage is that it takes spectacular gains, like the Iraqi army rolling onto Mookie’s home turf in Sadr City, to break through the media narrative while even minor setbacks, which fit the narrative, are easily assimilated and thus coverage-worthy. How many spectacular gains will it take, I wonder, before the narrative itself starts to change. Presumably the answer is as many as it takes to warrant further troop reductions — in which case, behold.

Link: sevenload.com

Update: Your guess is as good as mine.

My publisher and literary agent have been working with the private companies who handle book distribution on military bases in order to get “Moment of Truth in Iraq” on their shelves. The process is arduous, to put it mildly.

They have succeeded in getting the book into overseas bases. But as the publisher and my agent are slowly working their way through US distributors who cover different geographic regions, they have been told “no” by the largest distributor, the Anderson News Company…

Stunning response. Over the past weeks, as my literary agent spoke to Anderson while they reviewed the book, Anderson told him that the desires of the base exchange customers would have no influence and play no role in their decision making process. Anderson also stated that even appeals from high ranking military officers could not persuade Anderson to carry a title. Apparently, in Anderson’s mind, they outrank the Joint Chiefs of Staff when it comes to doing business on military bases.

Follow the link for Anderson’s contact information.