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Focuses on the message U.S. President George W. Bush is trying to convey with respect to the war in Iraq while the American public and press question the progress made and military preparedness. Discussion of the administration's new message about resolve; View of the progress made by coalition forces as being stalled by guerrilla attacks and sand storms; Discussion of the expectations of the administration when entering the war; Recount of press conference.

The author reports on claims by journalists that they are being blocked by the U.S. government and military from covering the occupation of Iraq. When US Central Command has good news to report in Iraq, as it did after troops from the Fourth Infantry Division captured Saddam Hussein on December 13, it adores the media. But journalists say that when there's bad news--a helicopter crash, a mortar attack--they are increasingly being blocked from covering the story by US soldiers, who frequently confiscate and destroy their film disks and videotapes. On November 12, Sandy Johnson, Washington bureau chief for the Associated Press, sent a letter to the Pentagon, signed by thirty other media companies, which cited their concern at "a growing number of incidents in Iraq in which journalists are harassed by U.S. troops in the course of covering the news." Journalists covering the home front complain that their job is becoming more politicized and is being made more difficult by Pentagon red tape. Journalists are disturbed by what they see as very deliberate decisions made by the White House and the Pentagon to restrict the media's ability to cover the most politically sensitive aspect of the war at home -- the repatriation of the bodies of troops killed in action in Iraq.

The article presents the author's views on recent developments in the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush's approach to the ongoing war in Iraq. The author cites a report in "The Washington Post" that claimed that top White House advisers have concluded that the best way to regain public support for the war is to adopt a more humble approach to it in the media. It is the author's view that the Bush administration has decided to focus on character instead of substance.

The author, who was a reporter in the 1960s, compares the aftermath of the Iraq war with the war in Vietnam. It is a pity the major news media have not convened a commission of inquiry to examine their own mistakes and derelictions concerning the war in Iraq. Wouldn't it be instructive to go back now and re-examine the "documents" the press and television provided Americans to understand why the United States must invade and conquer? Many of the news stories would sound quite naïve and gullible (also hysterical) in light of present events. To my eyes, the insurrection under way in Iraq looks like "little Tet"--a smaller version of the original Tet offensive the Vietcong staged in 1968. It shocks Americans in much the same way. Iraq is a "little war" compared with Vietnam, but Americans are learning, once again, that the indigenous people we "liberated" do not love us. Every day I hear echoes from the past. George W. Bush even invokes the same phrase--"stay the course"--that four decades ago was understood, ironically, as an expression of official obstinacy and ignorance. My grandchildren are watching this war on television, so I will tell them: I learned that the government sometimes lies to the people--big lies with awful consequences--and sometimes government begins to believe its own lies. The war in Iraq is different from Vietnam in one fundamental respect: A substantial portion of Americans (and others around the world) were in the streets protesting this venture before the shooting started.

Presents a comment piece by the mother of U.S. Army Ranger Kristofor Stonesifer, who was killed in a helicopter crash in Pakistan two years ago, about demands by the media that they be allowed to film the arrival of coffins of fallen soldiers from Iraq. Claim that images like that of an angry mob dragging the body of an American soldier through the streets of Mogadishu pander to the worst instincts of audiences, and haunt the families of those who have died in combat; Call for respectful press coverage of military coffins arriving at Dover Air Force Base.

Comments on the policy of the United States Pentagon to embed 500 correspondents for up to two months with American combat units, 20 percent of whom will be from the foreign press. View that news media is needed to fight a propaganda war against Saddam Hussein; Mention of military-media relations in the 1991 gulf war and in Afghanistan; View that the policy is coercive; Question of how the military will treat reporters who are not embedded.

Offers observations on press freedom in the Persian Gulf War, and life during wartime in Jerusalem. Efforts of the United States military to censor U.S. press reports from Iraq; Suggestion that this is indicative of a general disregard for the freedom of the press; How the press threatens the military by reporting what it sees; Suggestion that this disregard is indicative of the irrelevance of the citizenry to the administration of President George Bush; Description of the manner in which Jerusalemites cope with missile attacks.

Focuses on British Prime Minister Tony Blair and his position on Iraq. Blair's belief that history will vindicate his decision to go to war in Iraq; Indication by Blair's advisers that he may express regret for misleading the country regarding the mistaken intelligence on Saddam Hussein's chemical and biological weapons; Hopes for improved security in Iraq and reduced press coverage of the subject; Difficulties disconnecting Iraq from broader discontent with the government, and Blair in particular; Argument of David Blunkett, one of several influential cabinet figures who do not share Blair's scenario; Belief of a sizeable part of the Parliamentary Labour Party that Blair's position remains vulnerable; Blair's strategy; Outlook.

Offers a look at the reaction of United States Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld to the abuse of Iraqi prisoners by U.S. soldiers in Iraq. Report that Air Force General Richard Myers asked the press to suppress the images of torture from the public view; Claim by the International Red Cross that it reported human rights violations at the prison to the U.S. in October 2003; Statement that the investigation into the abuse of prisoners began in January of 2004; Claim that U.S. President George W. Bush did not show interest in the investigation until after the images had been released to the media; Reference to the book "Plan of Attack," by Bob Woodward; Reaction of Rumsfeld to the abuse of prisoners in Iraq; Discussion of the treatment of detainees in Afghanistan and Guantanamo, Cuba; Lack of rights of prisoners including the rights to access a lawyer or to a fair trial; Methods of interrogation used by the United States.

Looks at the role of the BBC as defined in the Hutton Report which absolved Prime Minister Tony Blair from charges that he manipulated intelligence to get Great Britain involved in the Iraq War. BBC as the world's biggest broadcaster; Contention that the Hutton report revealed how BBC runs; Belief that the Kelly catastrophe was not a bit of bad luck but an accident waiting to happen; Resentment at BBC News; List of complaints; BBC priorities which is not reporting the news; Concern by the director general not for the quality of the news but payroll; Goal of makings news more relevant to younger audiences; Respected programs that have been cut in the quest for the young audience; Hunger for sensation and reluctance to face the consequences of that hunger as what led to the resignation of Gavyn Davies; Belief that the BBC has become a vast corporate nightmare committed to the pursuit of advantage above all else.

Offers observations on press coverage of civilian casualties in the Persian Gulf War. Efforts of the administration of United States President George Bush to denounce reports about the extent of U.S.-induced casualties from both Iraqi and U.S. sources; Evolution of precision warfare; Significance of modern media in war correspondence.

Focuses on issues about the western government propaganda on Iraq and weapons of mass destruction. Failure of the "New York Times" and the "Washington Post" to challenge western propaganda on Iraq; Comments from Robert Moore, Washington correspondent of ITN, on the problem facing U.S. President George W. Bush regarding weapons of mass destruction in Iraq; Observation made by John Irvine of ITN on the Iraq war; Comments of David Rose of the "Observer" magazine, on the Iraq war; Statement of Andrew Gowers, "Financial Times" editor, on the possibility of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

Offers the author's reaction to the Abu Ghraib prison abuse photographs. Why the author is more angry that the photos were taken and released than over the acts which took place; Harm which came from publication of the photos; Criticism of the U.S. media as well as the military; Reference to the way press members were blocked from taking a photo of former U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt in a wheelchair; Topic of fake pictures of abuses; Thoughts on journalistic objectivity.

Presents news briefs concerning the Catholic Church. The Vatican said it would not close its embassy in Baghdad, Iraq, in the event of a war. Catholic religious orders in Iraq have also pledged to remain in Baghdad. Several Cuban bishops said the Brigittine Sisters and President Fidel Castro went around them by getting permission from the Vatican to open a new convent before requesting it from Cardinal Jaime Ortega Alamino of Havana. The bishops said that Castro used the ceremony, widely publicized by state television and the government-controlled press, to show that he has good relations with the Vatican and international church leaders, while his problems are limited to malcontents in the Cuban hierarchy.