MSM and Iraqi Mosque Incident

They aren't quite to the point of yelping 'civil war.'

Shi'ite politicians raged at the United States and halted negotiations on a new government yesterday after a military assault killed at least 16 people in what Iraqis say was a mosque. Fresh violence erupted in the north, with 40 killed in a suicide bombing.

The firestorm of recrimination over Sunday's raid in northeast Baghdad will probably make it harder for Shi'ite politicians to keep a lid on their more angry followers as sectarian violence boils over, with at least 151 dead over the two-day period. A unity government involving Shi'ites, Sunnis, and Kurds is a benchmark for American hopes of starting to withdraw troops this summer.

The BoGlobe is rather restrained.

The Old Grey Mare came out with this:

Frayed relations between Iraq's Shiite leadership and the American authorities came under increased strain on Monday as Shiite leaders angrily denounced a joint American-Iraqi raid on a Shiite compound and suspended negotiations over a new government.

The raid on Sunday evening, which killed at least 16 people, also prompted the governor of Baghdad to announce a halt in cooperation with the American authorities, and Shiite militiamen to brandish their weapons in the streets of eastern Baghdad and declare their readiness to retaliate against American troops.

The suspension of the difficult talks over the formation of a full four-year government prolonged a power vacuum that American and Iraqi officials said had created a fertile environment for a recent surge in lawlessness and sectarian violence.

They don't get to the particulars of the raid or statements from the US military until the bottom of the page. Mostly they report on the friction in the formation of the government and how this raid has screwed that up.

Well, nothing like sensationalism and poor reporting to ensure the American public thinks this is more blundering by the administration.

Just for a balance, here's an article by Frederick Kagan on how this isn't a civil war.