[andyfox]

Andy: The administration will put the best face on everything. It's up to those outside of officialdom to point up the counter-arguments.

MMMMMM: What should be up to those outside of officialdom is to analyze in the most accurate manner possible. That means analyzing developments based on their own merits, not analyzing through a lens of pro or con administration.

Putting the best face on everything means analyzing things in one of the least accurate manner possible. I know you don't agree with everything in the article you cited, but certainly it doesn't meet the criterion you have set for analysis. So why cite it under the title "Progress in Iraq continues"?