Who do you believe?

Compare this with this. One is coming from the mouth of a Democratic Senator with his eyes on the prize - the Presidency in 2008. The other is coming from an editor-in-chief of an online magazine who was embedded with the military, and recently returned to Iraq in April and May 2005.

People, please. Compare this:

A blunt speech yesterday by Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. (Del.), who said disaster in Iraq is "a real possibility," was the latest example of mainstream Democrats becoming more forceful in expressing their alarm as polls show drooping support for the war.

"I did not come away with the impression that the insurgency was, as the vice president of the United States suggested, 'in its last throes,' " Biden said. "And unlike the president, I am not 'pleased with the progress' we're making." He called the comments part of the administration's "long litany of rosy assessments, misleading statements and premature declarations of victory. . . . The disconnect between the administration's rhetoric and the reality on the ground has opened up not just a credibility gap but a credibility chasm," which is "fueling cynicism that is undermining the single most important weapon we need to give our troops to be able to do their jobs, and that is the unyielding support of the American people."

With this:

I could immediately see improvements compared to my earlier extended tours during 2003 and 2004. The Iraqi security forces, for example, are vastly more competent, and in some cases quite inspiring. Baghdad is now choked with traffic. Cell phones have spread like wildfire. And satellite TV dishes sprout from even the most humble mud hovels in the countryside.

Many of the soldiers I spent time with during this spring had also been deployed during the initial invasion back in 2003. Almost universally they talked to me about how much change they could see in the country. They noted progress in the attitudes of the people, in the condition of important infrastructure, in security.

I observed many examples of this myself. Take the two very different Baghdad neighborhoods of Haifa Street and Sadr City. The first is an upper-end commercial district in the heart of downtown. The second is one of Baghdad’s worst slums, on the city’s north edge.

I spent lots of time walking both neighborhoods this spring—something that would not have been possible a year earlier, when both were active war zones, where tanks poured shells into buildings on a regular basis. Today, the primary work of our soldiers in each area is rebuilding sewers, paving roads, getting buildings repaired and secured, supplying schools and hospitals, getting trash picked up, managing traffic, and encouraging honest local governance.

What the establishment media covering Iraq have utterly failed to make clear today is this central reality: With the exception of periodic flare-ups in isolated corners, our struggle in Iraq as warfare is over. Egregious acts of terror will continue—in Iraq as in many other parts of the world. But there is now no chance whatever of the U.S. losing this critical guerilla war.

Yes, one appeared in an online magazine, the other in the Washington Post. Which's veracity for truth do YOU trust?

I mean, please read the articles. Did they both to go to two different dimensions, one with real Iraq, and one with Bizzarro-Iraq? I mean how could their two impressions be so drastically different?

Hmm, maybe bias? But on the part of whom - a private writer of an online journal or a minority-party Senator seeking the presidency?

I just don't know who to believe.

UPDATE:

Well, it seems like Senator biden has been in the business of doom and gloom for quite sometime when it comes to Iraq. Check out some of his great quotes:

Sen. Biden’s Pessimistic Predictions On The Iraqi Elections:

Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE): “The Elections Are Going To Be Much Messier. We Are Left With A Bad Choice In Holding Elections And A Worse Choice Of Not Holding It.” (CNN’s “Late Edition,” 1/9/05)

Biden: “And I Think There’s Going To Be The Whole Question Of Whether Or Not The Sunnis Participate, Whether There’s Any Legitimacy In The Process If They Don’t, Et Cetera.” (CNN’s “Late Edition,” 1/9/05)

Biden Said Of The Iraqi Elections: “It’s Going To Be Ugly.” (PBS’ “Charlie Rose Show,” 1/5/05)

Biden: “[Election] Success Is Still Possibility. But It Is Receding Rapidly. It’s Being Made Much More Difficult.” (ABC’s “This Week,” 12/5/04)

“[D]emocrat Joe Biden Of Delaware, Said Postponing The Election Without A Guarantee Of Sunni Participation Later On Would Just Add More Trouble To Iraq’s Already Difficult Road.” (NPR’s “All Things Considered,” 12/2/04)

“Biden Believes Iraqi Elections Scheduled For January Should Be Delayed To Stabilize The Country And Gain Wider Support For The Vote From Sunnis. The Situation Is Still Salvageable, He Said.” (Sean O’Sullivan, “Biden Has New Hope For Peace In Mideast,” The [Wilmington, DE]
News Journal, 12/2/04)

“Sunnis Must Still Be Involved Politically, Democratic Senator Joe Biden Said. ‘They’re Going To Have To See More Sunnis Brought Into The Constitution Writing If There’s Going To Be Any Legitimacy At The End Of The Day, And I Think We’ll See That.’” (Michael McDonough, “British And U.S. Officials Congratulate Iraqi Victors; Turkey Complains Results Skewed,” The Associated Press, 2/13/05)

Sen. Biden Said Iraq Would Need A Referee After Ambassador Bremer Left Iraq. “[W]ho's going to be the referee when Bremer leaves?” (CBS’ “The Early Show,” 4/7/04)

Sen. Biden Said There Would Be “Absolute Chaos” From The Time Ambassador Bremer Departed Till The Iraqi Elections. “Does anyone think there's not going to be absolute chaos from June 30th until January 1st or 31st when we have general elections?” (CBS’ “The Early Show,” 4/7/04)