Ed Morrissey flagged the impending wave of nasty headlines in response to the Mahdi Army's setbacks in Baghdad. Since we're looking to get back into a blogging rhythm with some easy material, here's the last few hours:

* Ann Coulter says that liberals are always in favor of fighting the war we're not in. The Boston Chronicle asks "why aren't we fighting in Pakistan" and then headlines their story with Armed Truce: Surging Into Slaughter on Sadr City's Jerusalem Street.

* The Times: "Overnight clashes disrupt fragile Baghdad truce" - There's a decent chance that they just pulled out their Israel macro and replaced "Gaza" with "Baghdad" and "Israeli troops" with "overnight clashes."

* Anti-War.com's headline is only a little more shameless than the one splashed across Iran Press TV. So now in addition to suspecting they're not anti-war as much as they are for the other side, we're kind of questioning their work habits.

* CNN: "Violence flares in Sadr City despite reported cease-fire" - And Basra was an out and out victory for Al-Sadr. In the first few hours. Before it fell out of the headlines.

Worrying about "framing" - too much? too little? not as much as conservatives? - has become an inside baseball-esque kind shibboleth in progressive circles. Domestic policy aside, they seem to have at least figured out how to frame victories as defeats. Or at least how to exploit the stubborn refusal of warfighting to line up neatly with news cycles. Flashback: "Massive fighting, civilian chaos on French shores; Allies report heavy losses; Axis sources declare victory"

References:
* Mahdis sign over Sadr City to Maliki, victory celebrations in media pending Update: NYT acknowledges success on front page [Hot Air]
* Iraqi lawmakers, Sadrists sign four-day cease-fire [AP]
* Armed Truce: Surging Into Slaughter on Sadr City's Jerusalem Street [Boston Chronicle]
* Overnight clashes disrupt fragile Baghdad truce [Times Online]
* Monday: 1 US Soldier, 21 Iraqis Killed; 28 Iraqis Wounded [Anti-War]
* 'Iran contributed to Sadr City peace' [Iran Press TV]
* Violence flares in Sadr City despite reported cease-fire [CNN]

Previously:
* European Media Bias - Really?
* Reuters Mistranslation Responsible For Idiotic "Holocaust" Slander
* Hamas Thanks "The Media" For Glorious "Victory" In Gaza [Video]