A story the media missed...

The real story behind the bombing of the Palestine Hotel.

"Major E," an Army officer stationed in Baghdad, described the assault as a public relations success, but a military failure, in an e-mail to the Web log Power Line.

"The media sources I have seen breathlessly point out the spectacular nature of the attack and show the video clip over and over," Major E said. "They do not seem, however, to be pointing out that the Iraqi police were instrumental in repelling the assault ... The real story here is that the Islamic terrorists in Iraq are incapable of even seizing, let alone holding, a hotel full of journalists. Meanwhile, the Iraqi security forces continue to get stronger and more capable by the day."

Within Iraq, the Palestine Hotel attack has added to al-Qaida's image woes with Sunni Muslims, said the Web log StrategyPage.

"The terrorists are seen as an insensitive (all those dead Muslim civilians) and inept (all those failed attacks) bunch of fanatics," StrategyPage said.

In a remarkable story Thursday, the Guardian, a left-leaning British newspaper, reported on how Abu Theeb, an Iraqi insurgent leader, and his men protected the polling place in their village north of Baghdad from al-Qaida during the constitutional referendum.

Initially attracted to the foreigners because they were flush with cash, Abu Theeb turned against al-Qaida when they started targeting Iraqi police and Shiite civilians. His men drove al-Qaida out of his village.

Now Abu Theeb is thinking of giving up armed resistance for politics. "It's a new jihad," he told the Guardian. "There is a time for fighting and a time for politics."

Many other Sunnis have come to the same conclusion. Turnout was high (63 percent) in the constitutional referendum, and though most Sunnis voted against it, the constitution was easily approved, 78 percent to 22 percent.

"Things are much better in Iraq than the media would like you to believe," Major E said.