Conservatives want to kill the messenger because they don't like the facts reported by the news media. Almost one-quarter of people, no doubt diehard conservatives, even blame the media for the failing U.S. occupation of Iraq.

It's a common right-wing whine when a conservative policy turns out to be a fiasco. Conservative demagogues in unison, as if they were suffering from an identical mass hallucination, blame the so-called liberal media. They need to stop listening to the likes of drug-addled radio talk show hosts and actually pay attention to reality.

In an average day in Iraq, 20 civilians are killed in a terrorist bomb attack, 50 tortured and beheaded civilians are found scattered throughout Baghdad, three U.S. soldiers are killed, another dozen U.S. soldiers are wounded, and an American soldier is blamed for killing innocent civilians. And conservatives are angry because the news media didn't focus on the good news in Iraq - that there was a bumper crop of watermelons this year, and they're going to be cheap and sweet.

The media isn't defeating the U.S. military. Insurgents are. Escalating the number of American troops will only lead to more casualties because in this kind of war, more troops mean more targets for improvised explosive devices. It's long past time to completely withdraw U.S. troops and end this pointless bloodshed.

Mark Gelbart, Augusta