Two weeks ago CBS News reported Al Qaida in Iraq was seeking to launch a massive attack in Iraq that could have pushed the nation into civil war, having unsucessfully done so with the bombing of the Al Askariya Shrine. To be fair no group has claimed responsibility for the shrine bombing, but all indications point to Zarqawi’s group. That massive attack might have just been foiled.

Security officials foiled a plot that would have put hundreds of al-Qaida men at guard posts around Baghdad’s Green Zone, home to the U.S. and other foreign embassies as well as the Iraqi government, the interior minister told The Associated Press on Tuesday.

A senior Defense Ministry official confirmed the plot, and said the 421 al-Qaida fighters involved were actually recruited to storm the U.S. and British embassies and take hostages. Several ranking Defense Ministry officials have been jailed in the plot, the official said on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the information.

Interior Minister Bayan Jabr, in an exclusive interview with The Associated Press, said the al-Qaida recruits were one bureaucrat’s signature away from acceptance into an Iraqi army battalion whose job it is to control the gates and main squares in the Green Zone. The plot was discovered three weeks ago.

The bombing of the Al Askariya Shrine was almost a month ago placing that attack within reach of the newly released information concerning the foiled plot to infiltrate the Green Zone. The CBS News report indicating Al Qaida in Iraq was planning a “big bang” falls into this grey area of timing because the CBS News report was gathered from U.S. intelligence. There is a likelihood the intelligence cited did not know of this foiled plot or that the intelligence was indicating Al Qaida in Iraq’s intentions, which are evidenced by the foiled plot.

The intention of this plot is clear. Al Qaida in Iraq sought to do as much damage inside the Green Zone as possible in an effort to sway public opinion. Militarily speaking, Al Qaida in Iraq storming the British and American embassies in Baghdad would do nothing to sway victory to their side. Strategically speaking though, Zarqawi has long stated he can win in Iraq only if he causes the Coalition to retreat and by taking Americans and Brits hostage would be assured of valuable news coverage for his group thus potentially inducing new recruits to his group and forcing the American and British public to pick up calls for a sudden retreat. This rings of Saigon, and Zarqawi and Al Qaida know full well how things in Vietnam turned from a victory to a defeat in a matter of a few short words from a television reporter.
From Ralph Peters at Real Clear Politics:

During a recent visit to Baghdad, I saw an enormous failure. On the part of our media. The reality in the streets, day after day, bore little resemblance to the sensational claims of civil war and disaster in the headlines.

No one with first-hand experience of Iraq would claim the country’s in rosy condition, but the situation on the ground is considerably more promising than the American public has been led to believe. Lurid exaggerations and instant myths obscure real, if difficult, progress.

I left Baghdad more optimistic than I was before this visit. While cynicism, political bias and the pressure of a 24/7 news cycle accelerate a race to the bottom in reporting, there are good reasons to be soberly hopeful about Iraq’s future.

Peters then goes on and discusses the reasons to be optimistic about Iraq. The Mayor of Baghdad also chimes in with a similar message:

“I’d like American citizens not to trust everything that is being said in the media because, unfortunately, most of the media is talking about negative things and about the problems,” al-Jibouri said, speaking through a translator.

“They are not telling good stories about the U.S. Army’s good job here in Iraq. I would like American citizens to concentrate on the pictures that show the children of Iraqis and how happy they feel when they see or meet American soldiers.”

The consistent story, that is after the story, is that we are not told the full story when it comes to Iraq. Detractors claim the Bush Administration fails to convey what is actually happening on the ground. Proponents claim the media does not convey the truth. The actual truth probably lies somewhere in the middle, but what is that middle ground that we, the consumer of both truths, are supposed to believe?

I personally side with those saying the media is glorifying the violence because we see that in numerous other aspects of news. I know too many people serving who have conveyed messages to me that are more in line with what the Administration argues, though not precisely, to throw my hat into the quagmire ring. I can see the successful elections and the various stories on how Iraqis have had it with Al Qaida in Iraq. That was, after all, a goal of the entire war.

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