Cursor's Media Patrol - 08/26/05

With Iraq said to be 'on the brink of meltdown' as 'political violence surges,' Saddam Hussein loyalists walked the streets of Baghdad openly, "in black masks and carrying AK-47s and grenade launchers," and gunmen killed 8 presidential bodyguards.

Knight Ridder, reporting that insurgents have "fought the U.S. military to a stalemate" in Anbar province, where Marines and soldiers "have stopped talking about winning a military victory" and are no longer "referring to the enemy derisively as 'terrorists.'"

A Pentagon task force blamed a culture that devalues women for the prevalence of rape and sexual harassment at the Army and Navy academies, with panelists citing "groupthink" and "confusion" regarding "what is warrior ethos and what is offensive behavior."

'Radioactive Wounds of War' Dave Lindorff follows up on a New York Daily News report by "Democracy Now!" co-host Juan Gonzalez, on U.S. soldiers 'Poisoned' by exposure to depleted uranium.

An AP/Ipsos poll, which found 90 percent support for the right to protest against the war in Iraq, also found that "Republicans are the most likely to disapprove of people voicing opposition to the war."

A Crawford counter protestor and Iraq war vet tells Raw Story that "The people we are fighting now are the same people that bombed those World Trade Center towers."

Editor & Publisher boils down a "mammoth" Los Angeles Times report on 'A CIA cover blown, a White House exposed,' that "raises questions about the credibility of the Bush White House, the tactics it employs against political opponents and the justification it used for going to war." Plus: 'A funny little story about the media.