ABC NEWS DECLARES IRAQ WAR A FAILURE

In covering the confirmation hearings of prospective defense secretary Robert Gates the ABC headline trumpets, "US Defence Secretary declares Iraq war a failure." When all is said and done the war might prove a failure but Gates hasn't declared it so:

KIM LANDERS: Twice today Robert Gates was asked point blank if the US is winning the war in Iraq, and twice he replied "No", although a few hours later he sought to clarify that.

ROBERT GATES: Only because I'm concerned that the troops in the field might have misunderstood something I said, and I certainly stand by my statement this morning that I agreed with General Pace that we are not winning, but we are not losing.

But I want to make clear that pertains to the situation in Iraq as a whole. Our military forces win the battles that they fight.

The real failure here is the ABC's inability to simply report the news, not manufacture it.