It's so rare to get a positive story from the press about the war in Iraq, let alone a positive headline. So it's certainly worth noting when the MSM knocks out a headline like the one we got from the AP today : "Iraq residents rise up against al-Qaida."

The story starts:

BAGHDAD - A battle raged Thursday in west Baghdad after residents rose up against al-Qaida and called for U.S. military help to end random gunfire that forced people to huddle indoors and threats that kept students from final exams, a member of the district council said.

Reporter Sinan Salaheddin also notes that, according to the district councilman, "the al-Qaida leader in the Amariyah district, known as Haji Hameed, was killed and 45 other fighters were detained," in a battle with Coalition forces.

And finally, my favorite part of the story: "Members of al-Qaida, who consider the district part of their so-called Islamic State of Iraq were preventing students from attending final exams, shooting randomly and forcing residents to stay in their homes, the councilman said."

How rare is it that the enemy gets hit with the phrase "so-called"--I thought the only thing in this war that was "so-called" was the surge.