President Bush and his Republican allies have been hammering away at the media in recent days, claiming more strongly than ever that journalists are to blame for Americans' perception that the situation in Iraq is increasingly violent. But all of these partisan attacks cannot take away from the fact that scores more Iraqis are losing their lives in an increasingly bloody civil war.

As David D. Kirkpatrick and Adam Nagourney note in the Monday morning issue of The New York Times, Americans have broadly shifted in their views of the conflict in Iraq, with strong majorities now voicing disapproval for both the war and the President's handling of American policy towards the country. In order to win back supporters, the Bush White House has done what several other politicians have in the past -- attack the messenger -- rather than actually trying to figure out a way to fix the many problems that afflict the country.

The Associated Press reports that at least 69 Iraqis lost their lives in violence today, violence that The New York Times reports included a battle between American forces and the Shiite militia loyal to Muqtada al-Sadr. That is correct -- Americans are now not only fighting Sunni insurgents but members of the Shia majority. Any claim by the Bush administration that Iraq has not descended into a civil war or is not in the course of such a descent is simply not true.

The Bush administration's real mistake is in believing that their problem is one of spin. No, in reality the problem is that the American people realize just how bad the situation is in Iraq, and no matter how much time the White House spends trapsing around the country holding faux town hall meetings, the truth is very difficult to sweep under the rug.

Update [2006-3-27 1:34:35 by Jonathan Singer]: CBS reporter Lara Logan smacks down the claim that it's the media's fault that Americans are turning against the war.