I see a much more sinister picture: Iraq is “out of sight, out of mind,” because that is how the *Bush Administration* wants it to be. They have very carefully controlled media access to information, as well as dispensed boxcar loads of misinformation, all in an effort to control and shape public opinion, both in America and in Iraq. They have:
- paid “journalists” both in America and Iraq to write favorable stories;
- heavily censored the (mis)information that is given to the American media (e.g., banning the photographing of flag-draped coffins of U.S. troops),
- heavily censored the (mis)information that is given to U.S. troops (e.g., censored the military press, soldiers’ emails, etc.);
- heavily censored the (mis)information that is given to the U.S. Congress (e.g., the multifaceted lies about WMDs, yellowcake uranium, aluminum tubes, etc.);
- heavily censored the (mis)information that is given to the Iraqi government and its citizens; etc.

Thus, I agree that Iraq is out of sight, out of mind, and that it is because that is how Americans have ranked their priorities, but there is a very clear reason *why* many Americans have ranked their priorities in this way. It didn’t just happen because Americans are lazy or uncaring; it happened because they have been, and are continuing to be, manipulated.

As I’ve written often at this site, we are creatures of limited attention http://dangerousintersection.org/?p=699 and too many of us are busy filling our hours with passive entertainment, gadgets and other consumer goods. Iraq is out of sight, out of mind. That’s the way it is because that is how we set our priorities. Not enough of us are asking whether all of that carnage in Iraq is accomplishing anything worthwhile. We’re just throwing more young soldiers into the “meatgrinder” and hoping for the best.