Rumsfeld's Eyewitness News

Top government officials like to pretend they're not interested in what the press writes about them -- even though their substantial public affairs operations monitor most every word written about the boss, especially by the regulars who travel with him.

For example, while Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld was off on an unannounced trip to Baghdad last week, scores of folks in the Pentagon press operation were kept apprised of the coverage.

"Coverage . . . by the traveling press . . . was extensive," an April 27 e-mail to colleagues from Harold Heilsnis of the Armed Forces Information Service reported, counting up the number of articles by each wire service and noting that CBS News had not filed anything.

The summary noted that some reports said Gen. George W. Casey Jr . was "more optimistic" than Rumsfeld about future troop reductions. But Rumsfeld "also shot down critics who doubted the capabilities of the Iraqi troops."

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice 's arrival and meetings with incoming Prime Minister Jawad al-Maliki "shifted coverage to . . . prospects of a national unity government," the summary said. "Additional angles explored the recent 'generals' revolt'; U.S. plans for military action in Iran; the need to deal with the militias. . . ."

And there were other stories. The next day, Rumsfeld appeared on Laura Ingraham 's radio show, where she mentioned the "historic times in Iraq" and the move toward a "unified government."

Rumsfeld talked of a "historic event" and said Iraqis appreciate the need to have a "unified government."

And Rumsfeld had nothing but praise for the Iraqi media. "Their questions were thoughtful and substantive and had dimension to them, in contrast to some of the questions we hear elsewhere."

Well, the Iraqi reporters have had decades of experience grilling their leaders, as opposed to those "elsewhere" people. Ingraham cited an article by our colleague Glenn Kessler that said Rumsfeld and Rice didn't seem in sync on this last trip. "Are you and Condoleezza Rice on the outs or something?" she asked.

"Oh, absolutely not," he said. "What nonsense. It's just fairly typical Washington Post stuff."

Ingraham then said she was "struck" by a comment by Sunni leader Saleh al-Mutlak , whose brother was killed last month. "My life is not important anymore," he said. "The lives of Iraqis -- if I can do something good for them, I will not hesitate at all."

"That kind of bravery . . . and courage," Ingraham said, "unfortunately gets underreported in our media all too often."