I've done my own review of the AP pictures that were taken: These are my first impressions. I'm no critic. Please take a look for yourself:

1)-shows the brutality of the insurgents for killing civilians. 2)-shows the care and bravery of our troops in trying to save a fallen brother.3)-shows the deep commitment and respect our soldiers have for each other. 4)-shows the innocent that are taken in war. 5)-a mother loses her son to a suicide bomber. Heartbreaking. 6)-interesting still of a dove on an insurgents shoulder. Oddity of war 7)-great shot of a soldier using ingenuity in the line of fire. 8)-An Iraqi woman's desperation as she awaits the release of a family member. Powerful. 9)-Iraqi's rescue a man after another car bombing. Horror's of war. 10)-Iraqi men mourn the loss of life from another car bombing. Pain and suffering is captured in vivd colors. 11)-US Marines pray for a fallen brother. A powerful shot that shows the bond these men have. 12)-Soldier with good luck mascot in his backpack. Shows the human side of our troops. 13)-Intense faces of Iraqi children. The eyes lead to the soul. 14)-US soldiers taking cover. Depicts how hard our boys are fighting. 15)-Insurgents fire mortar shells. Black ski masks hide their faces. Determined foe, but must remain hidden. 16)-Soldier arrests insurgent. Shows strength and determination. 17)-Caged prisoner/A look at Abu Ghraib from the outside amidst sand and desolation. 18)-bomb blasts- Intense picture of destruction and self preservation. 19)-Crazed insurgent standing on a Humvee-incredible shot/ shows visciousness of insurgents. 20)-Execution of Iraqi election worker. Savage.

All in all these are incredible pictures. The right wing bloggers wants to control the pictures that are shown. They see bias in everything. I wonder when the guys at Powerline by an ice cream cone, are they thinking "How can I make this into a liberal cone?" These pictures do not put a happy face on the insurgents, but rather show how brutal they are towards their own people. They also portray the realities of war. The picture of our troops praying is extraordinary. The wingnuts don't understand the role of a free press. Their role is to question everything. They seem to believe in a politburo style press. The AP isn't an extension of our military.

via Eschaton and Attywood

The AP's crime? In so many words, they are guilty of showing the conflict in Iraq the way that it is, and not the way that the conservative blogosphere wishes that it were. The right wants those pictures of rose pedals and liberation parades that Dick Cheney promised them three years ago, and now they're mad they didn't get them.

Slate.com has a good round-up (third item -- scroll down) of the conservative complainers. The usual suspects include our favorite Daily News op-ed contributor, Michelle Malkin, and the good people at Powerline, which calls it "The Pulitzer Prize for Felony Murder."...read on