It buried the lede about the important transformation of the nature of the conflict. You really have to slog through a poorly written article to get to the useful information in that regard.

Huh, so the death of a soldier, if it's highlighted in the NY Times in a piece you don't like, is a "overlong and unrepresentative" anecdote. Whereas if it had been written about a soldier who died in the surge in Iraq, it would be...what? A heart-wrenching story of personal loss suffered by the families of the brave soldiers who died in Iraq (or somesuch?)

Believe it or not, the editors at the NY Times (and most liberal-leaning pundits, bloggers and activists) have a completely different opinion about Afghanistan; that it's important to our strategic interests, that it's still winnable, and that we should focus more attention there both militarily and diplomatically. Instead of addressing this, you write a post whining about the coverage of Afghanistan because-I suppose-you think that the NY Times thinks that we're losing and should get out. It would be just as easy to say that this piece highlights the under-the-radar development of the war in Afghanistan, and how it's getting more attention because fatalities are increasing and attacks on coalitions troops are getting bolder and more spectacular. Which actually IS what the article is trying to say, as you'll note if you take your blinders off.

Responses like this are quite indicative of the "if it ain't Iraq, we ain't interested" approach of the right over the last few years. To that I say, if you have nothing more to say about how we can win the war in Afghanistan (or get out, if you feel that way) other than complaining about media coverage, then stop writing about it and leave it to those of us who think this conflict is dire enough for us to actually take it seriously.

Providing context isn't limited to documenting the feelings of grieving parents it also includes explaining why we're there at all, what the soldiers died trying to achieve, and that's what's missing from the piece.

You'd think a flag at half staff would be more appropriate for this post.

Ah, that feels better. I just can't stand an unpicked nit.