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Stardate 20011205.0614 (On Screen and On Scanners): It's interesting how the same story can come out sounding subtly different depending on who's doing the writing. Colin Powell is being pressed by Turkey to make more clear US intentions towards Iraq, and what he said is that no decision has yet been made on whether to attack there. Fair enough. But when AP and Reuters both reported this, the headlines they used give much different implications:

Powell says Bush has yet to decide on Iraq

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) Secretary of State Colin Powell told anxious Turkish leaders on Wednesday that President Bush has not yet decided whether the next phase of the war on terrorism should include Iraq.

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Powell Says No Plans for Iraq Attack

ANKARA (Reuters) - Secretary of State Colin Powell reassured NATO ally Turkey on Wednesday that the United States had no immediate plans to extend its "war on terrorism" to Turkey's southeastern neighbor Iraq.

Reuters implies "There's probably not going to be a war in Iraq." AP says "it's anybody's guess." So who's slant is more accurate? My opinion is that AP is more correct and that Reuters is seeing what it wants to see. (Note that the BBC's coverage is more similar to AP.)

I think Powell is prevaricating here; while there may not have been a decision, I still think there's solid intent to straighten the Iraqi situation out; it's more a matter of not yet being certain whether much stronger diplomatic efforts can bring about the solution than whether anything at all will be done there. Moreover, even if there was intent to engage in military operations in Iraq, it would not be "soon" because it would have to wait until hostilities in Afghanistan were over and sufficient force had been moved into the Gulf. (discuss)

Update: CNN goes even further than Reuters did.