NBC, Wall Street Journal reported Petraeus claim of reduced violence without noting contrary evidence

SUMMARY: Several media outlets covering Gen. David Petraeus' September 10 congressional testimony reported without challenge statistics Petraeus presented to support his claims that the U.S. troop escalation in Iraq has been successful in lowering violence in Iraq. But Petraeus' statistics regarding civilian casualties and sectarian violence differ from the findings in two recent congressionally mandated reports -- findings these media outlets did not report.

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