Strangely enough, positive news from Iraq

A view of what has been happening in Iraq that doesn’t seem to be getting much
press.

[quote]Step by Step - AFTER THE WAR
BY ARTHUR CHRENKOFF, Monday, June 13, 2005 12:01 a.m. EDT

“You can’t fix in six months what it took 35 years to destroy.” These words, spoken by Ibrahim al-Jaafari,
Iraq’s first democratically elected Prime Minister in half a century, should be inscribed in 3-foot-tall
characters as a preface to all the reporting from Iraq. Sadly, the underlying reality all too often seems
to escape many reporters caught in the excitement of “now.”

A. Heather Coyne concurs with the gradualist view:

Having spent the past two years in Iraq, first as an Army officer and now as the head of the Iraq office
of the Washington-based US Institute of Peace, I am struck by the determination and steadiness of Iraqis
as they struggle to build a stable, democratic country, and by the continuing, firm commitment of Iraqis
to participate in–and manage–that process.

In spite of a constant threat from the various insurgencies over the past year, Iraqi government agencies,
political parties, and civil society organizations have gradually expanded their capabilities and activities.
They will tell you how much more they could have done had they not been constrained by security threats
or–almost as important–the lack of reliable infrastructure, but what they have accomplished already is admirable,
as is their unflagging determination in the face of these threats and constraints.

There is a phrase I hear in almost every conversation with Iraqis that captures the mood of this process: hutwa bi hutwa,
or "step by step.
"

Below, some of those often overlooked or underreported steps that people of Iraq and their foreign friends have
been taking over the past three weeks:b
opinionjournal.com/extra/?id=110006812[/b][/quote]
A quite thorough analysis, listed point-by-point, of positive progress in governance and infra-structure in Iraq.

Thanks for the perspective, TC.

I think the quote by the Iraqi Prime Minister particularly cogent. [color=blue]“You can’t fix in six months what it took 35 years to destroy.” [/color]

That is one of the thoughts which go through my mind as well when, for example, I see groups like iraqbodycount.net include things like “inadequate health and sanitation” in their list of factors leading to civilian deaths in that country.

This is not to say, obviously, that running water, etc., were not compromised during the war that led to Iraq’s liberation – but only that it is worth considering what shape the Iraq was in after decades of seeing all of the nations resources (resources that could have provided food and health services to the abused Iraqi people) spent instead on dozens of palaces for Saddam, and mustard gas with which he murdered those who spoke out against him. :idunno: