This embarrassing. Even the Brits, who are barely in Iraq anymore, are noticing how unsporting the Iraq coverage is.
Times of London:
Is no news good news or bad news? In Iraq, it seems good news is deemed no news. There has been striking success in the past few months in the attempt to improve security, defeat al-Qaeda sympathisers and create the political conditions in which a settlement between the Shia and the Sunni communities can be reached. This has not been an accident but the consequence of a strategy overseen by General David Petraeus in the past several months
Indeed, on every relevant measure, the shape of the Petraeus curve is profoundly encouraging
None of this means that all the past difficulties have become history. A weakened al-Qaeda will be tempted to attempt more spectacular attacks to inflict substantial loss of life in an effort to prove that it remains in business. Although the tally of car bombings and improvised explosive devices has fallen back sharply, it would only take one blast directed at an especially large crowd or a holy site of unusual reverence for the headlines about impending civil war to be allowed another outing
The current achievements, and they are achievements, are being treated as almost an embarrassment in certain quarters. The entire context of the contest for the Democratic nomination for president has been based on the conclusion that Iraq is an absolute disaster and the first task of the next president is to extricate the United States at maximum speed. Democrats who voted for the war have either repudiated their past support completely (John Edwards) or engaged in a convoluted partial retraction (Hillary Clinton). Congressional Democrats have spent most of this year trying (and failing) to impose a timetable for an outright exit
All of these attitudes have become outdated. There are many valid complaints about the manner in which the Bush Administration and Donald Rumsfeld, in particular, managed Iraq after the 2003 military victory. But not to recognise that matters have improved vastly in the year since Mr Rumsfelds resignation from the Pentagon was announced and General Petraeus was liberated would be ridiculous. Politicians on both sides of the Atlantic have to appreciate that Iraq is no longer, as they thought, an exercise in damage limitation but one of making the most of an opportunity. The instinct of too many people is that if Iraq is going badly we should get out because it is going badly and if it is getting better we should get out because it is getting better. This is a catastrophic miscalculation. Iraq is getting better. That is good, not bad, news.
Well, they are covering the good news in the United States. With the highest of yeah-but journalism standards: Yeah, things are undeniably better, but Theyre trying to soothe those for whom good news is bad news. Theyre diligently hunting for flies in the ointment, and every now and then they get one.
More from the Times, which is devoting a great deal of space to this today. Undoubtedly a Murdoch plot:
The Day(s) No One Died. I like the comment from reader Howard in Johannesburg, who apparently would rather see genocide in Iraq and a greater Iranosphere:
Hmm One swallow does not a summer make. Do not encourage America; just now they will want to deliver the same mercy mission to Iran. I have a feeling that will be even less appreciated.
Rising Trade and Safer Streets:
Smoking hookah pipes and drinking beer, Sarmad Ali joked and gossiped long into the night with a group of friends in Baghdad a luxury they could not enjoy a few months ago because of the violence.
Slightly tipsy, the young men piled into a minibus and drove to Palestine Street, until recently a no-go area after dark but now filled with traffic and pedestrians. They pulled up outside a recently opened late-night restaurant, which serves sheeps head on bread, a favourite dish for Iraqi men after a few drinks.
Such hangouts, called pacha restaurants, closed after the 2003 invasion because people were too scared to go out late in the evening. We were surprised to see a pacha restaurant open again, said Mr Ali, a 28-year-old contractor. It is a clear sign that things are getting back to normal.
Bloodshed in Iraq, still high by most standards, has dropped significantly since August thanks to the impact of a joint US-Iraqi security plan that has resulted in a huge rise in the number of American and Iraqi forces on the streets. The boom of a car bomb, mortar attack or roadside blast is noticeably less frequent.
Posted by: Total War ||
11/04/2007 12:45 Comments ||
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#2
I teared up in the first minute and never stopped. We owe them so much. Yes, I remember, I am so proud, and I thank you
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/04/2007 13:05 Comments ||
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#3
Amen Frank, and I also agree with Total War.
This will be going out to all my e-mail buddies, in remembrance of Veteran's Day next Sunday, addressed to my Dad, Son, and Father-in-law (who served) with copies to the rest of the crowd.
Posted by: Bobby ||
11/04/2007 14:54 Comments ||
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#4
I saw this one other time and got choked up. Thanks for the posting Besoeker. It is good to be reminded often of just who is fighting this war.
#1
There was a plan there, you know. I think the president genuinely felt that if we could prove a model of democracy and broad prosperity in the Middle East, it might defuse the situation. I don't believe that, and in the capacity I had, I told them that.
#3
Bono is a utopian socialist who can't see that poverty is the inevitable end product of a failed culture.
He should direct his limousine to Zimbabwe or the Paleo territories between visits to the U.N. for a dose of reality.
Posted by: Agar, Conquistador of the Voles007 ||
11/04/2007 3:19 Comments ||
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#4
Bono is wiser than most lefties though. The problem I have is he saw the falacy of democracy for Iraq,but he doesn't understand the same attempt to pay off potential enemies elsewhere are as doomed to failure.
#5
Bono said:
"Isn't it cheaper and smarter to make friends out of potential enemies than to defend yourself against them later?"
Err, actually not. With the largest nuclear arsenal, as he points out, it would probably be cheaper to just wipe our enemies out. We wouldn't of course, but definitely cheaper, faster and surer and that spells smarter.
Posted by: DanNY ||
11/04/2007 8:04 Comments ||
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#6
In reality, Bono's statement that democracy will not work in Iraq, and by extension in all of the arab world displays a racist arrogance that he couches in blithe terminology. Ask the Iraqi bloggers like Iraq the Model's Mohammed and Ali and the others what they think of this kind of pronouncement. I doubt they will agree.
Democracy can succeed as long as the power of the Imams can be curtailed.
Posted by: DanNY ||
11/04/2007 8:10 Comments ||
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#7
I think the jury is still out on the question of the possibility of liberal democracy in the Middle East. The problem we have in America is we are used to instant solutions. So when 4 years go by without an obvious success we assume failure. Patience is really necessary if we hope to change the course of the Middle East.
It is refreshing to see that Bono at least recognizes the grave threat we face instead of denying it like so many others on the Left.
#8
Democracy is rarely "clean". It wasn't until the 20th Century that democracy in the US was any better than what it is now in Iraq. Through most of our history, bribing congressmen was perfectly legal, for example.
Even at its onset, some really ugly compromises had to be made for democracy to succeed, and not just the continuance of slavery, either.
Smuggling had to be legitimized up and down the East Coast. Later, what what we today would call "ethnic cleansing" of Indians from entire States. Depending on where you lived, you *had* to belong to certain religions.
The first President to break the Constitution in a big way was George Washington, in putting down the Whiskey Rebellion against an illegal tax. 75 years on, Lincoln threw away big chunks of it. In fact, all of our 18th and 19th Century Presidents of note did all kinds of questionable stuff.
The biggest selling point of democracy is simply that it is a better way of doing business. If given a chance, and some discipline, it quickly becomes the obvious choice. But only over time can it clean itself up.
Iraq has been given every chance, and then some, to recover faster and become as powerful as Japan, in short order. Just by keeping their democracy alive for a while means that if it can survive, it not only will survive, but will infect every other nation in that region.
#9
As mentioned here Bono is a utopian socialist of the kind that thinks sitting around singing Kumbaya will solve everything.
There is the saving grace that he recognises the existential threat. Unfortunately he can't get his head around the alternatives.
Like so many of his ilk he just doesn't understand the motivations of greed and lust for power that are universal. He doesn't understand the idea that many would rather rule in hell than serve in heaven.
Until he specifies exactly what compromises he is willing to make in these lovely talks with enemies; and what system of gov't he'll support for those poor Iraqies that are incapable of democracy, he is nothing more than a leftist poser.
#10
Iraq has been given every chance, and then some, to recover faster and become as powerful as Japan, in short order.
On the surface, yes; on deeper reflection, no.
When Matthew Perry opened Japan, the Japanese recognized that the Chinese model they had been following was the wrong choice. But it still took a generation before the Meiji restoration could begin. Then the Japanese followed a western model. And unfortunately it was more German than anything else as in the last quarter of the 19th century Germany appeared to be the rising star on the world stage.
So it wasn't until after WWII when the Japanese recognized they had made a mistake in choosing a primarily German model that MacArthur & friends shoved as much of the fascism lite of the New Deal down the Japanese' throats and they adopted a form of democracy of which we approve.
But the Japanese are nothing if not fast learners. If this model proves deficient, they will be quick to assume the new strong horse model. At least superficially.
#12
The Middle East Democratic Initiative was a bona fide peace effort. It failed because Muslims want neither democracy or peace.
Until that changes, not much else will. To date, democracy continues to be universally reviled by the Muslim world, which regards it as manmade laws seeking to supplant those of Allah. There seems little hope of changing that, save by force. What's more, since those same laws of Allah absolutely compel Muslims to violent jihad, the outlook for any lasting peace is more than dismal.
Democracy can succeed as long as the power of the Imams can be curtailed.
So far, every indication is that it cannot and will not be curtailed. Neither voluntarily nor even by the Muslims who suffer so dramatically at the hands of their clerical elite.
This is why a campaign involving the targeted killings of Islam's clerical, financial and operational aristocracy is so vital. We must forcefully scrape away the entire top tiers of Islamism so that more conciliatory members can spread their influence.
Such a move will also have another equally vital result. It will provide "moderate" Muslims with one final chance to prove themselves worthy of this world's respect. Should Islam refuseeven in the face of such lethal forceto recalibrate its agenda over towards one of peaceful coexistence, then it would represent an unmistakable signal that the time had come to permanently dismantle it.
#13
Democracy might succeed in mideast islamic countries if the virulent poison of Wahhibism and fundamentalist islamic religious influences could be curtailed or minimized. It would happen faster is the Dhimmicrats and press in the U.S. would get behind the war efforts.
#15
Thing is we are betting on the Arabs with the democracy thing and historically they have proven to be a bad bet. Still, if the bet pays off it pays off huge so I think it's worth the gamble.
If the bet fails the bloodshed will be bad and I think we'll all be happy that we gave them a shot, it will help the guilt with all the dead and all).
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