Jacoby: What has gone right in Iraq

Boston Globe ^ | April 1, 2004 | Jeff Jacoby

[Cincinatus' Wife]

WITH ALL the news coming out of the Middle East, here is a detail you might have missed: A few weeks ago, the United Nations shut down the Ashrafi refugee camp in southwestern Iran. For years Ashrafi had been the largest facility in the world housing displaced Iraqis, tens of thousands of whom had been driven from their homes by Saddam Hussein's brutality. But with Saddam behind bars and his regime crushed, Iraqi exiles have been flocking home. By mid-February the camp had literally emptied out. Now, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees reports, "nothing remains of Ashrafi but rubble and a few stones."

[Cap Huff]

Thanks so much for posting this right now. I've been alluding to some of these sorts of things on another thread today. Reading this article is an encouragement.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Bump!

[Allegra]

But they were wrong all along. Operation Iraqi Freedom stands as one of the great humanitarian achievements of modern times. For all the Bush administration's mistakes and miscalculations, for all the monumental challenges that remain, Iraq is vastly better off today than it was before the war.

Dang right it is. I'm pleasantly surprised to see such an article in the Boston Globe of all places!

[Cincinatus' Wife]

As a teller of the truth, Jacoby is a thorn in their side.

[MEG33]

A welcome article on what's going right in Iraq.

[Aquinasfan]

Great article. The quotes are priceless.

The BBC, citing a "confidential" UN document, predicted that up to 500,000 Iraqis would be seriously injured during the first phase of an American attack, while 1 million would flee the country and 2 million more would be internally displaced -- all compounded by an "outbreak of diseases in epidemic if not pandemic proportions."

I must have missed this, as well as the upsurge in "hate crimes" following the release of "The Passion."

[Aquinasfan]

Dang right it is. I'm pleasantly surprised to see such an article in the Boston Globe of all places!

He's the token conservative.

[An.American.Expatriate]

Now, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees reports, "nothing remains of Ashrafi but rubble and a few stones."

Stated with a longing for the good old days . . .

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Gosh, if this spread, they could be put out of business.

[tkathy]

This needs to be articulated better. The message is simply not getting out. Perhaps even in a political commercial.

[Jim Noble]

This needs to be articulated better. The message is simply not getting out. Perhaps even in a political commercial.

Our problem in Iraq is not a PR problem.

In fact, too much concern about PR is the problem.

Nuke Fallujah.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

The partisan media won't report the news when it supports Bush but they will pad, spin and omit news to support the Left.

[Coop]

Unbelievable that something like this would not be capturing headlines. Any guesses as to how many hours of coverage a Clinton Administration would have received for it?

[gitmogrunt]

Nothing personal but in light of burnt american corpses hanging from bridges,how about not posting these "what has gone right" articles.

Call me when Bush orders the carpet bombing of fallujah, umm...err..in the meantime, take off the rose colored glasses.

Thanks ever so much.

[adam_az]

"Over and over they warned that a US invasion would trigger a humanitarian cataclysm"

It has.... our guys being burned alive and their corpses mutilated.

FALLUJAH DELENDA EST!

[Roscoe Karns]

Could the transition to democracy still fail? Yes ,with any luck. </ average lib>

[Ragtime Cowgirl]

Thank you, Cincinatus' Wife, Coop. Y
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WITH ALL the news coming out of the Middle East, here is a detail you might have missed: A few weeks ago, the United Nations shut down the Ashrafi refugee camp in southwestern Iran. For years Ashrafi had been the largest facility in the world housing displaced Iraqis, tens of thousands of whom had been driven from their homes by Saddam Hussein's brutality. But with Saddam behind bars and his regime crushed, Iraqi exiles have been flocking home. By mid-February the camp had literally emptied out. Now, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees reports, "nothing remains of Ashrafi but rubble and a few stones."

[Coop]

If you don't like it, don't click on the link. Continue living in your world of doom.

[ohioWfan]

This is EXACTLY the time to post articles like this one.

We are in a WAR. The deaths are tragedies.......horrible, horrible tragedies...... but they are not the whole story, and the whole story MUST be told.