Progress in Iraq (Safire)

The New York Times ^ | May 31, 2004 | William Safire

[Piranha]

WASHINGTON — Have you read the encouraging headlines from Iraq? "Monthly U.S. Combat Deaths Down by Half in May" is one. "Radical Shiite Cleric's Militia Decimated in Holy Cities" is another, and finally: "Iraqi Leaders, Defying U.S. and U.N. Dictates, Choose Prime Minister."

No, those were not headlines anybody could see. In Gloomy Gus newsrooms, good news is no news.

***********SNIP************** [C]onsider the possibility, for a change, that on our Memorial Day, we have cause for cautious optimism.

Rather than admit this, our dovish defeatists have turned themselves into the hardest of hardliners. **************SNIP************** Of course, if coalition forces were to crack down hard on the centers of insurgency and terror — as we should — the critics now going nyah-nyah would be asking: What about the hearts and minds of innocents caught in the crossfire? And what about the cost in U.S. lives? The "prophets of gloom and doom," in Adlai Stevenson's phrase, want to have bad news both ways.

But the naysayers were astounded, along with the U.N.'s Lakhdar Brahimi and the White House's Robert Blackwill, when Iraqi leaders started acting last week like Iraqi leaders. ****************SNIP***************** Pachachi, whose exile ended with our overthrow of Saddam, was overtly ungrateful to the Americans.

Alawi, however, was noncommittal... ****************SNIP***************** Present and former C.I.A. types, fresh from exacting their vengeance on their hated critic, Ahmad Chalabi, are telling media outlets that Alawi has always been their asset. This boasting by our leakiest intelligence agents is harmful to the presumptive prime minister because Alawi cannot let himself appear to be any outsider's puppet. But apparently some of our spooks feel that settling scores and falsely claiming credit takes precedence over U.S. and Iraqi interests.

Now the fast-fading three B's — Brahimi, Blackwill and Bremer — are joining with Alawi to put across Pachachi as figurehead president to appeal to the Arab League's Moussa. *****************SNIP***************** Present Iraqi leaders like Alawi are clearly asserting themselves. We will not like all they insist upon. But they are lurching toward a democratic decision, and despite the hand-wringing of Gloomy Gus & Company, that's real progress.

[Piranha]

Remarkable article. I don't know how he can bear to continue to work for the NYTimes.

I especially like his comment about the 3 Bs: Blackwill, Brahimi and Bremer. The sooner they are gone, the better.

[Carry_Okie]

I don't know how he can bear to continue to work for the NYTimes.

They pay him well.

[Piranha]

I'm sure he's paid very well, and worth every penny.

I'm glad that he is able to get his message to the hundreds of thousands of people why read the NYTimes every day. Personally, I wouldn't have the stomach for it.

[stevem]

Remarkable article. I don't know how he can bear to continue to work for the NYTimes.

Safire writes the occasional article to give you optimism. However, he should never be mistaken for a conservative. He is, more than anything else, a Nixon type Republican.

[Rennes Templar]

"Safire writes the occasional article to give you optimism. However, he should never be mistaken for a conservative. He is, more than anything else, a Nixon type Republican."

Well then at least we know he's not a crook!