Posted on 07/05/2005 5:50:28 PM PDT by CHARLITE
Kofi Annan had what perhaps was the quote of the week recently. In an editorial displayed in The Washington Post, Annan said of Iraq: “In a media-hungry age, visibility is often regarded as proof of success, but this does not necessarily hold true in Iraq.” Most of Iraq’s successes have been away from the camera. They have been too far away for most Americans to see. President Bush has stated that “successes” abound in Iraq, but he has failed to elaborate. Therefore, I followed Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi’s advice and searched for the real facts about Iraq.
We do see a certain side of Iraq on television each night. It is a twisted maze of operations, both good and bad. There are homicide bombings, there is violence, and there is bloodshed. Almost each day, there is a heinous crime beamed back to America for the benefit of the evening news. However, there are many success that escape the cameras and reporters. In a nation so loud with bombings and destruction, the quiet sounds of progress are not easily heard. If America is to remain committed to its mission, Americans must know the truth about Iraq. Iraq has now embarked on its dangerous phase of reconstruction in economic, social, and political fashion.
Iraq’s economic struggles should not surprise Americans. Unemployment has declined, but it still hovers near 25%, the approximate rate of unemployment in America during the Great Depression. However, things are changing. In an America that needs to get away from excessive bureaucracy, Iraq merely desires to found one. Iraq's new government now hires some 1.2 million employees, a major step forward as Iraq seeks an efficient centralized government. American projects have brought some 77,000 jobs to willing Iraqis. The greatest change has come in the form of Iraqi business. Iraq has opened its first stock exchange, and some 20,000 new Iraqi businesses were registered in 2004.
Iraq has benefited from the growth of cell phones and the media. Cell phone use increased some 150% in 2004 to more than 1,192,000 subscribers. Iraq also has achieved extensive growth in communication. Last year, Iraq boasted 75 radio stations, 180 newspapers, and 10 television stations. For a nation approximately the size of California, the growth in communication is heartening.
Social changes in Iraq are another sign of improvement. Iraqi children have seen their crumbling schools reconstructed. Some 569 new schools have been planned, and over 3100 schools have been renovated. Other structures such as water treatment plants have been built as well. Last year, Iraq got its first active water treatment plant in over twelve years. Over 47 nations have brought embassies back to Iraq, and Iraq has managed to strengthen and build a higher education system that contains 20 universities, 46 colleges, and four research centers.
No research center, though, can show the greatest promise of Iraq. That promise has come in the form of the children. Last year, as students prepared for final exams, security threats caused a media frenzy. However, no one covered that students were encouraged to attend despite the threats. Women were especially encouraged to attend, given that so many had not ever attended school for long. After the war, UNICEF had estimated that attendance was down near 60% of all students, a dangerous level. Still, Iraq’s children became remarkable patriots that day. Girls came in large numbers, and they even outperformed boys on their exams. UNICEF later cited estimates that showed some 96 to 99.4% of all students in classrooms taking their exams. Despite the complete lack of media coverage, Iraq’s students had shown their remarkable courage.
Finally, there has come political progress in Iraq. The State Department released a report that showed how Iraqi women were once raped, beheaded, beaten, and tortured in order to staunch dissent. Perhaps the most tragic story was that of Najat Mohammad Haydan, a doctor beheaded for criticizing the healthcare system. Uday Hussein, Saddam’s oldest son, purportedly beheaded over 200 women. Now there is a new day for women in Iraq. Turnout in elections was unprecedented, and now some of the women that may have once been beheaded can serve in Iraq’s new government. That, though, is only the beginning. Kofi Annan has some 800 UN officials inside Iraq working with Iraqis to make deals to create a democratic government with minority rights and an ultimate constitution that will express Iraqi freedom.
That is what is happening inside Iraq. It was best expressed by Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari after his election as a member of the first democratic government in Iraqi history. He stated: “I would like to tell the widows and orphans... your sacrifices have not gone in vain.” Iraq remains a bloody nation. Bombers threaten both Americans and Iraqis, but there should be no mistake. The Americans are winning, and the statistics from the ground prove it. President Bush may not know the statistics, or he may just be reluctant to say them. However, with the support of the American people on the line, Iraqis and Americans should know that their sacrifices are not in vain. We are winning the peace in Iraq.
Comments: Dkilgray@aol.com
Looking forward to the talk radio hosts to blow this wide open on their Iraq tour.
Ping
Is there a tour scheduled for talk radio host? Do tell please.
BTTT
Char :)
A group of right-wing radio talk-show people are making a trip to Iraq.
The left's darling, Ellis, was screeching his head off about it tonight - it was so funny. Talk about somebody's head exploding .. Henschen's face was so red I was sure I would see steam coming out his ears. ROTFLOL!!!
When I first heard about this trip and the left's reaction (calling it propaganda), all it told me was the LEFT IS UPSET THAT THE AMERICAN PEOPLE WILL FINALLY SEE AND HEAR ABOUT THE TRUTH. ROTFLOL!!
Melanie Morgan - MoveAmericaForward.org
Iraq - Freedom vs. Tyranny:
I watched Ellis also on O'Reily and what a clown. He kept interrupting the woman (forgot her name) who was one of the radio commentators that went to Iraq. Ellis looked like garbage and she flayed him. He is a first class jacka@@.
Awesome!!!! Thank you I can't wait.
The gal was Melanie Morgan - and she with KSFO in San Francisco. She's also affiliated with MoveAmericaForward.org. They were primarily responsible for the recall of Gray Davis.
The "radio commentators" haven't been to Iraq yet. I don't know exactly when they're going - but it will be soon.
Thankfully, they shut Ellis up - and I like that he was chastised for not allowing her to speak.
.......embarrasing to his party....and Melanie wiped the floor up with him on O'Reilly tonight! I loved it. She has such class, which glaringly contrasts with his foolish party hack image. Ellis should find another line of work. He's as bad or worse than Lawrence O'Donnell. But then, their party's spokespeople are SO PATHETIC, that it would take pages to list all of them.......like Susan Estrich, all the nags at N.O.W. etc....no end to these losers.
Char :)
That' snot funny
The sad part is that if we falter and the anti-American and anti-Iraq bigots succeed, this hell that Iraq is in right now will be remembered as a golden age. We therefore cannot falter, cannot fail, and we will not.
GOOD ONE!
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