Posted on 11/22/2006 7:28:20 AM PST by Tirian
It's 5 AM in Qatar, where we landed an hour or so ago. Yes, the Iraq portion of this trip is over. Not without a few final twists and turns, naturally. We got into the Green Zone Monday night and camped out in a media lounge. Standing outside in the parking lot the following morning, a very sharp explosion could be heard, but that's not enough to stop people from going about their business here.
Gulf Reconstruction Division official and host par excellence Tommy Clarkson had arranged interviews with a number of senior officials. There is a major disconnect between the way the reconstruction story is reported in the MSM and the reality on the ground. Much of the MSM focus is on the fact that Baghdad residents enjoy fewer hours of electricity now than before the war. That ignores the fact that, overall, electricity output has increased significantly and that Iraqis in other areas of the country enjoy much more daily power than before the war. During his reign, Saddam monopolized power for the capital, literally threatening engineers with death should there be an interruption. Power is now equitably shared across the country. There are also hundreds of major water, oil and other infrastructure projects that have been completed or are under construction.
The Iraqi civilians and others working on the reconstruction projects are brave and dedicated people. Many of them have been killed by insurgents, who in an exercise of the worst nihilism want to prevent progress at all costs....
(Excerpt) Read more at newsbusters.org ...
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