Not everything sucks, of course. Here’s a judicious essay in the Washington Post Outlook section on the mix of good and bad news in Iraq, with more emphasis on the slow return to normality and even signs of prosperity. It manages to convey good and bad news in ways that help us make sense of what’s going on. Money quote:
It may seem strange, but this city is suddenly throbbing with street life, even as the guerrilla insurgency drags on. Baghdadis have become tired of waiting for order to be restored, and have decided to get on with life. Traffic jams are monstrous, as drivers burn nickel-a-gallon gas. Some drive used, spit-shined BMWs and Mercedes Benzes imported – basically tax-free, since there’s no government – from relatives or salesmen in the rich Gulf states. Many mornings, it can take an hour to drive from the shopping districts of east Baghdad to the leafier residential neighborhoods west of the Tigris River. Last week, U.S. officials shortened Baghdad’s curfew by an hour, making it from midnight to 4 a.m., saying that the city’s security had improved.
Telephones in Baghdad have barely operated since American missiles shattered the main communications centers last April. Yet across town countless signs in store windows and on walls announce new Internet cafés linked to satellite receivers. A hand-painted banner across one street in east Baghdad advertises new Internet service with “bowsin and chatin 24 hour,” notwithstanding the curfew. In late September, workers began repaving Firdos Square – where Saddam’s giant statue was hauled down on April 9, marking the war’s end – and replanting the central island where Iraqis celebrated that day.
Even the Observer in London is beginning to acknowledge that the Vietnam scenario – so longed for by some – isn’t coming to pass:
“The degree of transparency and cooperation in the work of the council is impressive,” says Rend Rahim Francke of the Iraq Foundation, a non-governmental organisation working for democracy and human rights. “Self-government, long advocated for Iraq, appears to be working well when put into practice.”
For the first time in almost half a century, Iraq has no executions, no political prisoners, no torture and almost no limits on freedom of expression. Having a satellite receiver no longer means imprisonment or even death. There are almost 200 newspapers and magazines that require no police permit and suffer no censorship, and more than 70 political parties and dozens of NGOs. Old professional associations have held elections and new associations have sprung up. People can demonstrate freely – and do.
Yes, some of this will redound to the benefit of Mr Bush and Mr Blair. But that’s no reason to begrudge Iraqis their enw freedom and their latest signs of progress.
The Dish 