A Bit of Good News On Iraq-Peters

[Annie]

http://www.nypost.com/postopinion/opedcolumnists/64407.htm

March 1, 2006 -- THE reporting out of Baghdad continues to be hysterical and dishonest. There is no civil war in the streets. None. Period.

Terrorism, yes. Civil war, no. Clear enough?

Yesterday, I crisscrossed Baghdad, visiting communities on both banks of the Tigris and logging at least 25 miles on the streets. With the weekend curfew lifted, I saw traffic jams, booming business — and everyday life in abundance.

Yes, there were bombings yesterday. The terrorists won't give up on their dream of sectional strife, and know they can count on allies in the media as long as they keep the images of carnage coming. They'll keep on bombing. But Baghdad isn't London during the Blitz, and certainly not New York on 9/11.

It's more like a city suffering a minor, but deadly epidemic. As in an epidemic, no one knows who will be stricken. Rich or poor, soldier or civilian, Iraqi or foreigner. But life goes on. No one's fleeing the Black Death — or the plague of terror.

And the people here have been impressed that their government reacted effectively to last week's strife, that their soldiers and police brought order to the streets. The transition is working.

Most Iraqis want better government, better lives — and democracy. It is contagious, after all. Come on over. Talk to them. Watch them risk their lives every day to work with us or with their government to build their own future.

Oh, the attacks will continue. They're even predictable, if not always preventable. Driving through Baghdad's Kerada Peninsula District, my humvee passed long gas lines as people waited to fill their tanks in the wake of the curfew. I commented to the officer giving me a lift that the dense lines of cars and packed gas stations offered great targets to the terrorists. An hour later, one was hit with a car bomb.

The bombing made headlines (and a news photographer just happened to be on the scene). Here in Baghdad, it just made the average Iraqis hate the terrorists even more.

You are being lied to. By elements in the media determined that Iraq must fail. Just give 'em the Bronx cheer.

 

[NATO AIR]

damn, you beat me by 1 minute. i was ready to post this baby for some good news.

peters is the man, right or wrong. Never afraid to put his ass on the line and say something that might piss off folks or go against the conventional wisdom.

His previous column this week was great too, especially the bit about "dirt sailors". I'm trying to be one myself

 

[theHawk]

Yea its funny to see on yahoo the headlines "Iraq on the brink of civil war!"

 

[Mariner]

reporting in the major newspapers. The Times headlines and stories have corrected the initial reports of the number of mosques attacked and have emphasized that the violence was quelled and tensions eased by the curfew last Friday and the multi-sectarian calls for calm.

Iraq's a mixed picture. Some good, some bad. Many risks along the way. The author doesn't acknowledge, for example, that it's not obvious that democracy leads to peace or to allegiance to the U.S. Iraq could easily end up an Islamist democracy. I just hope that this giant social/military experiment succeeds.

Mariner.

 

[rtwngAvngr]

I can't believe the mass hypnosis going on. "There's no civil war in iraq. Selling port operation to uae is a good idea. Pay no attention to the little man behind the curtain."