Posted on 03/15/2004 12:58:01 PM PST by quidnunc
Oil production is back to where it was before the war started. So is electrical power generation. Thousands of police and teachers have been trained. New scouting programs for boys and girls have even taken root. And, most important, a new interim constitution is now in place.
One year after President Bush ordered the U.S. military to invade Iraq, evidence mounts that the nation is headed in the direction Bush has promised — toward a fully functioning democracy that is at peace with its neighbors and that honors individual rights.
Attacks on American soldiers have eased. Unemployment has declined. Food and water supplies now match or exceed pre-war levels, according to the Coalition Provisional Authority.
"Because we acted, an example of democracy is rising at the very heart of the Middle East," Bush told campaign contributors last week. "Because we acted, the world is more free and America is more secure."
Even so, as the United States' daring proposal to remake the Middle East enters its second year, some foreign-policy experts say it's far too early to predict whether the president will realize his goal of turning Iraq into a peaceful democracy.
Thomas Carothers, a scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, says it may take a decade or two, or even more, for a true democracy to develop, "given Iraq's history of political repression and violence, its divided society and its centralized economic resources."
Some say success is far from assured.
If growing discontent about the American-led occupation continues in Iraq, said former CIA analyst Ken Pollack, "that's the start of a disaster for the United States. … The jury is still out."
Many allies of the president argue, though, that with Saddam Hussein in prison and awaiting trial, it's not too early to declare Bush's decision to invade Iraq a resounding success.
"Iraq is demonstrably better than it was six months ago, six years ago or 16 years ago," former Education Secretary William Bennett said at a recent Heritage Foundation speech.
-snip-
(Excerpt) Read more at knoxstudio.com ...
There's no evidence that "discontent" is "growing." In fact, it seems to be diminishing except near the screechy DNC Talking Points FAX machine. Last night, NBC News managed to find ONE family that bemoans a lack of "safety and security." As in, bring back Sad Man. The only places that "discontent" is "growing" is at the TV networks and various left-leaning newspaper offices.
"Mounting" and "growing" are two words reporters and headline writers use without regards to the facts.
Michael
That said, I am pleased with the progress being made in the country of Iraq. Iraq is a much different place than what it was one year ago today.
If growing discontent about the American-led occupation continues in Iraq, said former CIA analyst Ken Pollack, "that's the start of a disaster for the United States. … The jury is still out."
No doubt, no doubt...
This brings a quote from T. Roosevelt to mind...
It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement; and who, at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.
We may win, we may lose, but by Heaven, we are striving. Striving to change the face of the Middle East, and thus protect our citizens.
It might be better to huddle in the corner and 'hope the crocodile eats you last,' but it is hardly American.
IMHO, of course.
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