Posted on 07/06/2005 3:19:57 PM PDT by quidnunc
Had he wished, President Bush could have filled his entire speech last week with good news from Iraq.
He could have cited the latest economic statistics that show the Iraqi economy growing at a 17% annual rate, that unemployment has dropped by as much as one-half, with per capita income rising from less than US$700 at the liberation to a projected US$1,200 in 2007.
He could have made the point that 4.3 million Iraqi children are now enrolled in school, that teacher pay has been raised by more than 600% over prewar levels.
He could have talked about the rebirth of an independent media in Iraq: some 23 commercial television stations, 80 radio stations, 170 newspapers and magazines.
He could have mentioned Iraq's environmental recovery, as U.S. engineers blow up the dikes that drained and poisoned the marshes of southern Iraq and allow the Marsh Arabs to return to their ancient homes.
The President did point with pride to the Jan. 30 elections, the first fully free and fair elections in Iraq's history. But he could have gone on to describe the emergence of a responsive, representative and accountable government through negotiation rather than violence or fraud. And he could have referenced the opinion polls that show strong optimism about the future amongst Iraqis themselves: solid majorities now say that Iraq is headed in the "right direction" and that they expect their own lives to be better a year from now than they are today.
That would have been quite a speech. And there is much more that the President could not say — but that we are free to notice.
The point is often made that Iraq's election was a shock to the stagnant politics of the region. The great Islamic scholar Bernard Lewis has described the elections as potentially the most significant challenge to the region's inherited order since Napoleon's invasion of Egypt in 1798.
But the Iraq war is transforming the region in ways less easy to talk about, but no less potentially profound.
-snip-
Good article. We could also talk about how much of their own time and money our troops are using to help the Iraqi people.
Frum trying to get a jump on those radio personalities who are going over to Iraq to report?
ping
Is Ali Limbali`s radio talk show on the internet yet ?
We could also talk about how much of their own time and money our troops are using to help the Iraqi people.
Yes indeed. I second that!!!
Is Ali Limbali`s radio talk show on the internet yet ?
I don't think so, but maybe Rush Limbali is.
BTTT
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.