I felt that way in early 2004, but as time and events wore on, I realized that we were mismanaging the whole deal badly, and that we were in for a long, ugly ride. I'm afraid that 2006 is far too optimistic an assesment. There will be bad news coming out of Iraq for the next few years, and what good news there is will be easily overlooked by the media.
I first arrived in January '04 and didn't feel very optimistic then. And it got even bleaker (I'm sure you remember April '04) before it started getting better.
Having been here over two years now, I've seen great strides, mostly in the last year. I've seen them, but I don't ever hear the news talking about that.
I really feel that things are progressing well and in the right direction. There are setbacks like the shrine bombing and there will be setbacks to come. But I really see this whole situation getting better all the time.
We can agree to disagree. And thank you from the bottom of my heart for your service.