Back in June 2005, The New York Times ran an interesting article about Iraq.
It is called an update. It shows what's going well and what's not.
There are 160,000 Internet subscribers in Iraq today compared to 1,000 before the war. There are 3.3 million telephone users compared to 800,000 before the war.
So the Iraqis are enjoying their new freedom. The Iraqis are talking and chatting. No one gets killed in Iraq anymore for criticizing the government. No one has to watch their daughter get raped for holding anti-government point of view.
Maybe this is why Iraqi are optimistic.
My favorite number is this: 65% believe that their country is headed in the right direction.
Also, 75% support their new government.
Last but not least, there are 170 independent newspapers and magazines compared to 8 before.
On the negative side, too many innocent people are getting killed. Suicide attacks are up considerably. Iraq has a security problem.
So life is a lot better than people say that it is. is not perfect but neither is Texas.
Yet, it is fair to say that things are better than what the leftist international media is reporting.
This is the problem. international press is bent on highlighting the negatives. They hate Bush so they present a false picture of life in Iraq.
Again, no one is trying to cover up the truth. Iraq has problems. But the leftist media has bigger problems dealing with the truth.
For a great history lesson about Iraq, read President Bush's excellent book: