Good News Does Come From Iraq « Foehammer’s Anvil

In the storm of media negativity that surrounds the Iraq war, the truth about the majority of good happenings goes unheard far too often. That’s why I’m glad to post this link to the following article coming from the Wall Street Journal editorial page (with thanks to J. Lalor):

Taking Power

A roundup of the past two weeks’ good news in Iraq.

BY ARTHUR CHRENKOFF

Monday, July 19, 2004 12:01 a.m. EDT

Another fortnight in Iraq, another fortnight’s worth of news about terrorism, hostages, military and civilian casualties, faulty intelligence in the run-up to war, and the problems of reconstruction, as our mainstream media continue to focus overwhelmingly on bad news from the Mesopotamian quagmire. And yet, some still think that the latest coverage is actually too positive–as in this Reuters story: “Some U.S. news outlets are treating the ‘transfer of power’ to Iraqis as a new beginning for the country, even though the situation on the ground seems little altered, experts said.” Some “experts” will remain “little altered” regardless of the actual situation on the ground.

And yet, there is good news coming out of Iraq, as this compilation of all the positive developments that you might have otherwise missed clearly demonstrates. I started looking out for good news from Iraq over two months ago, having gotten fed up with the unrelenting barrage of negative coverage, which focused almost exclusively on violence, failure and dashed hopes. The good news is much underreported and not always easy to find, but clearly it’s out there. Taken together with the usual Iraq coverage, it paints a much more balanced and, dare I say it, nuanced picture of a country, which is still waking up from a three-decade-long nightmare and trying against many odds to become normal.

In many ways, it now falls to the political blogs to do the work one would expect from the mainstream media–to provide a fair and balanced picture of situation in Iraq. It’s the blogs that dig up the information, disseminate it, and bring to everyone’s attention the more outrageous examples of media bias or carelessness with facts. As John Leo wrote recently, “What’s new about the press is that so many people who follow it with a critical eye now have an outlet to howl about inaccuracy and partisanship. The big media used to be able to shrug off critics like this. Now they can’t.”

So here’s the latest good news:

-Iraqi society. A mixed, but generally encouraging, picture emerges out of the latest poll of Iraqis conducted the Iraqi Center for Strategic Research and Studies in seven major cities following the transfer of sovereignty:

Iraqi public has little faith in the new interim government of Ayad Allawi, with only 27 percent approving the formation of his cabinet. However, more than two thirds (81 percent) said they would like Allawi’s government to disarm local militias or bring them under its control. . . . More than half believed that the forthcoming general elections would be “just and fair” while only 18 percent said they would be “unfair” . . .

66 percent of Iraqis objected to the presence of foreign troops while only 29 percent said their presence was necessary. An even lesser number–41 percent–said they would feel safe if the troops left. . . .

Regarding electricity, 64 percent agreed to a question that power supplies were worse than under the ousted leader Saddam Hussein. But 58 percent said the overall economic situation was better than before. . . .

The poll . . . reinforces results from earlier surveys that Iraqis dislike any system of government that is based on religious, sectarian or ethnic grounds.

Which is surely encouraging for the future. Not to mention rather underreported.