As a chronic watcher of cable news, I have come to believe thatwhat the world needs now is not love, sweet love, but sanity. FromGary Coleman's campaign for governor to Kim Jong Il's bouffanthairstyle, it would seem that the planet has gone mad.
Have no fear, though, for I, your humble columnist, have decidedto take up the noble duty of adding sanity to the discourse of ourtime. I hope to demonstrate my sanity throughout this column, butfor now, you'll just have to take my word that I have yet to spendtime in a mental institution.
In my view, the most pressing issue in need of reasonableperspective is the ongoing reconstruction effort in Iraq. Contraryto most media reports describing the situation as a "quagmire,"there is actual good news coming out of Iraq. Here is a shortrundown of our accomplishments so far:
-- Over 30,000 Iraqi police have been hired.
-- 45 of the 55 most wanted have been killed or captured.
-- 1,595 schools have been rehabilitated. Students now haveadequate textbooks.
-- Nearly all hospitals and universities have been reopened.
-- Over 100 independent newspapers have sprung up.
-- 55,000 Iraqi's have been hired by USAID to work onreconstruction.
-- The first battalion of the new Iraqi army has beentrained.
-- There is a governing council consisting of Sunnis, Shiites,Kurds and women.
-- Weapons inspector David Kay has discovered "dozens ofWMD-related program activities" concealed from the UN inspectors,plans for missiles with a range of 1,000 kilometers, and plannedattempts to obtain technology from North Korea related to ballisticmissiles.
Compared with the reconstruction of Germany, a country that hada previous democratic tradition, these results are nothing short ofastounding. Still, there are some who persistently try to compareIraq with another war -- Vietnam.
History buffs will note that the Vietnam war ended in 1975, butthat doesn't seem to phase a bitter former senator from Georgia,Max Cleland, who wrote in a recent editorial, "Welcome to Vietnam,Mr. President."
Cleland writes, "If you want to know what is really going on inthe war, ask the troops on the ground."
Don't mind if I do, Max. Josh Ingram, 20, served as a machinegun squad leader in Iraq with the 3rd Battalion U.S. Marines. Whenhe returned home from his service, he was astonished to hear mediareports of constant chaos and Iraqi opposition to U.S. forces.Ingram noted that the impression he got was conspicuouslydifferent.
"People absolutely loved us everywhere we went," Ingram writes,adding that kids would often run up to the soldiers and give themflowers and gifts as a "thank you" for disposing a horribletyrant.
Bob Arnot, one of the few reporters actually reporting on theprogress in Iraq, is also baffled by the media coverage.
"I contrast some of the infectious enthusiasm I see here withwhat I see on TV and I say, 'Oh my God, am I in the samecountry?'"
Of course, those are the views of two U.S. citizens, and theymay be biased.
What do the Iraqis themselves think? A recent poll taken in Iraqby the American Enterprise Magazine and John Zogby offered someinteresting answers.
The poll found that 7 out of 10 Iraqis think their lives will bebetter in 5 years, with less than 1 in 10 saying they will beworse. When asked which country the new Iraqi government shouldmodel itself on, 37 percent said the United States, more than anyother country, and more than neighboring countries Syria, Iran andEgypt combined. Sixty percent said that they did not want anIslamic government. Interestingly, the Shiites, who some absurdlythought would form an alliance with Iran, were the most opposed tothe idea, with 66 percent saying no to a theocracy.
For those who think this poll might be wrong, a Gallup polltaken in Baghdad found largely the same thing, with 70 percent ofIraqis answering that they are glad the U.S. is there. You'd haveto fish around to find it though, as it was buried in The New YorkTimes on page 16.
Of course, you could also talk to ordinary Iraqis, like MustafaAdna, 18, of the city of Kirkuk. Adna, free to speak hismind� now, told a reporter this: "We love the Americanshere. They have done many good things."
By bringing all of this to your attention, I do not mean toimply that Iraq is a perfect situation or that it is not dangerous.I am merely pointing out that the country is much better off thanthe media portrays it to be and that it ever was under SaddamHussein. To suggest otherwise would be insane.
