Good News in Iraq
February 21, 2005 · By Tom Cerber
Victor Davis Hanson and the Belmont Club provide evidence that things in Iraq are on the upswing, in part due to the failing insurgency, even though the MSM (mainstream media) hasn’t done much to tell us about it. The Belmont Club reports:
The regular newspapers have in their own way chronicled the insurgency’s decline. The new European friendliness towards the Bush administration; Kofi Annan’s pitiful attempt to claim credit for the Iraqi elections; America’s recent agressiveness towards Syria; Senator Clinton’s newfound optimism; the Ba’athist recent despair — each chronicles after its fashion the story of defeat — though the reader is left to deduce who is defeated.
BC has further links to stories detailing so-called top secret talks between Sunni insurgents and US officials (how can they be “top secret” when even Reuters knows about them?) and efforts by Sunnis to engage in the political process after the elections.
All in all, some reasons to remain hopeful. It does remind me, however, of a statement made by an 80 year old Shi’ite immediately after the elections.
“We have freedom now, we have human rights, we have democracy,” Mr. Majid said. “We will invite the insurgents to take part in our system. If they do, we will welcome them. If they don’t, we will kill them.”
Thomas Hobbes, reflecting on the formation of the covenant, could not have said it better. [hat tip, No Left Turns]
[...] ecrepit monarchies and quasi-republics of Europe toward representative demoracy, and Bush, who’s doing it for Middle Eastern despots, the US takes on the role of pu [...]
[...] style bargaining among the various factions who got elected into the legislative assembly, as well as secret negotiations between US officials and insurgents who seem to want [...]