Paul Harvey Goes To Baghdad

...in a matter of speaking.

The Left will never cease trying to depict Iraq as a "sea of chaos" and our mission there as a "lost cause" on which we should immediately pull the plug. And for the reason the Right should never cease trying to set the record straight and give the true and full picture of liberated Iraq:

Monsignor Rabban al Qas, a Chaldean bishop in Iraq, was recently interviewed by a foreign journalist, who asked him, "Twenty-three Iraqis are killed every day in Iraq. Nearly two years after the fall of Saddam Hussein, there is no security as yet. Is there still hope in Iraq?"

Monsignor al Qas replied,

"What the media portray is true: explosions, killings, attacks. But if you see how much order, discipline, transport, displacements, and work have improved, there is a change for the better compared to one or two years ago. Now people understand there is a government, the structure of a new state. Thousands and thousands of allied and Iraqi soldiers are present. There is a constitution which is being drawn up, laws are being enacted. The presence of authority is recognized. This was not the case before. And Al-Qaeda integralists and terrorists coming from abroad seek to penetrate Iraq precisely to destroy the beginnings of this social organization." [emphasis added]

Amazing that so few Americans look at it so commonsensically.

Mr. Sandstrom adds some "fairness and balance" of his own:

More than ten TV channels have been founded since the end of the Hussein regime; there are hundreds of newspapers and the Iraqi people are getting more access to foreign media. Needless to say, this would have been impossible under the reign of Saddam Hussein.

When looking at the political and economic development of Iraq, it becomes even more obvious that things are getting better rapidly. According to The Economist, the Iraqi economy grew more than 30% in 2004 and it is predicted to grow at 34% this year. Iraq's "New Dinar" currency, introduced in 2003, has been performing strongly and it has appreciated by about 25% against the dollar in two years. The country's banking system has been modernized and Iraq is taking steps towards a functioning market economy.

And yes, Chairman How, Iraqi women are better off - far better off.

This is what the jihadis are trying to disrupt; this is what they're trying to prevent; this is what they're trying to destroy. And the Cindy Sheehan/Michael Moore/moveon.org insurrectionists and their puppets in the Democrat Party are their cheering section.

This is, even more than Vietnam, a pure matter of will. We cannot be defeated by our enemies; we can only defeat ourselves. And the latter is the only way that Iraq can fail and fall.

And now you know (and will continue to hear)....the rest of the story.

UPDATE 8/20: Here's a ton more where that came from....(via Squiggler and B4B)