Video: The most relentlessly upbeat Iraq news segment you’ll ever see
posted at 9:00 pm on March 17, 2009 by Allahpundit
There’s nothing here you don’t already know, but knowing it and seeing it are two different things. Consider this a belated video companion piece to Dexter Filkins’s return to Iraq last fall for the NYT. Six months later, no story I’ve read better captures the amazement at how much progress has been made:
Abu Nawas Park — I didn’t recognize that, either. By the time I had left the country in August 2006, the two-mile stretch of riverside park was a grim, spooky, deserted place, a symbol for the dying city that Baghdad had become.
These days, the same park is filled with people: families with children, women in jeans, women walking alone. Even the nighttime, when Iraqis used to cower inside their homes, no longer scares them. I can hear their laughter wafting from the park. At sundown the other day, I had to weave my way through perhaps 2,000 people. It was an astonishing, beautiful scene — impossible, incomprehensible, only months ago…
Standing in the middle of the downtown, I found myself disoriented. I had been here before — I was certain — but still I couldn’t recognize the place. Two summers ago, when I’d last been in Ramadi, the downtown lay in ruins. Only one building stood then, the Anbar provincial government center, and the Americans were holding onto it at all cost. For hundreds of yards in every direction, everything was destroyed; streets, buildings, cars, even the rubble had been ground to dust. Ramadi looked like Dresden, or Grozny, or some other obliterated city. Insurgents attacked every day.
And then, suddenly, I realized it: I was standing in front of the government center itself. It was sporting a fresh concrete facade, which had been painted off-white with brownish trim. Over the entrance hung a giant official seal of Anbar Province. The road where I stood had been recently paved; it was black and smooth. The rubble had been cleared away. American marines were walking about, without helmets or flak jackets or even guns.
You’ll find the same spirit in this ABC segment. There’s still trouble afoot — read Roggio’s latest for new info about Iran’s infiltration of the country — but for the moment it’s a detail. With the situation this quiet, the hardcore anti-war contingent in Congress needs something else to busy itself with. I think they’ve found it.
Blowback
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Amazing how quickly things got better as soon as ‘The One’ ascended the throne.
AUINSC on March 17, 2009 at 9:03 PM
Bush’s fault.
Good Lt on March 17, 2009 at 9:04 PM
We shall see just how well they do, and what they do, when the American cast comes off.
MB4 on March 17, 2009 at 9:05 PM
Harry Reid was unavailable for comment. We tried to contact Jack Murtha but he’s somewhere between Japan and Hawaii, ‘retreating over the horizon’.
GarandFan on March 17, 2009 at 9:05 PM
I question the timing.
/ducks
DrSteve on March 17, 2009 at 9:06 PM
Well let’s be honest here. “Liberals” are the most racist people in the world. In their small undeveloped minds, only Western countries can have freedom and democracy.
Bush was right. History will vindicate him in this regard.
Lance Murdock on March 17, 2009 at 9:06 PM
no surprise. interestingly enough Real clear world ranked the ten most dangerous cities, not one Iraqi city. By the way, screw the left.
rob verdi on March 17, 2009 at 9:07 PM
The One is president now. It’s okay to talk about Iraq being in good shape.
amerpundit on March 17, 2009 at 9:08 PM
Being someone who was against the War, but for the surge…I’m starting to wonder if both missions were good after all?
Dadvocate on March 17, 2009 at 9:08 PM
Interesting.
No mention of Bush at all.
What did they mention?
“this year” and “hope” was used more than once, “change” was also used.
Just saying!
artist on March 17, 2009 at 9:10 PM
Good on the Iraqis. If there’s anyone who deserves a free and democratic society, it’s the people who lived under the thumb of Senor Psychopath and his a**hole sons for so very long.
mjk on March 17, 2009 at 9:10 PM
Meanwhil, in Afghanistan…
SouthernGent on March 17, 2009 at 9:11 PM
The msm will NEVER call out the Dems who said democracy was impossible in Iraq.
Remember all the “smart” academic “experts”?
heh
artist on March 17, 2009 at 9:12 PM
A time to remember all the men and women from armed forces the world over who sacrificed to make this all a reality.
It may not be perfect but it’s a start and a start is pretty good considering what the Iraqis had under Saddam.
Bishop on March 17, 2009 at 9:14 PM
Indeed. Because this administration won’t remember them.
AUINSC on March 17, 2009 at 9:15 PM
Say what?
Guardian on March 17, 2009 at 9:17 PM
To all the United States and Coalition Military Forces, their families, support staff, President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney, who sacrificed so much for the sound of laughter, the sound of FREEDOM…….
………….. Thank You!
Seven Percent Solution on March 17, 2009 at 9:18 PM
But Harry Reid said the war was lost!
carbon_footprint on March 17, 2009 at 9:19 PM
I hate to break it to the Iraqis (and the democrats) but Democracy is a cr#ppy form of government. Republicanism is the best form of government.
People need to remember that this country was founded with only 1/2 of 1/3 of our federal government utilizing democratic processes, and even then it was nothing close to universal suffrage. Unrestricted voting for unlimited positions is a sure recipe for disaster, as our Founders so carefully noted.
progressoverpeace on March 17, 2009 at 9:19 PM
Perhaps someday the Iraqis will come to liberate the US.. ;(
katy on March 17, 2009 at 9:20 PM
guardian, Ha!
rob verdi on March 17, 2009 at 9:22 PM
Give it time. The Iraqis will either, a) vote in an islamist party, or b) allow themselves to be taken over by the same. They like the freedom now, but these are the same muslims that murder their daughters for perceived indiscretions. A respect for human rights and freedom is not part of their genetic makeup. Being free of Saddam allows them to shoot their Ak-47s in the air in jubilation. But freedom to change religion, not so much.
keep the change on March 17, 2009 at 9:24 PM
I doubt it…it’s a quagmire of hopenchange…
AUINSC on March 17, 2009 at 9:24 PM
You may not be joking (for good reason), but that’s the first good laugh I’ve had all day. TY.
Erich66 on March 17, 2009 at 9:25 PM
“This war is lost.”
The Democrat seditionist drumbeat for three years.
profitsbeard on March 17, 2009 at 9:27 PM
Condi is a dangerous incompetent
I’ve written before about how Rice makes faulty comparisons between the evolution of democratic principle (all men are created equal) in the United States and the introduction of democratic procedure (ballot boxes) to the Middle East, always ignoring both the miracle of our 18th-century Constitution, which contained the blueprint for abolition, and the dispiriting reality of 21st century Islamic constitutions, which charter Sharia states where freedom of conscience (among other things) doesn’t exist. I’ve written also about how she sees the transformation of her once-segregated hometown of Birmingham, Ala., as the blueprint for democratizing the Islamic world. Hers is a worldview personal to the point of autobiographical, as when she explains how, as a daughter of Birmingham (or “Bombingham,” as she has called it), she can relate both to Israeli fear of Palestinian bombs, and Palestinian “humiliation and powerlessness” over Israeli checkpoints, which she sees as a form of segregation. What she never seems to realize is that such “segregation,” far being the sort of prejudice she remembers, is actually an Israeli line of defense against the ultimate prejudice of Palestinian bombs.
Considering her remarks about America’s “birth defect” — an egregious term for any secretary of state to use about a nation that has brought more liberty to more races, colors and creeds than any in history — I am struck anew how deeply Rice’s vision of race in America, or, perhaps, in segregated Birmingham, affects her vision of America in the wider world. It is as if Rice sees American influence as a means by which to address what she perceives as disparities of race or Third World heritage on the international level.
This would help explain her ahistorical habit of linking the civil rights movement to the Bush administration’s effort to bring democracy to Iraq and Afghanistan. Indeed, in a 2003 speech to the National Association of Black Journalists, she argued that blacks, more than others, should “reject” the “condescending” argument that some are not “ready” for freedom. “That view was wrong in 1963 in Birmingham and it’s wrong in 2003 in Baghdad,” she said. In 2006, she made a similar point. “When I look around the world and I hear people say, `Well, you know, they’re just not ready for democracy,’ it really does resonate,” Rice told CBS’s Katie Couric. “It makes me so angry because I think there are those echoes of what people once thought about black Americans.”
There’s something shockingly provincial at work here. In seeing so much of the world through an American prism of race, Rice has effectively blinded herself to historical and cultural and religious differences between Islam and the West. To put it simply, neither Baghdad nor Gaza is Birmingham. And nothing in all of history quite compares to Philadelphia.
- Diana West
MB4 on March 17, 2009 at 9:30 PM
Wolfowitz predicted correctly in ’02.
He always maintained Asscrackistan would end up being our quag.
blatantblue on March 17, 2009 at 9:32 PM
We liberate a country from a tyrant named Hussein only to enslave ourselves to a tyrant named Hussein.
I’m confused…
katy on March 17, 2009 at 9:34 PM
Hope and Change has come to Iraq! It’s safe to report that now, since Bush is gone. Oh, and… All Clear! We can pull out now! (Except the 50,000 strong residual force, tsk-tsk)
Seixon on March 17, 2009 at 9:36 PM
katy, if I were straight I would soooo make babies with you…assuming you wanted to of course!
SouthernGent on March 17, 2009 at 9:37 PM
Bush was right about needing to take Iraq down. There’s no question about that. But thinking that an arab country will be able to exercise self-rule with individual liberty is nothing but a pipe dream. No arab country has ever achieved that and none will, not until they are totally reacculturated (which no one wants to even talk about doing). Iraq will stay together until US pressure is taken off and then it will devolve back into the sort of governance that all arab countries have.
It was right and important to go into Iraq and do away with Hussein, but we should have just taken the oil fields and the gulf access and left the Iraqis (totally defanged) to run around in the desert stabbing each other in the butt (which is a popular arab pastime). If they asked us for help, we could have helped them get back on their feet, but otherwise the importance of going into Iraq was for our security, not theirs. They are still dangerous to all civilized people and states, and will remain that way.
progressoverpeace on March 17, 2009 at 9:37 PM
I’m confused…
katy on March 17, 2009 at 9:34 PM
Saddam Hussein didn’t have Barack Hussein’s outstanding pecs.
Bishop on March 17, 2009 at 9:38 PM
ROLMAO!
I’m touched…
katy on March 17, 2009 at 9:39 PM
Of course we all know that, as always, The One was on the wrong side of the surge and said it wouldn’t change anything.
Don’t you love how our Socialist in Chief does nothing but surround himself with terrorists, anti-American racists, and crooks… Then when he gets in to office, he appoints countless tax cheats and other corruptocrats…. Not to mention Ameriqaeda John Walker’s lawyer to Justice. I hope we get Adam Ghadan one day… then Obama can appoint his attorney to the f-ing Supreme Court…
Sorry for the tangent, where was I? Oh yeah, the biggest moves Obama has made is knowingly and deliberately destroying the economy, and worrying about getting rid of terms like “War on Terror”, “Enemy Combatant”, and as I just saw on Hannity, Homeland Security Sec. Janet Napolitano is dropping the word “terrorism” in favor of “man-caused disasters”.
Great job Barry…
Time to rise up folks, this is really getting to be just too much.
RightWinged on March 17, 2009 at 9:41 PM
I should mention this because I’m sure nobody has ever thought this, but there is absolutely no connection between positive news out of Iraq and the installment of a Democrat in the White House.
That sort of thinking will get you straight into a nuthouse.
Or re-education camp. Same difference. =)
Weebork on March 17, 2009 at 9:43 PM
See, I don’t get that… The guy is a scrawnball.
katy on March 17, 2009 at 9:44 PM
Am I the only one getting sick of the “HUSSEEEEEINNN” act?
So his name is Hussein.
Then we wonder why we get the racist label slapped on us.
blatantblue on March 17, 2009 at 9:44 PM
Awesome. Just awesome.
alflauren on March 17, 2009 at 9:45 PM
I’m not so sure…I think he’s just a socialist, lazy, lardass (but I repeat myself) who will go in whatever direction makes life easiest on him….he’s a tool of the left wing..they put him in power and he can be troubled to think beyond the next 20 minutes or so. He’s too lazy to even put together a good lie…it’s the MSM (and fellow lazy assed, sub-moronic American) that’s propping his sorry ass up. At some point, it will become to painfully obvious to even them, what a loser he is…until then, just keep taking notes.
AUINSC on March 17, 2009 at 9:49 PM
I don’t think you could match those numbers in any major city in the US.
DarkKnight3565 on March 17, 2009 at 9:49 PM
Lighten up dude. It was good joke.
Guardian on March 17, 2009 at 9:49 PM
Worth repeating………..
……… the biggest hope I see are the number of children with their parents, smiling, playing, and being loved in public.
There is nothing stronger than that feeling, and to be able to express it freely, grows very strong roots against those that want to come and take it away again……..
………….. My money is on the Iraqi people in the long run.
Seven Percent Solution on March 17, 2009 at 9:53 PM
Thank you, President Bush.
P*** off, radical left wingers.
inviolet on March 17, 2009 at 9:53 PM
Is it time for this song to be played?
Bush Was Right
Freedom in Afghanistan, say goodbye Taliban
Free elections in Iraq, Saddam Hussein locked up
Osamas staying underground, Al Qaida now is finding out
America wont turn and run once the fighting has begun
Libya turns over nukes, Lebanese want freedom, too
Syria is forced to leave, dont you know that all this means
Chorus
Bush was right!
Bush was right!
Bush was right!
Democracy is on the way, hitting like a tidal wave
All over the middle east, dictators walk with shaky knees
Dont know what theyre gonna do,
their worst nightmare is coming true
They fear the domino effect, theyre all wondering whos next
Repeat Chorus
Ted Kennedy wrong!
Cindy Sheehan wrong!
France wrong!
Zell Miller right!
Economy is on the rise kicking into overdrive
Angry liberals can’t believe it’s cause of W’s policies
Unemployment’s staying down, Democrats are wondering how
Revenue is going up, can you say “Tax Cuts”
Repeat Chorus
Cheney was right, Condi was right,
Rummy was right, Blair was right
You were right, we were right, The Right was right and
Bush was right
Bush was right
Video here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-z2D9lo9-8
ordi on March 17, 2009 at 9:53 PM
Ha! Love it.
katy on March 17, 2009 at 9:57 PM
You do realize that the people in most Islamic countries are more enamored with Islam than the dictators? Pakistan. Afghanistan. Turkey. Saudi Arabia. Even Iraq. About the only likely exception I can think of is Iran.
As they say, “Be careful what you wish for”.
MB4 on March 17, 2009 at 10:01 PM
A bit right.
Also quite lucky al-Qa’eda overreached
blatantblue on March 17, 2009 at 10:03 PM
…the nay-sayers are starting in on Obama. Afghanistan is certainly not the same as Iraq, but if it is allowed to happen, American ingenuity also may well triumph there.
unclesmrgol on March 17, 2009 at 10:04 PM
BTW, that doesn’t even rhyme well.
S/B something like:
Democracy is on the way, hitting like a tidal wave
All over the middle east, dictators walk with knees about to cave
Dont know what theyre gonna do,
Their worst nightmare is coming true
They fear the domino effect, theyre all very blue
ordi on March 17, 2009 at 9:53 PM
MB4 on March 17, 2009 at 10:04 PM
Very cool! Makes me even more proud of our military!!
So the CIA estimates the per capita GDP of Iraq at $4,000 and Mexico at $14,400. I say in no more than ten years Iraq passes up Mexico if we can keep the Iranians from fricken things up.
WashJeff on March 17, 2009 at 10:05 PM
Never doubt tribal Islam’s ability to deflect modernity, democracy, and progress.
blatantblue on March 17, 2009 at 10:06 PM
And many writers have imagined for themselves republics and principalities that have never been seen or known to exist in reality; for there is such a gap between how one lives and how one ought to live that anyone who abandons what is done for what ought to be done learns his ruin rather than his preservation: for a man who wishes to profess goodness at all times will come to ruin among so many who are not good.
- Niccolo Machiavelli
MB4 on March 17, 2009 at 10:10 PM
Bush lied now Iraq’s have pride.
TheSitRep on March 17, 2009 at 10:13 PM
GOD BLESS THE AMERICAN MILITARY AND THEIR FAMILIES!
Bushie Jr. gets a thumbs up as well.
omnipotent on March 17, 2009 at 10:18 PM
One must be as a lion to frighten off wolves, but as a fox to recognize traps.
- Niccolo Machiavelli
The wise man does at once what the fool does finally.
- – Niccolo Machiavelli
MB4 on March 17, 2009 at 10:18 PM
I would like to thank the men and women of the U.S. Armed Forces, our allies and the Iraqi people who helped to make this possible despite all the opposition and obstacles both on the battlefront and on the homefront.
You did it. You made it happen.
God Bless You All!
*salutes*
Yakko77 on March 17, 2009 at 10:18 PM
I was there in 2004-2005. I cannot express my gratitude enough to GWB (and all of you for that matter)for sticking to the mission and allowing us to complete the job.
Liberty and freedom are always worth the cost.
Blarg the Destroyer on March 17, 2009 at 10:20 PM
Now that IS scary. They also consider the non existent Global Warming a “man caused disaster”.
R D on March 17, 2009 at 10:21 PM
For all those who think that things are going so marvelously peachy-keen in Iraq, and are now set to turn out so well, I don’t want to hear any complaining now if Obama, although I don’t think he will, decides that no residual force is needed there after another 16 more months.
It wouldn’t be cricket.
MB4 on March 17, 2009 at 10:23 PM
While both you have good reasons for not believing in Arab democracy, I still want to believe that there is small chance that real change in the Middle East can come through Iraq. The only way we will solve the problems of the Middle East is if we import real reforms that give people actual rights.
Look at Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, which had no historical connection to democracy and human rights before WWII. They are now examples of how US power can change a country into a productive member of the world community.
Lance Murdock on March 17, 2009 at 10:23 PM
I must admit that I was wrong. I thought Bush’s nation building project was a fool’s errand. I admit a prejudice that I didn’t think arab people were capable of self-government. I am so happy to admit I was wrong. Congratulations to Iraq. You are a beacon of light in a dark region of the world. Good luck keeping your great land free and safe. I hope we will be allies in the fight for universal freedom.
Ted Torgerson on March 17, 2009 at 10:30 PM
Only if they can overcome Islam.
Sayyid Qutb wrote about the two existences of man.
He either lives in Islam, or he lives in Jahiliyya. In Jahiliyya, a man is not free.
Man is not free because he is subject to man-made law, and not Shari’a. True freedom was living under Islamic law, politics, and society. Freedom was being able to spread Allah’s will.
Unfortunately that is the wildcard when comparing anything to the Middle East or other Islamic parts of the world
blatantblue on March 17, 2009 at 10:31 PM
But CNN and MSNBC and the DEMS tried to make us lose. What happened, Wolf?
Travis1 on March 17, 2009 at 10:31 PM
Bush will be remembered as one of our finest — this wonderful story in Iraq is just one of many idealistic realizations of good and principled man.
God bless you President Bush, and God bless our brave and wonderful troops!
Richard Romano on March 17, 2009 at 10:34 PM
I think we all should buy something for General Petraeus.
OneGyT on March 17, 2009 at 10:41 PM
Having been a part of building this democracy (was there in 03-04 with 1st AD, right behind 3rd ID’s initial assault) I can say that we saw the foundations for a thriving democracy when I was there. The foundation was laid with the blood, sweat, and tears of not only service members, but of Iraqis. Also, the people in this country who showed their OVERWHELMING support of the troopers AND the mission. Now, our ROI is beginning to pay huge dividends. Iraq will not become a cess poll, or breeding ground, of terrorism. It is a beacon of light in a dark place of the world. Democracy works if you give it enough time to establish. We have set up a functional LEGITIMATE democracy in Iraq in half the time it took to set up our own.
I am SO VERY proud to have been a part of this. It is an awesome event to have taken part in.
Liberals and the left will NEVER understand things from my point of view. I will NEVER let them claim credit for OUR hard work. I WILL NOT EVER compromise with them. Because of this, I have been ridiculed at work and told since I will not compromise “I will fail”. I have no intention of failing and will continue to take the fight to the ignorant.
I want to eliminate the left with “rapid and excessive violence” as I was told to take military objectives…The time for talk has come to pass. They will not reason with us. Our side is the compassionate one, the one that gives everyone a chance. Their side is the one that DOES NOT tolerate other people’s views. For this, they can not stand. Engage them any where you see them. Take the fight to them. NEVER QUIT. NEVER BACK DOWN. If they get in your face or start yelling, give it right back to them. No matter where you are or what you are doing.
Iron Soldiers!
vsunited on March 17, 2009 at 10:41 PM
If you could put that in the form of a stock, maybe AIG could help, I would jump on it as a golden shorting opportunity and it sounds like you probably would too.
We didn’t let the Germans keep their Nazism nor the Japanese keep their more-or-less equivalent of it and South Korea was invaded by another country and Taiwan is nothing like Iran nor Afghanistan. Islam [Winston Churchill eqauted "Mein Kampf" and the Koran] is not being fought at all, in fact Islamic law is enshrined in the constitutions of both Iraq and Afghanistan and “we” bow and kiss and gravel to it [especially the Koran].
In 2008, the superiors of the soldier in question, right on up the chain of command to commander-in-chief George W. Bush, only express their respect for, and, in a very frightening way, submission to the Koran despite its totalitarian message — and even at the expense of the soldier’s Constitutional rights.
The fact is, assuming this Koran belonged to the soldier, there is nothing illegal about shooting it or throwing it away. Impolitic, perhaps; but snipers — trained rather specifically in this conflict to kill jihadists, who are, above all, inspired by the violent exhortations contained within the Koran — are not diplomats.
But neither are generals. Missing a teachable moment — “Turn the other cheek?” “Nuts!” “The soldier fired on an inanimate object that urges jihad; he didn’t self-detonate in a teeming marketplace to advance jihad” — Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Hammond chose to abase himself before the local Sunni tribe. “In a most humble manner, I look into your eyes today and I say ‘Please forgive me and my soldiers,’” he said. Then he called his sniper’s actions “nothing more than criminal behavior.”
The general was dead wrong — unless, that is, he was talking about criminal behavior under Sharia, or Islamic law, which isn’t, or certainly shouldn’t be, the guiding light of the U.S. military. But, alas, this is what increasingly appears to be the case. For example, in presenting a new Koran to this gathering of local Sunnis who were very likely insurgents not so long ago, another American officer kissed the Islamic book. Last time I looked, kissing Korans wasn’t a Yankee custom — unless dhimmitude now counts as one.
Imagine if, during the Allied occupation of post-Nazi Germany, a GI had been discovered using “Mein Kampf” for target practice. Would Gen. George S. Patton have kissed a new copy of the Nazi bible as he presented it to a cadre of former Nazis? In the words of Ol’ Blood and Guts — oh, wait; this is a family newspaper. Let’s just put it this way: Not bloody likely.
- Diana West
MB4 on March 17, 2009 at 10:43 PM
Yes, thank you to our military.
Somebody that Iraqis may blow it, but we gave them this chance. For now, it’s beautiful.
PattyJ on March 17, 2009 at 10:45 PM
Was this happy Shia together and then happy Kurds together and then happy Sunni together or was it happy Shia/Sunni/Kurds together? Do the Sunni bow to the Shite majority in their home provinces now?
That will be Americas role from now on. Shock absorbers between Sunni and Shia and any combo with the Kurds thrown in. And there will always be that restive few to keep you there and draining.
BL@KBIRD on March 17, 2009 at 10:49 PM
Just for discussion on that point, what would you say in regards to modern Turkey, compared to the Ottoman Empire that preceeded it?
Wanderlust on March 17, 2009 at 10:50 PM
LET US NEVER FORGET WHAT WE SAW DURING THIS WAR.
I will never forget who won this war. And I sure as *%^$ won’t forget who almost lost it for us.
NEVER FORGET.
Dr. Manhattan on March 17, 2009 at 10:50 PM
One might as well expect rivers to run backwards as to expect otherwise.
Hinmahtooyahlatkek on March 17, 2009 at 10:52 PM
Modern Turkey is a nation in which the military is the supreme power. Ataturk, who was a muslim who loved islam, understood that islam and modernity cannot mix, so he fashioned Turkey a secular state, with a very secular, very strong military and charged that military with maintaining the secular character of the government for when islam tried to take over the power of state, as islam is oriented towards doing. This was eventually codified into the Turkish Constitution, only to be removed around 7 years ago, to put the Turkish more into line with the EU’s requirement for civilian supremacy (though the military is still, de facto, the supreme power in the country). I will note that Turkey has been on another slide towards islamic rule ever since that Constitutional change.
As I’m sure you’re aware, the military had to disband 4 governments that were crawling with islamists and will likely have to do it again, as the current one has been living on the edge. The outstanding question is, “Will it?” No one knows.
Turkey exists as the best example for self-rule with democratic processes in the islamic world, but it is only that way because of the extremely secular nature of the military and the military supremacy that was the real basis for its governing structure. To me, Turkey is a perfect example of the best that one can hope to achieve in terms of the self-rule of an islamic society with individual liberties – but that requires a strictly secular set of institutions that remain charged with keeping an eye on the islamic influence in civilian affairs and power over the civilian governments. But these ideas are anathema to Western thoughts on proper government.
I’m not sure what comparisons you were thinking of, with respect to the Ottoman Empire. Two different worlds, really. Perhaps you could elaborate on what you were thinking about?
I just want to stress, I think that Bush did the right thing going into Iraq. That had to be done. If he turns out correct in turning Iraq into, even, a European style democracy then that will have huge … gigantic benefits for all (not least of which, the Iraqis themselves). I just don’t see islam, or sectarian arab and Kurdish ressures, allowing that. But Bush will certainly be viewed as correct in invading Iraq and taking down the Baathists. No question about that, at all.
And I would note that, as the Iraq invasion scared the living sh!t out of the middle east for a while, that forced Libya to puke up its nuke program which let us in on the full depth of the AQ Khan nuclear black market (which was shut down) thereby yielding more WMD, and more important WMD, than anyone expected out of Iraq. So, even from the WMD angle, the Iraq War returned more than we ever expected, just not from Iraq, itself.
progressoverpeace on March 17, 2009 at 11:13 PM
Unfortunately most of America did forget. Iraq wasn’t nearly a big a issue in the last election because we were essentially winning thus it was somehow no longer a issue. Groups like VfF and a few interviewers will the balls to press him just about had to twist then Sen. Obama’s arm off just to get him to admit the surge frakkin’ worked.
Yakko77 on March 17, 2009 at 11:13 PM
Well said, Patty.
It would be nice if the Iraqis understood what a golden chance we have provided them. They have been given, by Bush and our military, one of the greatest gifts in all of human history.
progressoverpeace on March 17, 2009 at 11:16 PM
THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE!
It must be a completely awesome feeling to know you played such a huge part in the birth of a democratic government in the heart of the Middle East. I hope you are as proud of yourself as I am proud of you.
Texas Gal on March 17, 2009 at 11:26 PM
I didn’t mean to lecture you on things about modern Turkey that you already know. I wasn’t sure what comparisons you were looking for with respect to the Ottomans.
progressoverpeace on March 17, 2009 at 11:27 PM
Thanks to our wonderful, awesome and true hero’s,..the U.S Military and my President George Bush!!!…WOOT!!!!WOOT!..: o )
christene on March 17, 2009 at 11:31 PM
and,….General David Howell Petraeus!!!!
christene on March 17, 2009 at 11:32 PM
Thanks George W.!
ujorge on March 17, 2009 at 11:45 PM
Iranian democracy.
getalife on March 17, 2009 at 11:45 PM
Allah, the number of troops they want for Afghanistan is bigger then 17,000. That is what Obama will send, I think he should tell us all what is their MISSION. Supposedly reassuring Afghans about the U.S commitment, that isn’t a Military Mission that is a State Dept Mission. This is how Mission Creep happens. Lets go in whole HOG overwhelm the bad guys, and get the HELL out. What is plan B if there is no military solution to Afghanistan- CIA? More International Involvement less America doing all the heavy lifting. I can just see all the arms dealers profiteering with the U.S pinned down in Afghanistan…I’ve seen this movie too. IF we are not there to wipe out the people who planned, funded, and carried out killing 3,000 of our fellow countrymen, then what are we doing in Afghanistan? I don’t need to drag cave people into the 21st century especially if they have no interest.
Dr Evil on March 17, 2009 at 11:46 PM
I blame Bush and the honorable troops for this wonderful accomplishment,
God bless to all troops on this blog :D
Semper Fi
FontanaConservative on March 17, 2009 at 11:46 PM
That report made me smile. It was nice to see people just getting to be normal. If that doesn’t make all Americans smile, then you really should check your pulse.
Illinidiva on March 18, 2009 at 12:10 AM
A Republic is the best form of government .. but I get the point.. a democracy will do.
amend2 on March 18, 2009 at 12:15 AM
Overall .. those stats look better than in the US!
WE WIN AGAIN.
amend2 on March 18, 2009 at 12:20 AM
“…a country finally moving from darkness into light.”
And no goddamned thanks to any Democrats or their useful idiot supporters in the media, academia, the Hollywood set or the chattering anti-American literati at home and abroad.
Up yours Reid, Pelosi, Murtha, Muck-ael Moore, Hillary, Obama and all the rest of these pernicious, defeatist, seditious, stupid crap weasels!
profitsbeard on March 18, 2009 at 12:30 AM
It’s been a tough battle in Iraq, and NOT A SINGLE DEMOCRAT HELPED US in this fight. NOT A SINGLE ONE! I’m just sad that I can’t cuss on this website, because I’ve had it with democrats and liberals and the main stream media, and I wish some very bad things for them.
apco on March 18, 2009 at 1:17 AM
Oh please please don’t let Obama mess this up!
petunia on March 18, 2009 at 2:01 AM
That’s the most pro-democracy video I’ve ever seen from ABC News.
Christian Conservative on March 18, 2009 at 3:12 AM
Vets+Bush = ✌ Victory!
It’s Over…over there.
Not here.
1GooDDaDDy on March 18, 2009 at 3:14 AM
Never doubt tribal Islam’s ability to deflect modernity, democracy, and progress.
blatantblue
As Iraqi’s embrace democracy and capitalism, they will come to realize what they have been missing out on and resolve to keep it in spite of aggressive attempts to return them to an Islamic dark age. At least that’s the goal.
SKYFOX on March 18, 2009 at 6:29 AM
If only Johnson and Nixon had been half the man that Bush is.
Rod on March 18, 2009 at 6:35 AM
Remind me , who opposed the surge.
the_nile on March 18, 2009 at 6:57 AM
Just think, if left to the likes of Barack Obama none of this would be happening.
Bush was right. It must just kill these people to admit that.
Terrye on March 18, 2009 at 7:10 AM
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