Some Pretty Damn Good News About Iraq

I have an inclination to believe that many people with whom I tend to agree on political matters are so disgusted about the fact that we were deceived into going to war that they let this affect their views about how things are going in Iraq and about the likelihood of a relatively successful outcome there. As much as I want to see democracy in Iraq, I have to say that I do--to my shame--dread that outcome just a bit. As I've said before, Americans seem to evaluate policies on their success or failure, not on their rationality. If we succeed in Iraq, I expect that Bush will go down in short-term history as a kind of hero, deified perhaps even out of Reaganesque proportions. Nobody will remember that he was unqualified and dishonest, nor that his administration was corrupt and inept. Hmmm....so, you see, the similarities are multitudinous...

But as painful as that outcome would be, disaster in Iraq would, needless to say, be far worse. I can grit my teeth and listen to conservatives crow about black being white for the rest of my life if it means that the Iraqis finally get a decent existence in the trade. But here are some graphical representations of a poll of Iraqis done for "the BBC, ABC news, and other media organizations" that look pretty good. Although we are glutted with information about how things are going in Iraq, I feel like I'm in a reliable information vacuum. The media does tend to emphasize the worst about almost everything (Republican presidents seemingly providing the exception to the rule), and, well, anyone who is still believing this administration about anything must be living in a fantasy world.

But the Iraqis themselves seem fairly happy and optimistic. Off the top of my head, I can't think of a group of people better-situated to assess progress over there.