Improved security has contributed to an economic revival in Baghdad, and the United States has a “moral imperative” to keep bringing violence down, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq said Wednesday.
In a likely preview of his report to Congress next week on the state of the war, Ryan Crocker told USA TODAY that the Iraqi military’s recent attempt to disarm Shiite militias “had its share of problems.” He said the United States only had about 48 hours advance notice of the operation, which caused a wave of violence in Baghdad and southern Iraq.
However, Crocker said security and other areas have shown significant improvement since he last testified in September. “I think you can expect to see a continuation of that political and economic progress,” he said.
The “hot spots” in Iraq now appear to be approaching the stability level of northeast India — not good, but nobody seems to be having a heart attack over it on the national stage. The quieter areas in Iraq appear to have the stability level of India in general, or perhaps better. The entire world will not be like Switzerland in our lifetimes, if ever.
As long as the reference point is the NYTimes or CNN or USAToday the truth of what is really happening in Iraq gets sacrificed over the bigger goal of proclaiming failure for the benefit of the Bush haters.
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/04/whittling_away_at_sadr.html