Iraq is governed by democratically chosen leaders.

Reconstruction projects are on the rise.

Tuesday marked the first anniversary of the United States handing back
sovereignty to Iraq, and the nation has seen momentous steps in its
democratic experiment.

About 2,500 reconstruction projects are under way, up from 200 last
year. Employment has improved, and incomes have risen.

The Bush administration counsels patience and says the country is
heading in the right direction.

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld notes the growth of Iraqi security
forces and successful elections as examples of progress. "Success for
the coalition should not be defined as domestic tranquility in Iraq,"
Rumsfeld said Monday. "Other democracies have had to contend with
terrorism and insurgencies for a number of years, but they have been
able to function and eventually succeed."

Some barometers:

Politics: In January, more than 8 million voters defied insurgents and
streamed to the polls to elect a Shiite-dominated government, marking a
historic moment for the country.

Now the government faces a new challenge: drafting a constitution by an
Aug. 15 deadline. The constitution would be put to a national referendum
by Oct. 15, and election of a permanent government would be held in
December.

Electricity: Iraq's electrical grid has increased output from 4,400
megawatts before the war to about 6,400 megawatts now. An extra 700
megawatts are scheduled to come online by September.

At the same time, demand has increased by 60 percent from prewar days,
as Iraqis buy new televisions, satellite dishes, air conditioners and
other appliances.

Security: Through major offensives, U.S. troops drove insurgents from
strongholds such as Tal Afar, Fallujah, Ramadi and Qaim. "Insurgents
remain capable of savage attacks, to be sure, but they can no longer
take advantages of sanctuaries like Fallujah to train, plan and hold
hostages," Rumsfeld said.

Iraq has about 170,000 trained and equipped Iraqi security forces --
including army, national guard and police, according to U.S. military
figures. U.S. strategy is to turn over an increasing amount of security
responsibility to Iraqis, allowing U.S. and other foreign troops to
eventually leave.

This sort of news is rarely shown or discussed in our media, which is
so sensationist oriented. It is us, the readers and viewers, fault.
We follow the sensational stories and don't ask for accurate data. The
most interesting thing is how many now get their news from the
Internet.

Iraq is not governed, period; because the U.S. has never made Iraq
sufficiently pacified to govern.

The leaders were elected by the people of Iraq.

Which means? Ignoring the typographical error of using leaders when you
meant officials, why would an election signify governed? They or their
office could be powerless, they could be incompetent and not able to
govern, they could be paid agents of a foreign government or they could be
ignored by those with the power to implement their decisions.

My point to Rumple is that communications on this newsgroup is so
primitive that most of our time is wasted trying to communicate with
republican third grade drop outs. Don't take them seriously, but treat
them as immature brats that are best ignored, ridiculed, or treated with
condescension.
--
Glenn

Take your childish complaint up with: http://makeashorterlink.com/?A23342C5B
Maybe they give a shit what you think about their communications spills,
I don't.

There is a powerful entity involved in the government of Iraq and
its name is Uncle Sam. To pretend the Iraqis are today fully
autonomous is just plain silly.

Trouble is, they aren't leading. We call all the shots.
Thumper

What's a communication spill? If all the money is controlled by the
world's largest embassy, what does that mean for governance?

It's good to know the attribution for that article.

Where can I see how the Iraqi contractor community is doing? To me a
booming economy is the way to settle the situation down in Iraq.

--
http://publicradiofan.com/cgi-bin/wh...type=non-music
http://www.uwtv.org/programs/display...asp?collid=233
End the Conversation http://tinyurl.com/atz5m

Oh! I made a typo. *skills*

Glenn wrote:
Interesting view of child-raising. How did your children turn out?

Saddam was elected by the people of Iraq, also.