WHAT'S GOING RIGHT IN IRAQ
By Jeff Jacoby
The Boston Globe
Sunday, June 20, 2004
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/
articles/2004/06/20/whats_going_right_in_iraq/

To hear the media tell it, virtually nothing in Iraq is
going right. Suicide terrorism, Abu Ghraib, sabotaged pipelines,
swelling anti-American sentiment -- the coverage has been
focused on almost all bad news, almost all the time.

Which hardly comes as a surprise. As an old journalistic
rule of thumb puts it, "If it doesn't bleed, it doesn't
lead." In most newsrooms, good news is usually no news.
But don't be fooled. There are plenty of good-news stories
in Iraq, too. Here are half a dozen.

* * *
Moqtada al-Sadr's uprising is kaput. The firebrand cleric
issued a statement on Wednesday directing his gunmen to
stop fighting and go home. If they comply, the bloody rebellion
he launched in April will have ended in failure.

Sadr never managed to win mass support among Iraq's Shiites;
indeed he was taken to the woodshed by the country's senior
Shiite leader, Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani. Now Sadr says
he supports the interim Iraqi government headed by Iyad
Allawi, and will set up a political party of his own,
presumably to take part in next January's elections. It
wasn't long ago that Sadr was denouncing Iraqi politicians
for cooperating with the United States. Now he is poised
to become one of them.

* * *

For the first time, an Iraqi soccer team has qualified
for the Olympics. The team clinched its Olympic slot with
a 3-1 victory over Saudi Arabia on May 12. All told, some
30 Iraqi athletes will be traveling to the games in Athens
this summer. Win or lose, they will be able to compete
without fear, knowing that even if they fail to bring home
a medal, there will be no punishment at the hands of Uday
Saddam Hussein. It was the practice of the dictator's
late son to torture Iraqi athletes who were not successful
in international competitions. Thanks to the US Army, Uday
and his sadism no longer exist.

* * *

In the first quarter of 2004, the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees reports, fewer than 93,000 people
sought political asylum in the developed nations -- 16
percent below the previous quarter and a drop of more
than 25 percent from the first quarter of 2003.

Why the decline? Because Afghans and Iraqis, who used
to make up the largest groups of asylum-seekers, are now
far less likely to flee their homelands. From Jan. 1 to
March 31 of this year, only 2,143 Iraqis requested asylum
in another country -- 81 percent less than in the same
quarter last year. As one commentator has noted, that's
what can happen when UNHCR's 'partners' include the US
Marines.

* * *

With the help of a retired US naval officer, scouting is
being revived in Iraq. Chip Beck, a former Boy Scout himself,
is recruiting 80 young Iraqis for leadership training by
the Arab Scout Association in Cairo. Volunteer scouting
in Iraq dates back to 1921, but the movement was severely
crippled during Saddam's reign. Now, along with Texas
businessman (and former Eagle Scout) Mike Bradle, Beck hopes
to raise $4 million to establish a scouting camp for boys
and girls in a former secret police compound on the Tigris
River near Baghdad.

"If the world is looking to combat violence and extremism,"
Beck says, "the Scout method of teaching universal values
-- honor, integrity, and morality -- is proven."

* * *

According to veteran Middle East journalist Amir Taheri,
there is good news on the economic front as well. The value
of the Iraqi dinar has grown by almost 15 percent in the
last three months against the US dollar. It has similarly
gained on the Kuwaiti dinar and the Iranian rial, the
two most-traded local currencies. Despite the recent violence,
millions of Shiite pilgrims are visiting (and spending
money in) Najaf and Karbala, where a building boom is
underway. Meanwhile, Iraqi farmers have harvested a record
wheat crop, raising hopes that the country might once again
become, as it was before Saddam, agriculturally self-sufficient.

* * *

On June 11, US military commanders bestowed awards for
valor on five Iraqis -- soldiers in the Iraqi Civil Defense
Corps -- for saving the life of a US Marine during an
ambush in Al Karmah. When the Marine was shot by insurgents,
the Iraqi riflemen with whom he and other members of the
1st Battalion, 5th Marines were patrolling with didn't
hesitate. The citation presented to Imad Abid Zeid Jassim
tells the story:

"Under a hail of enemy fire that was accurately targeted
on the wounded Marine, and without regard for his own safety,
Private Imad Jassim moved forward . . . . He dragged the
wounded Marine out of the line of fire to a covered and
concealed position . . . reengaged the enemy . . . aggressively
pushed forward . . . dislodged the enemy fighters. . . .
His efforts clearly saved the life of the Marine."

You might not know it from much of the press coverage,
but not all Iraqis hate their American "occupiers." Many
of them appreciate the sacrifices US troops are making
to secure Iraqi freedom. Some appreciate it so much, in
fact, that they are willing to put their lives on the
line when an American soldier is in danger.

(Jeff Jacoby is a columnist for The Boston Globe.)
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