It's all conditioned based

Fire of Liberty

Max Boot had a wonderful Op/ED in Wednesday's edition of the Los Angeles Times that pointed out that even though the polls show nothing but doom and gloom for the President and the US when it comes to Iraq, there is a consensus amongst the Iraqi people and members of our armed services that things are turning in the right direction. Boot points out that the reason why these groups see Iraq reaching a tipping point towards success has to do with the events on the ground. While various Democratic Senators and Representatives have been demanding a policy in Iraq, they seem to forget that we've been going through the steps of a White House plan since we took Saddam down in April 2003. For those who have been paying attention (obviously the folks answering the polls and Congressmen haven't) you should know by now after listening to President Bush, General Pete Pace, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General John Abizaid, CENTCOM commander, and countless others running the show on Iraq have been saying that the US's work and the eventual drawdown in Iraq is conditioned based on how things improve throughout Mesopotamia. The process basically notes that we'll get out of the way as Iraq grows economically, politically and begins to gather the ability to secure their nation via the training and standup actions via their military, border patrolmen, and police. Just sampling these paragraphs from Boot's column, I can say that these conditions are being met one by one:

FOR STARTERS, one can point to two successful elections this year, on Jan. 30 and Oct. 15, in which the majority of Iraqis braved insurgent threats to vote. The constitutional referendum in October was particularly significant because it marked the first wholesale engagement of Sunnis in the political process. Since then, Sunni political parties have made clear their determination to also participate in the Dec. 15 parliamentary election. This is big news. The most disaffected group in Iraq is starting to realize that it must achieve its objectives through ballots, not bullets.

There are also positive economic indicators that receive little or no coverage in the Western media. For all the insurgents' attempts to sabotage the Iraqi economy, the Brookings Institution reports that per capita income has doubled since 2003 and is now 30% higher than it was before the war. Thanks primarily to the increase in oil prices, the Iraqi economy is projected to grow at a whopping 16.8% next year. According to Brookings' Iraq index, there are five times more cars on the streets than in Saddam Hussein's day, five times more telephone subscribers and 32 times more Internet users.

The growth of the independent media — a prerequisite of liberal democracy — is even more inspiring. Before 2003 there was not a single independent media outlet in Iraq. Today, Brookings reports, there are 44 commercial TV stations, 72 radio stations and more than 100 newspapers.

But aren't bombs still going off at an alarming rate? Of course. It's almost impossible to stop a few thousand fanatics who are willing to commit suicide to slaughter others.

Yet there is hope on the security front. Since the Jan. 30 election, not a single Iraqi unit has crumbled in battle, according to Army Lt. Gen. David H. Petraeus, who until September was in charge of their training. Iraqi soldiers are showing impressive determination in fighting the terrorists, notwithstanding the terrible casualties they have taken. Their increasing success is evident on "Route Irish," from Baghdad International Airport. Once the most dangerous road in Iraq, it is now one of the safest. The last coalition fatality there that was a result of enemy action occurred in March.

Maybe the White House should use its "bully pullpit" and make a better effort at broadcasting such facts and improving conditions to the American people and point out that Iraq is much like life, you take it one step and one day at a time.