The "Failure Of The Peace" In Iraq

Since the fighting in Iraq was over so quick, the anti-warriors have been looking for some reason to condemn the Administration for going to war. The big reason lately is that we are "losing the peace." They are claiming that since we have not already rebuilt the entire nation, we must have been ill prepared for the peace and therefore we failed.

Now, I'll grant them that the war probably ended much, much quicker than anyone expected and that we weren't completely ready for the peace when it happened. But even without being perfectly prepared, we have done pretty well:

Among other developments, Centcom said that five out of 14 schools have reopened in the southern Iraqi town of Safwan, while 48 of Al-Zubayr's 60 schools have also restarted classes.

In the northern city of Kirkuk, the government building formally reopened on Sunday, while all five hospitals in Najaf are now operational and accepting patients, with each running their own ambulance service.

Centcom added that power has been restored to residents and businesses at pre-war levels or higher in nine of 27 key cities.

All 18 hydroelectric power plants in Iraq were producing power at levels 80% or better than pre-war levels, it said.

Water supply, meanwhile, was running at or above pre-war levels in 14 of the 27 key cities.

Nineteen of the 27 cities are now considered safe, it added.

Now is that a perfect scorecard? No. But it is awfully, awfully good for the actual fighting only having been over for, what, two, three weeks? Absolutely.

This is, of course, the type of article you won't see on the front page of the NY Times. There isn't enough suffering or looting taking place. But it is a big part of the story of what is really happening in Iraq.