July 2, 2008
AND AS DEMOCRATS ALWAYS REMIND US, IT'S ONLY BECAUSE OF W:
A BRIGHTER FUTURE FOR BAGHDAD?: Optimism Grows in Iraq as Daily Life Improves (Bernhard Zand, 7/02/08, Der Spiegel)
Pork is available in Baghdad once again. Not just in the Green Zone, where US diplomats can enjoy their spare ribs and Parma ham, but also across the Tigris River, in the real Baghdad, at "Al-Warda" on Karada Street. Bassim Dencha, 32, one of the few Christians remaining in Iraq and the co-owner of Baghdad's finest supermarket, has developed a supply line from Syria. As a result, he now has frozen pork chops and bratwurst arranged in his freezers, next to boxes of frozen French fries and German Black Forest Cakes. And the customers are buying.For four years, selling pork or alcohol in Baghdad was a security risk. But the acts of terror committed by Islamist fundamentalists, who once punished such violations of their interpretation of the Koran with attacks on businesses and their owners, have gradually subsided. The supply of imported goods is also relatively secure today, now that roads through the Sunni Triangle are significantly safer than they were only a few months ago.
"It's worth it again," says businessman Bassim Dencha. "All we need now is enough electricity to reopen our refrigerated warehouse."
Two kilometers down the street, business is booming late into the night at Ali Lami's roadside snack bar. Before the war the establishment, a Baghdad institution, was a favorite hangout for former dictator Saddam Hussein's henchmen and United Nations weapons inspectors alike. Today professors and students from the university, which is once again open every day, come here to eat shawarma, an Arab fast-food dish consisting of shaved meat and salad served in pita bread.
When we lay W to rest it will be like The Gipper's funeral, with Democrats clawing their way to the casket to claim they stood shoulder to shoulder with the president in winning the Long War.
ic - not necessarily. I could not find this piece on their German site. I found an article about the "suspiciously high" number of US oil companies bidding for Iraqi oil. The Spiegel is as anti-American as it gets. Always was. But perhaps they are smarter than certain US newspapers in not slinging mud at their English-speaking audience.
Posted by: wf at July 2, 2008 2:41 PMW is a modern Themistocles, just without the late-life anger at being ostracised.
Posted by: lebeaux at July 2, 2008 4:57 PMPresident Bush is also a modern Cincinnatus, but one whose great service to his people will be unappreciated by far too many of them.
Posted by: X at July 2, 2008 5:57 PM
For some reasons, I wonder what, these positive news are only available from foreign newspapers, even anti-war newspapers, such as Der Spiegel, the Guardian, seldom in the NYT. Have we off-sourced good news reporting to the Europeans?
Posted by: ic at July 2, 2008 12:52 PM