May 03, 2004

61% of Iraqis Say Ousting Saddam Was Worth the Hardships.

The German weblog Medienkritik has a report on a recent CNN/USA Today/Gallup nationwide poll of Iraq:

Thinking about any hardships you might have suffered since the US, Britain invasion, do you personally think that ousting Saddam Hussein was worth it or not?

Yes, was worth it 61%
No, was not worth it 28 %
Don’t know 9 %
Refused 2 %

Also, only a minority – a quarter of the population – feel worse off now than before the invasion:

How about you and your family, would you say are much better off, somewhat better off, somewhat worse off, or much worse off than you were before the U.S. and British invasion?

Much better off 14%
Somewhat better off 37%*
About the same 25%
Somewhat worse off 15%
Much worse off 10%
Don’t know 1%

Only 25% feel worse off now than before the invasion. That disproves the doom and gloom of the Left who claim that success in Iraq may never come. In the eyes of 51% of Iraqi’s, they are already better off now than when Saddam was in power.

Report: Kerry ‘Unfit to be Commander-in-Chief’, Say Former Military Colleagues.

This would be quite remarkable:

(CNSNews.com) – Hundreds of former commanders and military colleagues of presumptive Democratic nominee John Kerry are set to declare in a signed letter that he is “unfit to be commander-in-chief.” They will do so at a press conference in Washington on Tuesday.

“What is going to happen on Tuesday is an event that is really historical in dimension,” John O’Neill, a Vietnam veteran who served in the Navy as a PCF (Patrol Craft Fast) boat commander, told CNSNews.com . The event, which is expected to draw about 25 of the letter-signers, is being organized by a newly formed group called Swift Boat Veterans for Truth.

“We have 19 of 23 officers who served with [Kerry]. We have every commanding officer he ever had in Vietnam. They all signed a letter that says he is unfit to be commander-in-chief,” O’Neill said.

There’s nothing like the testimony of people who have worked closely with someone. Could the Kerry campaign recover from something like this?

Quite a Bit of Good News from Iraq—From an American on the Ground There.

AlphaPatriot has this great report:

As I head off to Baghdad for the final weeks of my stay in Iraq, I wanted to say thanks to all of you who did not believe the media. They have done a very poor job of covering everything that has happened. ...This is the list of things that has happened in Iraq recently:

(Please share it with your friends and compare it to the version that your paper is producing.)

Over 400,000 kids have up-to-date immunizations. School attendance is up 80% from levels before the war. Over 1,500 schools have been renovated and rid of the weapons stored there so education can occur.

...The country had its first 2 billion barrel export of oil in August.

Over 4.5 million people have clean drinking water for the first time ever in Iraq.
The country now receives 2 times the electrical power it did before the war.
100% of the hospitals are open and fully staffed, compared to 35% before the war.

...Girls are allowed to attend school.

Don’t believe for one second that these people do not want us there. I have met many, many people from Iraq that want us there, and in a bad way. They say they will never see the freedoms we talk about but they hope their children will. We are doing a good job in Iraq and I challenge anyone, anywhere to dispute me on these facts. So If you happen to run into John Kerry, be sure to give him my email address and send him to Denison, Iowa. This soldier will set him straight. If you are like me and very disgusted with how this period of rebuilding has been portrayed, email this to a friend and let them know there are good things happening.

Ray Reynolds, SFC
Iowa Army National Guard
234th Signal Battalion

Ray, God bless you and all the soldiers who are bringing freedom to the people of Iraq, and pushing back those who would bring more terrorist actions to our shores.