Positive News From Iraq….MSM Shrugs

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Gateway Pundit puts up two AP picture that say a thousand words:

capt.8b75c83d11b6436991a807be9a497d04.iraq_market_bag103.jpg

People gather at the Shorja street market in east Baghdad, Iraq, Saturday, Nov.
3, 2007. More than four months after U.S. forces completed a 30,000-strong force
buildup, the death toll for both Iraqis and Americans has fallen

capt.9d24710500ba4b5fbe33c4a740a8c50c.iraq_market_bag104.jpg

People shop at the Shorja market in east Baghdad, Iraq, Saturday, Nov. 3, 2007.
More than four months after U.S. forces completed a 30,000-strong force buildup,
the death toll for both Iraqis and Americans has fallen

But looking through the pages of our MSM you wouldn’t know how successful Iraq has turned.  You would have to turn to the pages of The Times of London to get that news:

It is whispered about at the margins of meetings and discussed in Washington parties where rumour is passed around with the wine and canapés. It even appears, fleetingly, to be fact.

“The day nobody died from violence in Iraq” is a date that has been much anticipated in the White House — where President Bush is desperate to hail the success of his surge of 30,000 troops this year. But no one can quite say when this event, longed for by most, if not all, people on the street corners of Baghdad, occurred.

“It was some time this week, wasn’t it?” says a senior military source. “Or maybe last week.” Another diplomatic official confidently asserted that there were “at least two such days this month”. When, exactly? “Not sure,” he replied.

Such foggy vagueness may be concealing a truly significant transformation on the ground in Iraq.

There have certainly been several days in the past month when no US or British soldiers were killed.

During a five-day stretch between October 19 and 23, there were no deaths among coalition forces. Although three US servicemen died from “non-hostile causes”, this was the longest period without combat deaths for nearly four years. And, between October 27 and 29, there were three more days without coalition deaths.

Such statistics do not take account of deaths among the Iraqi security forces or civilians. But Iraqis, too, have had days when no one in their ranks has died. On October 13, for instance, neither the coalition nor the Iraqi military suffered any deaths. But one Iraqi policeman was killed, along with four reported civilian deaths in Baghdad.

Two days later, there were no deaths among the coalition but six among the Iraqi security forces.

October 19 was a death-free day for both coalition and Iraqi security forces, but 12 civilians were killed.

The civilian death toll was lower on October 23 — when four were killed — but they were joined in the mortuaries by two Iraqi policemen. On October 30 this week, the Iraqi Ministry of Interior reported that there were no civilian deaths at all in Baghdad, but three US troops and four Iraqi policemen were killed.

It is beyond dispute, though, that the tide of violence in Iraq has been stemmed.

And now with the casualty rates down significantly the Democrats and our MSM cannot be bothered to talk about Iraq.  Looking at today’s front page of the New York Times you find stories about:

  • The AG nomination
  • The Citigroup chief
  • Rudy Giuliani
  • The drug Lipitor
  • The NY Marathon
  • Aging convicts in Japan

Deep into the paper you finally get a story on how “Bush thinks” the war is going well. 

I will credit MSNBC a bit tho for putting up this report yesterday on the progress.  Albeit with warnings about how this all may just be temporary.  A dozen paragraphs into the story you get this comment from a Baghdad business owner that says quite a bit:

Firas Rahim, who owns a shop
selling clothing for men and children in the Karradah neighborhood, said the
number of customers in the store has risen 75 percent in recent days. He now
stays open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Before the chaos diminished he was open only
from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.

“I was afraid to stay open longer
because of the bombings and violence. Things are looking better now. My business
is booming,” Rahim said. “I have whole families coming in again. It’s a positive
sign. I hope it lasts. Baghdadis love to live at night. I used to close after
midnight and hope, someday, I can again.”

The violence rate in Iraq now appears to be better then most American cities. 

Guess that’s not good enough to make the front page of the New York Times.

UPDATE

Missed this Times of London editorial that is right on point:

In Iraq, it seems good news is deemed no news. There has been
striking success in the past few months in the attempt to improve security,
defeat al-Qaeda sympathisers and create the political conditions in which a
settlement between the Shia and the Sunni communities can be reached. This has
not been an accident but the consequence of a strategy overseen by General David
Petraeus in the past several months. While summarised by the single word “surge”
his efforts have not just been about putting more troops on the ground but also
employing them in a more sophisticated manner. This drive has effectively broken
whatever alliances might have been struck in the past by terrorist factions and
aggrieved Sunnis. Cities such as Fallujah, once notorious centres of slaughter,
have been transformed in a remarkable time.

~~~

The current achievements, and they are achievements, are being treated as
almost an embarrassment in certain quarters. The entire context of the contest
for the Democratic nomination for president has been based on the conclusion
that Iraq is an absolute disaster and the first task of the next president is to
extricate the United States at maximum speed. ….

All of these attitudes have become outdated. There are many valid complaints
about the manner in which the Bush Administration and Donald Rumsfeld, in
particular, managed Iraq after the 2003 military victory. But not to recognize
that matters have improved vastly in the year since Mr Rumsfeld’s resignation
from the Pentagon was announced and General Petraeus was liberated would be
ridiculous
. Politicians on both sides of the Atlantic have to appreciate that
Iraq is no longer, as they thought, an exercise in damage limitation but one of
making the most of an opportunity.

Ridiculous yes, but that sums up todays Democrat party quite well.

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Iraqi civilian deaths plunge
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/front/la-fg-violence1nov01,1,2958691.story?ctrack=1&cset=true

Civilian Deaths Fall To New Lows In Iraq
http://www.captainsquartersblog.com/mt/archives/015773.php

Iraqi Islamic Party: “Al Qaeda is Defeated”
http://michaelyon-online.com/wp/iraqi-islamic-party-says-al-qaeda-is-defeated.htm

Baghdad Way Ahead Plan to dramatically increase Iraqi Police force
http://www.blackanthem.com/News/allieslead/Baghdad_Way_Ahead_Plan_to_dramatically_increase_Iraqi_Police_force11086.shtml

Bin Laden Admits Defeat in Iraq
http://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htwin/articles/20071027.aspx

Petraeus: Al-Qaida threat ‘significantly reduced’
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21514729/

The Ramadi Goat Grab
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1675623,00.html

An Iraqi Parade Against al-Qaeda
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1674888,00.html?xid=rss-topstories

There’s been dramatic progress in Iraq for the past year now, and while it has been reported, it hasn’t been anywhere nearly as reported as failures in the past. I watched the debate the other night and laughed every time the Democratic Party Presidential wannabees talked about ordering a withdrawal from Iraq. They’ve been so busy pimping their rhetoric on the road that none of them noticed the withdrawal was ordered back in September. There they stood, lined up like nutcracker dolls with their mouths parsing ways to promise withdrawal from Iraq in the hope (expectation?) that their entire audience wouldn’t notice it’s already starting.

Good news is there, but it ain’t at KOS, Huffpo, Truthout, Buzzflash, Bartcop, etc. Why? Because if it happens as hoped and expected, then US forces are scheduled to be largely withdrawn from Iraq BEFORE the Nov08 election…removing the Iraq war as the central driving issue for Democrats.

Another excellent barometer for success in Iraq is the Sunday “news” shows.

For weeks, Iraq has barely been mentioned, and certinly NOT the main focus.

That line by Wordsmith regarding bin Laden’s last message bears repeating (I’m paraphrasing): “Who will be the last jihadi to die in Iraq for a mistake?”

If trends continue then it will be undoubtedly clear that both Al Queda, and Iranian backed Shia extremisim in Iraq have been defeated. President Bush’s grand “keystone” strategy in Iraq will have been vindicated.

Support among Muslims for the idea of violent jihad against infiedels is already starting to fall in polls.

The worm is beginning to turn. And as worms do, they will seek out the rotting and corrupted ideology of Islamic radicalism and it’s cousin, self-loathing Western defeatism.

Now we should concentrate on Phillie ‘the city of brotherly love’ or retreat.

must be really embarassing to be second best to such a loser party as the Democrats.

AP, via Townhall.com:

In a dramatic turnaround, more than 3,000 Iraqi families driven out of their Baghdad neighborhoods have returned to their homes in the past three months as sectarian violence has dropped, the government said Saturday.

More…

Instead of even opportunity reporting the news the only way most people will ever see it is if they say Gee where’s the car bomb a day story gone. Let me have a look around on the net to see what the deal is. Car bombs replace by moving vans..oh my!

Of course it is really interesting in a way to see just how this is being played on the left side of the blogs.

Media Matters (accolades to St. Hillary the 1st)are saying that sure it’s down, but gee whiz haven’t you dumb people figured out it’s all because secretarian cleansing has done it’s magic and guess what every blog on their action email list is saying exactly the same thing. The thought Fatawa Police are on the case so all is well.

Thousands of Iraqi Citizens Return Home- No Reacti

At the rate the good news stories are coming from Iraq I am going to have to start doing my good news from Iraq pieces later in the day so I can cover them all in one post.

More Good News: Over 3,000 Return to West Baghdad, Iraq

More Great News coming out of Iraq: (AP) BAGHDAD – In a dramatic turnaround, more than 3,000 Iraqi families driv …

Michael Yon Reports: “Al Qaeda in Iraq is Defeated

VIDEO Michael Yon on CNN’s This Week at War