The report's first sentence: "NDI's overwhelming finding--in the north, south, Baghdad and among secular, religious, Sunni, Shiite and Kurdish groups in both urban and rural areas--is a grateful welcoming of the demise of Saddam's regime and a sense that this is a pivotal moment in Iraq's history."
No surprise there.......Saddam was toppled back in April.
Touring the southern cities of Basra, Nassiriya and Aamara, NDI found, "Despite all of the obstacles, virtually every individual and group NDI met with in southern Iraq perceived this as a time of opportunity. . . . Iraqi citizens in the south demonstrated a hunger for information about the functioning of democracy." In the Kurdish-controlled north, NDI saw "clear evidence of a developing economy, relative security and prosperity and an active civil society and culture. . . . Local municipal councils are active and appear to be working."
So what? If you think this means things are going well, then there is not much point to discussing the issue.
The institute's advance delegation called Iraq "fertile ground for democracy promotion initiatives on a scale not seen since the heady days of the fall of the Berlin Wall." Sounds like a good story. "
Oh wonderful......I also heard its fertile ground for raising wheat.
But of course, it wasn't covered well by the media, which is odd given that it came from a Democratic group...Then again, in the last week a group of Democratic congressmen have blasted the media for it's poor reporting of the full story in Iraq... "
It was covered......but there was no there. So it didn't last long.
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