IRAQ ECONOMY BOOMING

An amazing site hit the web yesterday as the Drudge Report posted and article that will be featured in the next issue of Newsweek. The title of the piece is, "Blood and Money
In what might be called the mother of all surprises, Iraq's economy is growing strong, even booming in places." What is most surprising about this article is that it is a positive piece about Iraq and what is additionally surprising is this positive report is being published in a left leaning magazine that has been not only very critical of Iraq but has published numerous articles since we entered Iraq that have been totally and completely negative in every aspect. Almost as surprising especially when one considers that Newsweek is part of the Main Stream Media is the fact that according to the MSM NOTHING GOOD IS HAPPENING IN IRAQ! Yet here is Newsweek preparing to print an article about Iraq's booming economy and the statistics are current and date back quite some time....wait I thought that Iraq was a total disaster and the country was collapsing. I'm getting ahead of myself first let me share some of the good news found in the report. Iraqna, the leading cell phone company in Iraq posted $333 million in revenues in 2005 and is on track to increase that to $ 520 million this year, inspite of the bombing of their cell towers and increased security for their workers. There are 7.1 million cell subscribers in Iraq up 1.4 million from two years ago. Registered companies in Iraq have increased by 8000 from this same period three years ago and the Iraqi GDP growth was 17% last year and is on course to a 13% growth for 2006. Inspite of attacks on oil fields, oil revenues and foreign grants for 2006 will will hit $ 41 billion and with security tightened in southern oil fields that figure could actually go up. Salaries have increased more than 100 % since the fall of Saddam and tax cuts have taken taxes from 45 % to 13% allowing more money in the pockets of Iraqi workers. Many Iraqis have built up a considerable nest egg which they could not do five years ago and according Newsweek, "there's a vibrancy at the grass roots that is invisible in most international coverage of Iraq. " Even they admit that this positive reporting has been non - existent in Iraq coverage. The article , hold on to your seats, even admits US success in Iraq, "The U.S. wanted to create the conditions in which small-scale private enterprise could blossom," says Jan Randolph, head of sovereign risk at Global Insight. "In a sense, they've succeeded."

Shortly after the election I mentioned to a friend of mine who I discuss politics with on a consistent basis that with a Democrat win in the House and Senate either soon after they take control of Congress or just before, the MSM will begin reporting positive news from Iraq to make the Dems look better and attempt to deceive the country into thinking that with Dems in control everything even Iraq is coming up roses. It looks like my prediction has come true. Where was this positive reporting for the last five years in the MSM ? Conservative talk radio has been touting the successes in Iraq constantly yet the only thing that has come out of the MSM until now are reports of the latest road side bombing, coverage of every homicide bomber that has gone to meet Allah and a continual body count of American soldiers and Iraqi citizens. Even when a story is related to Iraq or concerns the military in any way, such as the recent departure of Donald Rumsfeld as Secretary of Defense the story was tagged with something like, "This as today in Iraq two more US soldiers were killed in a road side bombing, " or something to that affect. Every story has had a body count tag and if there was not a story associated with Iraq or the military then just the body count would be stated. Nothing and I mean NOTHING, concerning the successes, the accomplishments, the advancements or any positive at all. Yet with just a few weeks before the Democrats take over Congress miraculously Iraq has a, "Booming Economy." Coincidence ? I think not. If this type of reporting had been the norm for the last five years the support for Iraq would not have faded as it has. The deception by the left and the MSM in only portraying the negative about Iraq has twisted the truth and created the idea that we are losing as well as diminished support for US presence in the country. This type of news has been available from the very beginning and the left along with their cohorts in the MSM have chosen to ignore it and irresponsibly neglected to tell the truth concerning what is happening in Iraq. As such they have succeeded in their agenda of damaging the Bush Presidency, turning the country against Iraq and placed us on the verge of negotiating with terror states pulling out of a success before it is finished and severely damaging American credibility for the sake of pushing their agenda. This Newsweek report could have been published with similar growth statistics though not quite as high three years ago because the Iraqi economy has had consistent growth since the fall of Saddam. Our troops have performed marvelously and all that the left and the MSM have shown the American people are the number killed. The death of an American soldier is more than a statistic for the news but rather a precious life who has sacrificed that life for the cause of freedom. This and thousands of similar reports that have been purposefully neglected in Iraq reporting proves the success of our men and women in the military and in American policy and presence in Iraq. Maybe now before we fall into the abyss of terror state negotiation, abandoning the mission and following a course of appeasement the tide toward this can be turned now that the truth is finally being reported and we can finish the job that was started leaving a free independent Iraq and a stable and safer situation in the Middle East. But then again this Newsweek report could just be an isolated slip up and future reporting will be business as usual and the course into the abyss will continue.

Ken Taylor