[Dean's World] Dave Price: Is Iraq's Economy Taking Off?

[notify at powerblogs.com]

Posted by Dave Price:
Is Iraq's Economy Taking Off?
http://www.deanesmay.com/posts/1193853655.shtml


   Gatewaypundit [1]has the Haider Ajina translation of PM Maliki's
   statements as reported in an Iraqi newspaper:

     On the economic front we have much to be proud of, unemployment has
     declined from 50% to 20% and inflation has gone down from 60% to
     16%, these are tremendous achievements.

   Great news, if true, though we don't know the source or reliability of
   these numbers. It seems fairly safe to assume things are, at least,
   getting better rather than worse, which may help explain why the
   violence is falling. Those two trends are synergistic, creating a
   positive feedback loop: more available work means fewer young men
   joining militias or taking $100 to plant IEDs, falling violence (via
   [2]Glenn, Dean Barnett notes both Iraqi civilian casualties and
   coalition deaths [3]continued to decline in October following
   September's precipitous drop) means more markets and businesses can
   open.
   Time, meanwhile, takes the [4]Decapigate Part Deux false report of 20
   headless bodies and [5]runs with it, making that tidbit of faux news
   the centerpiece of a story on why the surge has "reached its limits"
   and is going to fail. Watch closely, folks, this is how memes are born
   and demonstrates why media bias and laziness matter.

     The horrible discovery in Diyala province Monday was disturbing
     even by the standards of Iraq's running sectarian violence. Iraqi
     police said they found 20 decapitated bodies dumped near a police
     station west of Baquba, the capital of Diyala province.
     ...
     The prognosis for Iraq, barring a dynamic transformation on the
     part of the Iraqi government very soon, is grimly apparent. As U.S.
     forces lessen their presence in the coming months, killings of the
     kind seen Monday in Diyala will persist there and most likely
     spread to areas calmed by the increase of U.S. forces.

   Oops! [6]Never mind. It's just another Emily Litella moment for the
   MSM.

References

   1. http://gatewaypundit.blogspot.com/2007/10/maliki-announces-great-progress-on.html
   2. http://www.instapundit.com/
   3. http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/014/292pdstg.asp
   4. http://www.deanesmay.com/posts/1193773473.shtml
   5. http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1677822,00.html?xid=rss-topstories
   6. http://gatewaypundit.blogspot.com/2007/10/challenge-to-time-magazine-to-get-their.html