Iraq: Some Good News. Did you hear? Of course not.
Amid the hand wringing, some good news out of Iraq today:
Maj. Gen. William B. Caldwell held a press briefing today discussing the impending turnover of security forces in the Muthanna province in southern Iraq. Caldwell described it as a “huge step”, and I don’t think that’s in any way an overstatement.
Muthanna will be the first province in Iraq to assume total control of its security forces: all mutlinational forces will withdraw from urban areas and take on a supporting role, while the local police will assume full responsibility and be under the direct control of Muthanna’s governor. In addition to being another sign of slow but steady progress in Iraq, Muthanna also represents an important test case for the future transition of the rest of the country’s security forces.
From RCP Blog
You can read the full press release … just in case your local paper doesn’t carry it, wink, wink … HERE! .
The RCP Blog article has a nifty little graphic that shows the Muthanna province in “go – go” green, with provinces nearly ready for turnover in yellow. Looks like we’re making progress to me. Who wants odds that the emphasis will be on the red, “not ready for turn over” provinces on the national news instead? I wouldn’t want to try and beat those odds.
But enough already. Can we get some non-polarized news reports anytime soon? Surely, good news from Iraq should at least fall into the “man bites dog” category, if not the “if it bleeds it leads” category.
