Two Years In

Two years after the start of the Iraq war and alot of things have changed. Oh, don't get me wrong, there are still anti-war protesters (and protesters against the protesters), although dramatically less than the run-up to the war. Brian has a great post on Iraqi civilian deaths and fudging of numbers.

The Inquirer was just itching to run an editorial about the "quagmire" that is Iraq and the lack of infrastructure, etc. Fortunately, things aren't going that bad for most Iraqi's so the Inky was forced to run this:

The hope is that the war does not cause greater disorder and danger for the world.

Many people have tried already to claim they can see the final fruits of that invasion. Don't believe them.

Don't believe the Bush-haters, who think the national treasure spent in lives and dollars is for naught. These critics argue that U.S. involvement in Iraq is as doomed as America's involvement was in the Vietnam war. That comparison is off-base.

The January election, imperfect though it was (what election isn't?), represented an inspiring milestone in the history of a country that endured Hussein's vicious regime.

Turn aside, too, from the hawks roosting inside and outside of President Bush's administration who so dearly want to crow that the voting means Iraq is now a democracy.

Too many insurgent attacks continue killing soldiers and civilians, an elected government and bureaucracy are still taking shape, too many divisions remain within the population.

The best way to note this second anniversary simply may be to present some numbers about Iraq that have accumulated since March 19, 2003 - the good and the bad.

Check out the statistics they present, then read what's really happening.