Dateline: On the front porch swing, waiting for the rain to come

I received this email yesterday which I found interesting. Nice to see the Times do some good news for a change.

New York Times
May 13, 2005

By Arthur Chrenkoff, Helene Silverman, and Norman Hathaway

As the old newsroom saying goes, “If it bleeds, it leads.” And while it is understandable that newspapers like to report stories about violence, crime, conflict and mayhem, it means that good news is often relegated to the back pages, if reported at all. This happens the world over, be it in Boston, Berlin — or Baghdad. People who live in Boston or Berlin know, of course, that the bad news is never the whole story. Baghdad, on the other hand, is far away, and Westerners have no choice but to rely on reporters to tell us everything that is happening there. And while there’s no denying that there is much bad news — and the recent spate of audacious attacks by the insurgents is a prime example — the international press has been so focused on the setbacks that few readers are likely to know about the daily parade of small triumphs that mark slow but steady progress. Consider a month’s worth of such stories.

1 April — Iraqs Kurds, divided for decades by their loyalty to two rival local governments, the Kurdistan Democratic Party and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, announce the merger of the two administrations.

2 April — Ministry of Planning and Development Cooperation announces it is now supervising 121 major reconstruction projects that will cost $1.8 billion.

3 April — Iraq and Kuwait move to end the longstanding border dispute that led to the Persian Gulf war, establishing a joint commission to decide on best way to administer the Rumaila oil field.

4 Apri1 — Seventeen insurgents die in clashes in eastern Diyala Province; one Iraqi soldier is killed.

5 April — Iraqi government and International Monetary Fund announce they expect to have an economic adjustment package in place by fall.

6 April –More than 900 companies from 44 countries participate in an Iraqi reconstruction exposition in Amman, Jordan.

7 April — Ibrahim al-Jaafari named prime minister, becoming the first Shiite leader of Iraq in centuries, one day after a Kurd, Jalal Talabani, was named president.

8 April — Three suspected insurgents arrested in Mosul following tips from local residents.

9 April — Government announces it will begin 24 water projects, costing $15 million, in the restive Sunni areas of Latifiya, Yousifiya and Al Rasheed.

10 Apri1 — Iraqi security forces announce the capture of Ibrahim Sabawi, a nephew of Saddam Hussein, suspected of playing a major part in financing the insurgency.

11 April — Sixty-five suspected insurgents arrested in Baghdad in the bggest joint American-Iraqi raids to date.

12 April — Oil output in the south of Iraq reaches 1.1 million barrels per day, close to prewar levels.

13 April — Ministry of Health allocates $6.1 million for the reconstruction of Falluja Hospital and three other health centers.

14 April — Four senior insurgency commanders surrender in Mosul.

15 April — Drilling begins on four of the 110 planned new wells (74 already underway) that will give clean and reliable water to 550,000 Iraqis in remote parts of the country.

16 April — Ministry of Health announces completed construction of two hospitals in the poorest areas of Baghdad.

17 April — Reforestation program begins in forest areas near Erbil that were razed by Saddam Hussein in the 1990’s and overharvested for fuel by local residents.

18 April — Coalition forces arrest the alleged leader of an insurgent cell in Kirkuk responsible for sabotaging oil pipelines.

19 April — Educational television channel begins broadcasting again for millions of Iraqi students. The channel had been closed down in 1993 after Uday Hussein confiscated its equipment for his private TV channel.

20 April — American officials announce rehabilitation of Mosul’s water treatment and sewer systems is complete.

21 April — Government announces that the inflation rate fell by 6 percent in March, in large part because of a 48 percent drop in fuel costs.

22 April — Following tips from local residents just north of Baghdad, 10 suspects arrested in the shooting down of a civilian helicopter.

23 April — Two major Sunni political parties that had boycotted January’s election, the Iraqi Sunni Accord and the Iraqi Islamic Party, announce they will take part in future votes.

24 April — Opening ceremony held at a primary school in Falluja, one of the five in the city renovated by the United States Army.

25 April — First troops of the news 450-strong Australian contingent arrive in Muthanna Province to train Iraqi troops and provide security for Japanese forces engaged in the reconstruction effort.

26 April — America-Iraq School Partners Program pilot begins; initially involving 13 American and 17 Iraqi schools, it aims to build ties between students and educators in the two countries.

27 April — Government signs contracts with two companies to buld two 200-megawatt power stations in the north.

28 April — Prime Minister Jaafari’s cabinet of 36 members is approved by the National Aseembly (on Saddam Hussein’s birthday).

29 April — Education Department announces it has finished renovating 49 schools and building 22 others in Baghdad’s Sadr City slum.

30 April — Nine residential neighborhoods in Diyala receive new electricity supply through an energy-cooperation project with Iran.

Arthur Chrenkoff, a journalist in Bribane, Australia, writes the Web log chrenkoff.blogspot.com. Helene Silverman and Norman Hathaway are graphic designers.

I am always amazed at how much people expect. There is the cry that there are more terrorist attacks after we invaded Iraq than before. Well, duh! What did they expect, that once the coalition forces entered Iraq the terrorists would just give up? Such shallow thinking!