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Nov. 18, 2009
Rabbi Yonason Goldson: What Judaism has to say about the secret of the Mona Lisa's smile
JWisdom.com: The (Jewish) Dating Game with Rabbi Lawrence Hajioff (8 minutes)
Nov. 17, 2009
Steven Emerson: How Does the 4th Amendment Impact Terror Finance Investigations?
JWisdom.com: If Frank Sinatra married Edith Piaf with Rabbi Y.Y. Rubinstein (2 minutes) Life lessons from what would be regarded as the most inappropriate lyrics ever sung
Nov. 16, 2009
The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir : When borrowing is stealing
JWisdom.com: Deconstructing faith with Rabbi Warren Goldstein (9 minutes)
Nov. 13, 2009
JWisdom.com Sarah's subjective reality with Rabbi Sroy Levitansky ( 6 minutes)
Caroline B. Glick: Obama's failure, Netanyahu's opportunity
Nov. 12, 2009
The Kosher Gourmet By Marialisa Calta : A sweet sweet potato treat
JWisdom.com Does God get tired? with Rabbi Harvey Belovski ( 5 minutes)
Nov. 11, 2009
Rabbi Avi Shafran: Jews and money: When anti-Semitism isn't
JWisdom.com Marriages are not made in Heaven with Rabbi Lawrence Hajioff (VERY fast 15 minutes)
Nov. 10, 2009
Michael Doyle: Author of book exposing CAIR ordered to remove supporting documents from Web
JWisdom.com If the creation so loudly shouts the existence of the Creator, why aren't more people believers? with Rabbi Naftali Brawer (9 minutes)
Nov. 9, 2009
Mark Steyn: Shooter exposes hole in U.S. terror strategy
JWisdom.com It's never too late to have a happy childhood with Sarah Chana Radcliffe (5 minutes)
Nov. 6, 2009
Rabbi Berel Wein: Choosing to hear
JWisdom.com Zero to 1/60th: How to Empower An Hour with Gavriel Aryeh Sande (7 minutes)
Caroline B. Glick The mullahs' big week
Suzanne Fields A Fallen Wall for Fallen Man
Nov. 5, 2009
The Kosher Gourmet: Three scrumptious -- but simple -- butternut squash dishes
JWisdom.com Hidden Hints: Unlocking Faith & Prayer with Rabbi Jay Yaacov Schwartz (10 minutes)
Nov. 4, 2009
Tom Hamburger and Kim Geiger: Should prayers be covered?
JWisdom.com When God played peacemaker With Rabbi Sroy Levitansky (5 minutes)
Nov. 3, 2009
Martin Peretz: Beware, Barack. Beware, Rahm. Beware, Axelrod
JWisdom.com Are you are closet idolater? With Sara Yoheved Rigler (10 minutes)
Nov. 2, 2009
Paul Greenberg: The Holocaust is now on Facebook
JWisdom.com Abraham's Strange Change With Rabbi Yitzchok Fingerer (5 minutes)
Oct. 29, 2003
Mortimer B. Zuckerman: Graffiti On History's Walls (MUST-READ!)

Jewish World Review Oct. 3, 2005 / 29 Elul, 5765

This just in: Good news from Iraq

By Richard Z. Chesnoff


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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | I once had an editor who used to cynically quip, "There's no news like bad news!" He would have loved Iraq: unrelenting terrorism, an insatiable casualty rate and an estimated 200 billion of U.S. tax dollars down a bottomless drain - all this at a time when we could use serious help back on our own devastated Gulf Coast.


There's no denying the torrent of bad news out of Iraq. Yet buried beneath it is a steady stream of good news, positive developments that rarely make the evening TV shows, the front page headlines or even the back pages.


I'm no Pollyanna. But whether you support our presence in Iraq, or think we should be pulling out tomorrow, it's vital to see the bright side of Iraqi events before deciding our efforts in that long suffering land are valueless.


Take, for example, the way brave Iraqis continue to defy bloody attempts by pro-Saddam terrorists to sabotage the upcoming Oct. 15 constitutional referendum and deny Iraq democracy. Like the January presidential vote, registration has been exhilaratingly high across the country - even in provinces with heavy "insurgent" presence.


In Anbar and Salahuddin, approximately 75% of eligible voters recently signed up to vote. Iraqis are also beginning to take over the heavy burden of their own defense. Our 149,000 troops clearly remain vital to any semblance of order, but the Iraqi army is making strides: It already boasts a counterterrorist unit and a commando battalion.


Iraq's once-powerful Air Force is back in the skies with three operational squadrons that already include nine reconnaissance and three U.S. C-130 transport aircraft that operate around the clock under Iraqi control. Even the Iraqi Navy is afloat again, with 39 patrol craft and a full navy infantry regiment.


Some members of Congress loudly disagree, but top Iraqi officials and several senior U.S. military chiefs believe that we may be able to safely withdraw substantial numbers of our troops by year's end. The Iraqi police force already has more than 55,000 fully trained and equipped police officers.


And suicide bombings at recruiting stations haven't frightened away long lines of new candidates for Iraq's five police academies; they now produce more than 3,500 new police officers every eight weeks.


Then there are the 4,730 schools that have been renovated or constructed; the more than 4.3 million Iraqi children in primary school; the publication of 51 million new Saddam-free textbooks for Iraqi schoolchildren; and the 70 universities, colleges and research centers now operating in Iraq.


Such progress has even triggered a steady "brain drain in reverse" - thousands of educated Iraqi expatriates who are returning home to teach and participate in the New Iraq.


During my first visit to Saddam-controlled Iraq in 1988, there was no free press and there was brutal oppression - especially of Kurds and Shiites. Today, there's a successful semi-autonomous Kurdistan, a politically powerful Shiite majority, plus an independent media with 75 radio stations, 180 newspapers and 10 television stations.


And best yet, Saddam Hussein is about to go on trial. Consider all this next time you feel that we're making no headway in Iraq.

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CHESNOFF'S LATEST
The Arrogance of the French  

Sean Hannity
This book will open your eyes!

Bill O'Reilly
Why do the French hate America? Richard Chesnoff has figured it out and informs us with entertaining clarity.

Dennis Miller
France sucks, but this book doesn't.

Michael Barone, Co-author, The Almanac of American Politics
Americans-and the French-will learn a lot from this book.

Clifford D. May, President, Foundation for the Defense of Democracies
Richard Z. Chesnoff insightfully-and entertainingly-explores America's most dysfunctional relationship with America's least reliable ally.

Sales help fund JWR.



JWR contributor and veteran journalist Richard Z. Chesnoff is a contributing correspondent at US News & World Report, a columnist at the NY Daily News and a senior fellow at the Washington-based Foundation for the Defense of Demoracies. A two-time winner of the Overseas Press Club Award and a recipient of the National Press Club Award, he was formerly executive editor of Newsweek International. His latest book, is "The Arrogance of the French: Why They Can't Stand Us & Why The Feeling Is Mutual". (Click on cover above to purchase. Sales help fund JWR. )

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© 2005, Richard Z. Chesnoff

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