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07/19/2004: "Good News From Iraq"

Via a href="http://www.opinionjournal.com/extra/?id=110005370">Command Post, an Opinion Journal piece from blogger Arthur Chrenkoff.

My favorite datum:

On the city streets, more evidence of the returning normalcy: "Inspector Adnan Kadhum of the Baghdad traffic police says he noticed the change about 10 days ago: The city's notoriously unruly drivers suddenly started obeying his commands. They stopped when he signaled for them to stop; they went when he signaled for them to go. 'Before, you found hardly anyone listening to you,' the 27-year police force veteran says. Kadhum, 48, spent his days flailing around in 105-degree heat, sometimes waving his pistol in a futile attempt to make motorists follow his commands. 'Now, by barely moving my hand, I get respect.' "

that is, common Iraqis are willing to sacrifice short term goals (getting through the intersection right now)because they trust that civil authority.

Mr. Chrenkoff's bullet points include Iraqi society, the economy, reconstruction, coalition troops, and security.