Fox News: Iraq Moving Ahead (Libraries! Women’s centers!)

[Barrett808]

BAGHDAD, Iraq — The headlines and pictures from Iraq are grim these days, especially with the surge in violence as the national election approaches.

But progress is being made in pockets across the country, and FOX News traveled there to see.

Libraries have expanded, women’s centers have cropped up and in a northern city called Irbil (search), an international airport is opening in the hopes that the region will one day promote tourism.

The spate of attacks on U.S. troops and the Iraqis working with them has slowed down the reconstruction, according to officials there. So has the sabotage of oil pipelines and other crucial projects by former Saddam Hussein (search) regime loyalists.

“There is a security situation in this country that is not particularly conducive to the kind of reconstruction and the schedules we’d like to have,” said Ambassador Bill Taylor, director of the Iraq Reconstruction Management Office (search).

But there's hope. At a power plant in Kirkuk, about 1,200 new jobs went mostly to Iraqis. The people there want the same things everyone else does, said the plant's manager: work, education and food for their children.

"Hopefully, this job helps them to do that."

http://www.wrko.com/goout.asp?u=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,142816,00.html

[Supersedeas]

1. In another remote corner of Iraq: Hooters, girlie bars and Check-n-Gos...

FOX sees progress and reports propoganda from the smallest alleyways.

[StClone]

2. Libraries for Iraq! That's worth a couple Billion right there

That's worth a couple Billion right there! We luvs ya brown-skinned people. Yes we do we kills ya but we does it 'cuz we luv's ya then we puts up a Library.

[deutsey]

5. And we're shutting down libraries here in America

http://news.bostonherald.com/national/view.bg?articleid=60712

Steinbeck's hometown to close libraries

SNIP

So how would Steinbeck have reacted to the news that the cash-strapped city is closing its libraries in the spring?

"He'd obviously be upset. He knew that literature can lift and elevate the spirit and enable humans to rise above any situation," Gamble said. "He probably even read some of the great literature at the Salinas library."

Facing record deficits, the City Council voted Dec. 14 to shut all three of Salinas' libraries, including the branches named after Steinbeck and labor leader Cesar Chavez. The blue-collar town of 150,000 could become the most populous U.S. city without a public library.

More...

[KansDem]

8. I thought the same thing...

Build libraries so they can shut them down due to budget constraints, and build women's centers so the religiously insane can block them!

Life in the 51st state...

[CBHagman]

15. And I too thought of that.

Didn't the Bush administration shut the office of women's issues in the White House and try eliminate funding for the Violence Against Women Act, plus appoint people who were hostile to all those things? And of course they asked for zeroing out of funding for Reading Is Fundamental and for cuts to literacy programs and the like.

JEESH. Make up your damned minds.

[queeg]

21. magazines?

Hopefully they will have that back issue of the Progressive where it shows how to assemble a hydrogen bomb.

[StClone]

32. Thanks for that post

Jeeesh how blatant.

[NickB79]

40. I've been looking for that issue!

I only jotted down half the instructions one day at Barnes while browsing the magazine rack, so I can't finish my hydrogen bomb project. The wife is getting pretty pissed, what with the H-bomb taking up her side of the garage and all. Would you happen to know where I could find that issue so I can finish it up?

[Judi Lynn]

37. Jeb's been hacking away at the Florida library system for a couple of year

There have been quite a few articles posted at D.U. on this State's library crisis, as well.

Gov. Jeb Bush Set on Breaking Up
Florida State Library
Florida Lieutenant Governor Frank Brogan announced February 25 that the State Library of Florida’s circulating collection—consisting of more than 354,800 books, periodicals, and audiovisual materials—will be transferred to Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale. The move, expected to be complete by early fall, is intended to save the state $10.2 million over the next four years by eliminating 41 library positions and other costs.

Gov. Jeb Bush called the deal “a really important example of a public-private partnership,” the Tallahassee Democrat reported February 26. The NSU library is a joint-use facility, shared by university faculty and students and registered borrowers of the Broward County Division of Libraries. Bush added that those who don’t agree “have a very static way of looking at things” and “can’t see beyond the horizon.”

However, the announcement did little to dissuade widespread criticism of Bush’s plan to break up the state library. Nova will receive $5 million in state funds over the next four years to move and maintain the collection, an arrangement that wasn’t made in an earlier proposal to Florida State University. “That’s a good deal,” said former FSU dean and ex–State Library Director William Summers facetiously. “The state’s paying them $50 a book to give them books the state already owns.”

Bush has since backed down on a broader plan to transfer the library’s prized Florida Collection and the state archives to the Department of Environmental Protection, according to the February 26 Orlando Sentinel.

Meanwhile, a coalition of librarians, archivists, and historians has banded together to seek a court injunction against the move and challenge the governor’s authority to give away public property.
(snip/...)

http://www.ala.org/al_onlineTemplate.cfm?Section=march2003&Template=/ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=12260

[Sara Beverley]

23. Iraq, before the invasion, contained some of the world's oldest libraries

There never was a dearth of libraries. Iraqis are--or--were among the worlds most literate people and the women of Iraq enjoyed education and work in and out of government. Then Desert Storm and Shock & Awe. Now we are building libraries? We should have left them the hell alone in the first place. I can give no credit to us for building schools, libraries, and infrastructure that we destroyed for no damn good reason.

[underpants]

3. So they finally found some of this "good news"RW'ers have complained about

It about time.

[ProfessorGAC]

7. However, . . .

. . .on Wash. Journal (Tuesday, i think) a woman from the Philly Inquirer was on. She's been there several times, and is quite critical of the penatgon's planning of the occupation.

She stated that the electrical grid has been repaired to the point that 90% of the people, who had electricity before we attacked, now had it again. That means 10% of the people who had electrical service still don't, almost 2 years later.

I would think we should hold off on building libraries until we repair the damage WE did. You know, like rebuilding ALL the hospitals. You know, like not using a hospital as a military headquarters and letting it be a hospital again. That kind of stuff.

Faux is now reporting misplaced priorities as good news. Sheesh!
The Professor

[manic expression]

4. I heard about these women's centers

awhile ago. The truth is that they were set up to protect women from the "misery gangs" who gang-rape women at will. Not to mention the practice of killing a woman in one's family after she has been raped. The treatment of women is horrible in Iraq right now, and almost nothing is being done to stop it. Seems that after the US destroyed the country and occupied Iraq, this problem skyrocketed. These centers were originally set up in 1998. The groups is actually worried about its feminist newspaper, "Almosawat" (Equality), being shut down by the occupation forces.
(The source of this info: "The Freedom" by Christian Parenti)

Oh, and by the way, the US had nothing to do with these centers, activists of Iraq did this with no help from the occupying forces at all. They're trying to protect women. It is disgusting for the US to take any credit for this (it should be ashamed for making the horrible situation in the first place).

[underpants]

9. Thanks

for that info.

Hmm W&Co. taking credit for something they are actually hurting/undermining same song different day.

[Robbien]

13. Perhaps they are promoting women's centers because of

the large grant given to the GOP women's group which was to be used to teach Iraqi women "democracy". It wouldn't surprise me if that women's group are all hiding behind the barbed wire barriers of the green zone.

[Sara Beverley]

36. Before Desert Storm and before we invaded, women were safe in Iraq

unless they ran into Uday and Qusay.

[NickB79]

41. Yeah, now the streets are full of Udays and Qusays

As sad as it sounds, women were better off under Saddam when there were harsh laws that punished men for rape much more severely than in many other countries of the area. Uday and Qusay, being Saddam's sons, were above the law, so they did rape women, but two men can only do so much. Now with total loss of law and order, thousands of sick men are free to rape women without worry from police.

[Branjor]

6. How nice....

After they allowed the destruction and looting of Iraq's precious, irreplaceable items of antiquity from the museum.

[Deja Q]

10. What happened to that big report about the tsunami reaching the US?

And which city will first be obliterated: Los Angeles, DC, or Minneapolis? :crazy:

[xultar]

11. Lipstick on a pig my friends....n/t

[VegasWolf]

12. Why not trying burying all the dead children first assholes. n/t

[maxsolomon]

14. irbil is in the kurdish area?

what

evah.

[brooklynite]

16. Will they be banning "Harry Potter"?

......evolution textbooks?

...birth control websites?

[0007]

42. No Harry Potter books or film will be allowed in Iraq.

Mel Gibson will be the big super star along with that other mindless so called actor John Wayne.

[Skittles]

17. and all it cost was 100,000 + lives

to be continued!

[VolcanoJen]

18. Tourism???? Seriously??

:eyes:

[u4ic]

29. They'll call it "extreme tourism"

as in "you've got an extremely good chance of being killed there".

[Barrett808]

39. Gallows LOL! n/t

[puddycat]

19. didn't they have all that before we destroyed it all?

Iraq was the most advanced country in the Middle East and its women were the most free and educated--until the US worked it over in the last 40 years with its special brand of foreign policy: first you create a dictator, manipulate him, then you throw him to the dogs, along with his countrymen. And oh, yes, then when you invade the country, bomb it to hell, steal their resources, then its called "liberation".

[Massachusetts]

20. PROPAGANDA

Lets get the food, water, medical, energy, and housing part of this squared away first. Not to mention security, so the people will be around to enjoy those essentials.

[SOS]

22. Hey Fox

Where are the pictures of this "good news"?
The linked article has two photos. Both are worthless, since no context is provided. The video link is a misidentified ad for Fox.
So Fox went to Iraq, found lots of "good news", but didn't take any pictures?
If these new schools, libraries and hospitals exist, why have we never seen one?

[radar]

24. But...

...They're fair & balanced! We're supposed to take their word for it - as gospel.

HANNITY: "You are thoughtless, mean, hateful liberal"

Shut Up, Just Shut Up

[warrens]

25. They should be hung for such blatant lying

Here we have a girl with ONLY ONE LEG BLOWN OFF. See, she still has one of her legs! She can still play hopscotch! See! Well, she does tend to fall down a lot, but she's at least 50% better off than her sister!

[Alpharetta]

26. The fact they had an olympic team means Iraq is doing great

I had a friend tell me at lunch "the fact they had an olympic team means Iraq is doing great". He is a casual republican via heredity.

I asked him if he had heard about the olympic soccer team complaining Bush used them as propaganda and members said they'd be with the insurrection if they weren't playing soccer. He said no.

FoxNews is the only news he watches.

Bottom line? Most casual republicans haven't gotten to the blame stage for the Iraq mistakes.

[MGKrebs]

27. I would be curious to see the level of American presence

in those areas. In other words, if we leave them alone, they don't throw bombs around? Maybe?

[w4rma]

28. Libraries? The Repugs allowed one of the worlds oldest libraries to burn

to the GROUND in Baghdad. It *had* irreplacable original documents dating back to before Jesus's time.

http://artlibrary.vassar.edu/Baghdad/links.html

[progressivebydesign]

30. They USED to have libraries, universities, symphony orchestras...

we blew them all up and killed the people who visited them. BFD, new libraries.

[HockeyMom]

31. Afganistan

Far, far too many people in this country think Iraq was just like Afganistan. NOT.

[Omar_Mohamed]

33. Exactly

America destroyed everything good in Iraq. All to steal the oil and to brainwash the people to be against the wishes of Allah.

[Barrett808]

38. But those were evil socialist libraries, universities, and orchestras

To be replaced by noble free-market institutions...at some point...

[Just Me]

34. I seriously struggle to comment,...

,...on predators willing to exploit every and any human weakness to overcome their obsessive self-intrigue and importance. They would sell their Moms to profit themselves. They have completely lost their sense of hope or humanity or Love. What a horrible black-hole in which they exist. They don't even have the "compassion" to accept how they are pulling the best of humanity into their very dark space.

I have no extra compassion to offer these consumptionists.

None.

When they fall,...I'll wave,...with all five fingers,...BUH-BYE. "See ya', never be ya'"!!!!

[Unforgiven]

35. And Next

Walmarts, McDonalds, Burger King, Taco Bell add infinity.

Is it going to be fine, dear freinds?

Yes, it's going to be fine.

Just as soon as The United States Department of Departments and Corporate America finish the job we have started.

So be a patriot, and turn in your shoes!

Play Lucky Iraqi Lotto!!!

Scratch off three detainees in a row for a free ticket!!!!!!!



Sincere apologies to Porgy Tirebiter, and anyone reading this post.

[spooked]

43. in December US soldiers burned books in one of Iraq's Ancient Libraries!

"Another American crime against civilization: Irreparable cultural loss inflicted when US troops raid and burn ancient books in Islamic Teaching library in al-Fallujah.

In another of their many crimes reminiscent of those committed by the Mongols when they sacked Baghdad some 800 years ago, US forces invaded and burned down the Islamic Teaching Library in al-Fallujah on Thursday, a facility over 500 years old belonging to Shaykh Husayn ‘Awdah, one of the most famous imams and preachers in al-Fallujah in former times.

Cleaning personnel who witnessed the outrage told Mafkarat al-Islam in al-Fallujah that five US occupation troops entered the library in the ar-Rawi Mosque. They barbarously ripped the books off the shelves, threw them all in a pile, poured gasoline on them and set them ablaze. Not satisfied with that, they dug out unburned parts of the books and poured gasoline on them again and set them ablaze to make sure that none of the old and precious volumes would survive.

The historic Islamic Teaching Library of al-Fallujah contained extremely valuable volumes, very old and extremely rare books including works by Ibn Taymiyah (1263-1328), Ibn Kathir (1301-1373), and Jalal ad-Din as-Suyuti (1445-1505). Among the library’s rarest holdings was a manuscript by Ibn Taymiyah in that Shaykh’s own hand. The library was full of works on Islamic law, biographies of the Prophet, collections of Hadith literature, and studies in the Islamic creed (‘Aqidah) and jurisprudence."

http://www.jihadunspun.com/index-side_internal.php?article=101079&list=/home.php

So what kind of books do we want to put in their NEW libraries? The Good News Bible?!