Iraqi's more confident in themselves

Michael Rubin explains why Iraqi's are more confident in themselves than most American pundits and policy makers are.

Most of the news we hear from Iraq is totally negative. Car bombs, the daily litany of Americans giving their lives for the sake of freedom (although it isn't expressed in that manner by the MSM, of course), so-called "insurgents" (read terrorists, the word that must never be said or printed by the MSM - wouldn't want to upset them now, would we?) attacking Iraqi Army and Police recruiting stations, etc., etc., ad nauseum. These are the things that are being looked at by the so-called "experts", and by the policy makers, and because of the negativity, many of them are on the verge of panic, and demanding that President Bush set a definite withdrawal date.

And yet, the truth of the matter is this. Iraqi's have confidence in themselves, and in their political process succeeding. How so? As Mr. Rubin points out, hundreds of thousands of Iraqi's who had fled the Saddam regime are returning. People who lack confidence flee the situation, not return. The Iraqi real estate market is booming. People lacking confidence in a situation buy gold and jewels, which can be easily hidden for when they flee. They don't buy real estate if they have no confidence that the law will protect their investment. Foreign investment is up, and will continue to grow. The Iraqi's also recently turned out in the millions to vote on their country's new constitution, establishing a democratic form of government. People with no confidence would not have voted.

That is the truth in Iraq, and why the Iraqi people are more confident in themselves than the American pundits, the so-called "experts", and the policy makers.