"Now We Have Hope" -- The View from Iraq

Three years ago, American troops invaded Iraq and overthrew the brutal dictatorship of Saddam Hussein. Certainly the aftermath of the quick military victory has been much longer and more difficult than many people expected. Polls show that support for the war continues to decline among the American public. And if you get your news from the mainstream media, whose idea of balance is to have a panel with equal numbers of people who think Bush is mistaken and people who think Bush is evil (yes, Katie, I'm talking about you on the Today Show this morning), it's hard to see much progress being made.

But among the Iraqi people (who know a little more about what is going on in their country than we do), there is hope and confidence for the future. In the most recent poll, 2/3 expect things to be better a year from now. One of the clearest voices from Iraq is the blogger Iraq the Model, who posted a brilliantly written piece today marking the anniversary, including this:

Before the liberation we were suffering and we had no hope, now we are also suffering but we have hope and I see this hope even in the words of those that are cynical about the outcome of the political process; who say they hope things will be better in four years or eight years…
When Saddam was here we didn't have any hope and we could expect nothing good from a dead regime that cared only about its absolute existence.

Things have changed and are continuing to do so, there is hope for the future, and yes, despite the terrible cost, I continue to believe that the Iraq War is worth it.