DID YOU KNOW

Did you know that 47 countries' have reestablished their embassies in Iraq?
Did you know that the Iraqi government currently employs 1.2 million Iraqi people?
Did you know that 3100 schools have been renovated,
364 schools are under rehabilitation,
263 new schools are now under construction and 38 new schools have been completed in Iraq? Did you know that Iraq's higher educational structure consists of 20 Universities, 46 Institutes or colleges and 4 research centers, all currently operating?
Did you know that 25 Iraq students departed for the United States in January 2005 for the re-established Fulbright program?
Did you know that the Iraqi Navy is operational?
They have 5 - 100-foot patrol craft, 34 smaller vessels and a naval infantry regiment.
Did you know that Iraq's Air Force consists of three operational squadrons, which includes 9 reconnaissance and 3 US C-130 transport aircraft (under Iraqi operational control) which operate day and night, and will soon add 16 UH-1 helicopters and 4 Bell Jet Rangers?
Did you know that Iraq has a counter-terrorist unit and a Commando Battalion?
Did you know that the Iraqi Police Service has over 55,000 fully trained and equipped police officers?
Did you know that there are 5 Police Academies in Iraq that produce over 3500 new officers each 8 weeks?
Did you know there are more than 1100 building projects going on in Iraq?
They include 364 schools, 67 public clinics, 15 hospitals, 83 railroad stations, 22 oil facilities, 93 water facilities and 69 electrical facilities.
Did you know that 96% of Iraqi children under the age of 5 have received the first 2 series of polio vaccinations?
Did you know that 4.3 million Iraqi children were enrolled in primary school by mid October? Did you know that there are 1,192,000 cell phone subscribers in Iraq and phone use has gone up 158%?
Did you know that Iraq has an independent media that consists of 75 radio stations, 180 newspapers and 10 television stations?
Did you know that the Baghdad Stock Exchange opened in June of 2004?
Did you know that 2 candidates in the Iraqi presidential election had a televised debate recently?
OF COURSE WE DIDN'T KNOW!
WHY DIDN'T WE KNOW? OUR MEDIA WOULDN'T TELL US! Instead of reflecting our love for our country, we get photos of flag burning incidents at Abu Ghraib and people throwing snowballs at the presidential motorcades. Tragically, the lack of accentuating the positive in Iraq serves two purposes: It is intended to undermine the world's perception of the United States thus minimizing consequent support, and it is intended to discourage American citizens. ---- Above facts are verifiable on the Department of Defense web site. http://www.defenselink.mil/

And the land heals

I have been reading several articles concerning the marshlands in southern Iraq. For years after the 1991 Gulf War, much of Saddam Hussein's industrial machinery was turned toward a massive dam-building project that drained some 90 percent of the southern wetlands where Marsh Arabs have lived for more than 5,000 years, Apart from the human toll of hundreds of thousands of marshland inhabitants being displaced. It was also an ecological catastrophe, destroying an area that many call the cradle of Western civilization, sustained by periodical flooding by the Tigris and Euphrates rivers and also the home to hundreds of fish and bird species.
After Saddam Hussein was forced from power, residents who had not fled the area tore down the dams. And as water began flooding back in (the quality of water flowing into the marsh is higher than expected and the response of wildlife has been swift and positive. Plant life is returning to many areas and some people are resuming a way of life that has endured for thousands of years)

Read more at

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/6998715/
http://www.sciencemag.org/