There's more than numbers for those who want to understand

One thing I hope the decision-makers and the media do when they read the report is to not isolate the war in Iraq from the war on terror and al-Qaeda as a whole, and at the same time put in mind the difference between war and nation-building. The latter takes much more time than winning a military conflict but requires different tools.

The results so far have been astounding, and please allow me to say that I'm proud of the change in attitude many of my fellow Iraqis are showing. Even if numbers don't suggest so because the change is happening but it will take time-perhaps beyond September-before this change will show in numbers.

A nation is not a corporation and when we deal with a nation we are dealing with a society; a mass of people with ever changing hearts and minds and that's why numbers alone can't be enough to assess the situation—thoughtful insight and looking at the bigger image are also required.

excerpt by Omar, Iraq the Model

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Frankly I think Iraq the Model should be required reading daily for our Congress. But as an elitist body - consumed only with their own political careers and future, poll numbers and other popularity indicators - it seems doubtful they look past statistics to actual progress. Especially since they have made it abundantly clear that positive progress is the last thing they desire.

Omar doesn't stop with the plea to look at changes in humanity, but also addresses the effect the chicken little lying media has had on the Iraqi population for the past few years. Obviously they have contributed mightily to the slow progress with their ominous op-ed headlines masquerading as "news".

For over a year the media and many officials were spooking us with the exaggerated ghost of civil war. I wonder what they have to say now! I think their silence is more telling than anything they would've said.

You may hold your breath with the rest of us, Omar. Our "free press" ranks are filled with those who crave your defeat and failure because it makes for bigger press circulation, ad numbers and "gotcha Bush" propaganda.

But we can always hope... and those of us coddled here in America should be inspired by those like Omar and Mohammed who live at the heart of the battle for freedom in Baghdad.