Christ on a bike Terry, two days and that's all you can manage?!? I wouldn't mind, but you've fudged, ducked and refused to answer a whole host of other questions, so I expected better of you this time.
*tsk*.
Must try harder, flower.
But, hey, the way you describe the place, Terry, the new Iraq does sound like a paradise on Earth, what with all the reconstruction, the good government, the lack of violence and the overall feelgood factor! When are you moving out there, old fruit? There are plenty of empty properties, and some of them even have water and electricity for a few hours a day.
You really, really don't get it, do you. I personally know five people who have spent upwards of three months in Iraq over the past three years. Three are in the military, one in the police and one is a civilian.
Two of them still believe that it was right to invade and topple Saddam, but even they think we have f*cked up hugely in the aftermath.
And would you believe that none of them shares your rosy view? They are all of the opinion that no serious thought was given to what to do with Iraq when the Saddam was overthrown, and that major mistakes have been made. They all see the situation getting worse, not better. More and more reconstruction money is going on security and less on infrastructure. A security system where the police themselves are acting as gangsters and kidnappers and carrying out sectarian murders on a scale that makes Northern Ireland look like a Quaker haven.
But, hey, perhaps you are able to take a loftier view by virtue of the infinitely more valid experience of polishing your arse while Googling official press releases. After all, actually talking to people involved in Iraq would ruin your objectivity, wouldn't it?
Judging from your comments, can I assume that you really would try to play your fantasist's joker and argue that Iraq is in better shape and a safer place to live now than it was in 2002?