Iraq's Untold Story: Calming the Waters

Interesting collection of editorials today at IWPR's Iraqi Press Monitor (click on Sept. 2). They're not all this positive but hey, Iraq's Untold Story looks at the bright side of life:

OPINION: Iraqis Have Faith in Constitution
        By: Ali Khulaif
        (Al-Adala, 30 August 2005) Having finished the drafting of the constitution, agreed upon by the political blocs, the political process takes its first step on the road to rebuilding the new Iraq. But there are some reservations. It is impossible to satisfy the different spectrums of Iraq that consist of different ethno-religious groups. Those who try to turn time backward will be disappointed because the people represented by the National Assembly members said their words in the constitution. Those who demonstrated in Baquba, raising the pictures of the dictator Saddam Hussein, cannot delude Iraqis. Their rejection of the constitution means nothing. Zarqawi refused it before them, but it still exists. Iraqis will never quit the constitution. They will take part in the referendum and those terrorists and Baath party followers will find no place to hide their ugly faces because Iraqis believe that the constitution is their only guarantee to future generations.
        (Al-Adala is issued daily by the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq.)

And this:

OPINION: Sadr Followers and Badr Brigade Contained Crisis
        By: Issa al-Sayyid Jafar
        (Al-Bayyna, 30 August 2005) Shia leaders proved themselves to be self-controlling men who can take hold of their anger in times of tensions. Those Salafis, Wahabbis, and Saddam's henchmen who tried to ignite a conflict between Sadr followers and the Badr Brigade faced the solid fraternity of the two Shia sides. They contained the crisis in a brotherly way in response to those who fish in the troubled water. They proved to the entire world that they are too smart to be deluded by those criminals and that it is not easy to drive them to a conflict that might lead to a civil war.
        (Al-Bayyna is a weekly paper issued by the Hezbollah movement in Iraq.)

And this:

EDITORIAL: Sadr Aware of Threats Iraq Faces
        By: Ismail Zair
        (Al-Sabah Al-Jadeed, 27 August 2005) No people in the entire world have suffered like the Iraqi people suffered during more than 35 years of the former regime's dictatorship and oppression. It was a terrible era that cannot be compared to any era of dictatorship in recent history. Iraqis see the role of Muqtada al-Sadr in quieting the terrible issues and his awareness of the threats Iraq faces. Iraqis will never forget this stance of Muqtada. Last Friday will stand as a good lesson to us all, even though there will be other possible ignitions of a civil war we all try to avoid. The powers of darkness fish in the troubled water at a time when we try to form our constitution and keep future generations from being lost between the storms of the Middle East and the currents of the backwardness, darkness, and fascist elements. We are grateful to the leaders of the Dawa and the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq for their self-control and high spirits in cooling the issue. Iraq, having such kinds of leaders and officials, might move steadily towards the bright future.
        (Al-Sabah al-Jadeed is an independent daily paper.)

On the good-news reporting front, Bill Crawford is shutting down his site, All Things Conservative. As noted at the time, the blog was one of those that took up the slack with the imminent shutdown of good news from Arthur Chrenkoff; here is Crawford's last installment and best regards to him.

UPDATE: The other other good news site is Alenda Lux, not to be confused with this other Alenda Lux that apparently started posting in August. A recent meditation:

Gas panic. You motherfuckers. Every one of you assholes I see in line with your goddamned SUVs needs to be fucking shot. You are socially retarded, selfish assholes. Go buy a goddamned Honda and stop wasting our gas. My car has a fifteen or so gallon tank. Fifteen gallons. For every large SUV that fills up today, you could probably fill my car twice. TWICE.

Fuckers. Every fucking one of you.

The Howard Dean Speaks for Me ad is another tipoff.