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Or is it? And at what cost? Excerpts. Full article at the link below.
"It's true, there is good news to report from Iraq. Yesterday, a school in the rural outskirts of Tikrit, Saddam Hussein's hometown, started its second week of classes for the academic year. It's been up and running for close to 24 months now, built by the Coalition a few months after the April 2003 invasion. To showcase the achievement, Iraqi and American officials, accompanied by a handful of Arab media, turned up for a quick bite of cake and a speech."
but
"...But to get our little group of about a dozen people to the school required 13 armored Humvees and two helicopters—one of them an Apache attack craft—flying close air support. With three soldiers in each Humvee, that makes for about 39 troops, or roughly four soldiers for each "VIP." Hundreds of Iraqi police lined the streets from the base to the school, both to show the visiting muckety-mucks their strength and to make sure we didn't get hit. Before leaving the compound, the hosting State Department official in Tikrit gave the mandatory warning: "If something bad happens, please stay in your vehicle. If something bad happens when you are not in your vehicle, please move quickly back to the vehicles. Please listen to your vehicle commanders, and they will do their best to keep you safe."
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9355409/site/newsweek/
"It's true, there is good news to report from Iraq. Yesterday, a school in the rural outskirts of Tikrit, Saddam Hussein's hometown, started its second week of classes for the academic year. It's been up and running for close to 24 months now, built by the Coalition a few months after the April 2003 invasion. To showcase the achievement, Iraqi and American officials, accompanied by a handful of Arab media, turned up for a quick bite of cake and a speech."
but
"...But to get our little group of about a dozen people to the school required 13 armored Humvees and two helicopters—one of them an Apache attack craft—flying close air support. With three soldiers in each Humvee, that makes for about 39 troops, or roughly four soldiers for each "VIP." Hundreds of Iraqi police lined the streets from the base to the school, both to show the visiting muckety-mucks their strength and to make sure we didn't get hit. Before leaving the compound, the hosting State Department official in Tikrit gave the mandatory warning: "If something bad happens, please stay in your vehicle. If something bad happens when you are not in your vehicle, please move quickly back to the vehicles. Please listen to your vehicle commanders, and they will do their best to keep you safe."
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9355409/site/newsweek/
