June 17, 2006:
If the U.S. commanders are keeping track of this in Iraq, they aren't talking about it. However, the troops are getting more and more "quality of life" items from the Iraqi civilian economy. While the news would have you think that all of Iraq is a war zone, most of it isn't. And "bandit country" gets smaller every day. This makes it easier for Iraqi businesses to get started, and serve their customers. These often include U.S. troops. Although there are a whole bunch of security procedures to follow, to prevent terrorists from using commercial services to attack Americans, Iraqi firms are providing an increasing number of goods and services, including internet connections, including wi-fi. Many parts of Iraq have not seen any terrorist violence for over a year, and Iraqis there have to read about it in the news if they want to know how bad it is. Most Iraqis would rather do something less violent, like selling things to those nice American boys living down the street.