Iraq good news

Arthur Chrenkoff is one of the blogosphere's gems. From his perch in Australia, he manages to round up scads of those "good news" stories that the MSM somehow manages to miss (that was sarcasm, in case you didn't catch it). Though it's long, this 25th roundup is a must read, and don't forget to follow at least some of the multitude of links he provides. Here's just a tiny taste:

And helping doesn't stop when the troops go home:

"When Joseph Yorski was serving a yearlong tour of duty in Iraq, he noticed Iraqi police had little protection compared to his peers in the New Britain Police Department. Upon his return, the officer decided to help fellow law enforcement officials by spearheading a movement to outfit Iraqi police with old, surplus equipment instead of following regular procedure, which calls to destroy it.

"Yorski, a member of the 143rd Military Police Company and an 11-year veteran of the Police Department, oversees property. He said he took matters into his own hands when asked by acting Chief William Gagliardi to destroy surplus police equipment, which ranges from riot gear to reflective vests.

"Teaming up with America Supporting Americans -- a nonprofit organization that encourages law enforcement agencies and individuals to donate used police equipment -- Yorski collected an extensive amount of gear that will be shipped to Baghdad."

The allies are also doing their bit. Here's the contribution from the 400-strong Slovak contingent: "According to a Defence Ministry spokesperson during the 19 months it has been operating in Iraq, Slovakia's sapper unit has deactivated, by hand, mines over an area of 140,000 square metres, this equates to about 28 football fields. Plus, a much larger area has been demined using the help of specially-designed equipment. They have found and deactivated some tens of thousands of munitions and grenades."

A company of soldiers from Azerbeijan, together with US Marines, is providing constant protection for Haditha Dam, one of the most important pieces of infrastructure in Iraq, which provides electricity for a third of the country. And here's the story of the El Salvadorean contingent, representing the only Latin American country with troops in Iraq.

Thanks, Arthur — you've no idea how much we appreciate this...