THE STORY ISN'T ABOUT IRAQ:

Iraqi bishop: Western media 'backward-looking' (WorldNetDaily.com, July 24, 2004)

A bishop in Iraq's Chaldean church says the Western media has missed completely the story of the country's successes since the end of the Saddam regime, focusing instead on the "dark side."

"The Western press has been unjust towards Iraq. It has focused only on the dark side, on terrorism, killings, car bombs, the cruel images of decapitation, said Monsignor Rabban Al Qas, Chaldaean bishop of Amadiyah in northern Iraq, according to AsiaNews.

The "backward-looking press," for example, has not shown that "despite the political upheaval, the uncertainties and lack of security, schools reopened. Whether primary, high and secondary schools, or universities, the normal academic year ended as one would expect."

Under Saddam, Qas said, "there was only poverty." But now "the economy is slowly reviving thanks to what the government and the Americans are doing."