Iraqi geography and some perspective

By James Arlandson

Most (not all) of the car bombs have been detonated in Baghdad. It's time to get a perspective on that.

Iraq is about the size of California, both in population and geography. Iraq has almost 30 million, and California has a little over that.

In California terms, the car bombs are going off in parts (not all) of Los Angeles (= Baghdad), not all of California (= Iraq). This means that Redding in the north and Chula Vista just above the Mexican border enjoy peace. In California terms, there are no car bombs in Sacramento, Fresno, Bakersfield, San Francisco, Oakland, San Diego, San Jose, San Bernardino, Monterrey, and all of Orange County--to name only these.

Yes, one car bomb is too many, but let's not exaggerate. Let's not accept the anti-military, anti-Bush news media's picture of a slice of reality. Congress needs to get a perspective, the big picture. Iraq is much more of a success story than a difficulty.