Perhaps Mr. Chappie simply ignores facts that disagree with his position ("Iraq situation is still poor," Dec. 11) while accusing others of "making up" details that counter his opinion. The same Brookings Report he cites with such reckless abandon shows that Iraq has surpassed pre-war levels of available electricity. The Brookings Report also notes that before the war, 4,500 Iraqis were online, while in August 2006 over 200,000 Iraqis were online. Without electricity, how does one get the Internet? Telephone subscriptions have also climbed from 833,000 before the war to over 8 million currently. Further, other economic indicators from the Brookings Report show that crude oil production has surpassed pre-war levels, as has Gross Domestic Product. Mr. Chappie also questioned the fact that Iraqis are going to school in greater numbers, but the Brookings Report shows a 27 percent increase in middle and high school enrollment. In addition, before the U.S. invasion, Iraqi female illiteracy rates were among the worst in the Arab world, according to USAid. With the help of United States soldiers, Iraqi girls have seen a 35 percent increase in school enrollment.

The Brookings Report goes on to show that 77 percent of Iraqis say that "ousting Saddam Hussein was worth it."

To say Iraq is all sunshine and roses is ignorant and deceptive, but to imply that nothing good has come of the war is dangerously naive, and it insults not only our military but also the Iraqi's who have shouldered the burden in reclaiming their country from Saddam's Ba'athist regime.