Bush vs. Reality: Tal Afar the "Model" Iraqi City

Bush:

With their city now more secure, the people of Tal Afar are beginning to rebuild a better future for themselves and their children.

See, if you're a resident of Tal Afar today, this is what you're going to see: You see that the terrorist who once exercised brutal control over every aspect of your city has been killed or captured or driven out or put on the run. You see your children going to school and playing safely in the streets. You see the electricity and water service restored throughout the city. You see a police force that better reflects the ethnic and religious diversity of the communities they patrol. You see markets opening, and you hear the sound of construction equipment as buildings go up and homes are re-made. In short, you see a city that is coming back to life.

Reality:

A TOWN singled out by US President George W. Bush as a success story for American and Iraqi forces in the drive to quell the insurgency was last night the scene of a suicide bombing that killed at least 40 people and wounded 20 others.

The attack, in which the bomber detonated an explosives belt amid a line of recruits outside Tamarat army base at 11.15am (7.15pm AEDT) near the town of Tal Afar, close to the Syrian border, was the deadliest single attack since a January suicide assault on police recruits in Ramadi.

(via Think Progress).

Photo: Us Navy/Reuters/Alan D. Monyelle

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