Tuesday 22 July 2008

They're eating KFC here

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Where do you think this KFC outlet is located? 

Mangere? Cairo?  Fallujah?

Take a bow all those who picked the latter, formerly Iraq's most dangerous city.  Says the 'North Shore Journal' [hat tip Tim Blair]:

    Only a short time ago the city of Fallujah served as stronghold for insurgents. Daily skirmishes, improvised explosive device detonations and public unease made operating a business in the city very difficult...
    The KFC is the first to open for business in the city. Before improved conditions in the city, insurgents threatened business owners, demanding money to support acts of terrorism...  
    “I remember when I was here last in July 2004 and things were much different than they are now,” said Sgt. Steve J. Arnoux, a 25-year-old vehicle commander from Browning, Mont. “When we would go out on convoys in the city, the attitude was a lot different. It seemed like we were just waiting to get ambushed. Now we stop at KFC.”
    Citizens of the area can now work steady jobs, where as prior conditions kept many from even coming to work on a daily basis.
    “I love the work here, because we have the opportunity to go to work every day,” said a KFC employee.

UPDATE 1: And AP reports:

BAGHDAD (AP) — An oil refinery in Iraq's western desert has resumed production, the government said Sunday, as part of an outreach to an area once controlled by Sunni insurgents.
   
And in the country's south, a new airport opened in Najaf in what the prime minister said was a key step in the reconstruction of a country devastated by war.

UPDATE 2: Michael Yon has a link to a Power Point presentation on some stats from Iraq. The success of the surge is deeply impressive [hat tip Half Done]

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

KFC for lunch? Yes, on a rainy day such as today, that's what I am gonna do this afternoon, KFC for lunch.

Anonymous said...

This comment struck me:

“I love the work here, because we have the opportunity to go to work every day,” said a KFC employee.

Contrast that attitude with those in Western countries who think flipping burgers is demeaning, demonstrating the limitless capacity of those on the Left to take for grant things like security of property rights and the broad set of conditions required for investment which create opportunities such as this.

That KFC is a powerful sign that progress is being made in ways that matter.

Anonymous said...

FF

Me too. I reckon that's a good idea.

LGM

Anonymous said...

Matt

Yes. It's quite a contrast alright. Probably one result of too much easy living, parasiting off everyone else's back.

I hope that KFC business does very, very well.

LGM

scrubone said...

Cheers for the tip.

It's staggering how well the surge has succeeded - even more so that Obama still thinks it was right to oppose it (and he's getting away with that).