�NBC Nightly News� Does Very Optimistic and Uplifting Pre-Election Iraq Story

This morning, it was the New York Times publishing a positive story about tomorrow�s historic elections in Iraq. ABC News has been doing a lot of optimistic segments on this subject since Sunday. Tonight, it was the �NBC Nightly News�� turn (video link to follow). Brian Williams introduced the segment by first suggesting that the �American media often cannot report the good news in Iraq because travel is still so dangerous.� He continued: �But tonight, we do have some extraordinary pictures of life there, and there are signs you'll see of progress.�

Richard Engel then showed young boys playing soccer on a street, a fashion show that occurred a month ago, along with a film festival. Then, on to the bastion of capitalism, the Baghdad stock exchange, where �without computers, traders take orders by phone and execute them by hand, an average of $3 million in shares trades here a day, 10 times the amount under Saddam.�

Then, Engel went to �Iraq�s first and only radio station run by women for women,� where �anchor Shaimaa Mohammed says America brought her political freedom. �The Americans didn't destroy our country,� she said, �they freed us from a dictator.�"

Engel then shared results of a recent poll in Iraq: �A private Iraqi poll this week found that nearly 100% of Iraqis want U.S.-led coalition troops to leave Iraq. 40% said "immediately," but 60% said foreign troops should stay until Iraq is more stable.�