hearts and minds

My good friend Dean reminds me that not all news is bad. Even if it involves Abu Ghraib:

In 1995, nine Iraqi businessmen found themselves in the feared Abu Ghraib prison, accused of dealing in foreign currency, a crime under Saddam Hussein's reign.

There, each man had his right hand sliced off by a prison surgeon wearing a hood. An “X” was tattooed on their foreheads, too.

Abu Ghraib prison is now at the center of the controversy surrounding the abuse of Iraqi prisoners by U.S. soldiers.

But unlike that unfolding saga, the story of the Iraqi businessmen isn't just another one of horror and torture.

It turned out to be one of serendipity and generosity that wound its way from that cellblock to a cafe in Baghdad to the glassy maze of the Texas Medical Center in Houston.

Earlier this month, seven of those men were fitted with new hands made by Otto Bock HealthCare in Plymouth, the American headquarters of the prosthetic and orthotic manufacturer.

Do read the rest. Not only does this story buck the all-negative-news-all-the-time narrative of late; Dean says it was front page—above the fold, even—in Sunday's Minneapolis Star Tribune. Perhaps Lileks is making an impact, after all.

More good tidings from Iraq here.

UPDATE: The seven met with the President on Tuesday.

Got nervous about being quoted for actual factual content...so I double-checked my observation regarding the Sunday Star Trib. Indeed, it was above the fold; it was the uppermost story on the page.