Guardian writers debate progress in Iraq

Ranj Alaaldin and James Denselow debate progress in Iraq.

Ranj Alaaldin argues that there is still room for improvement; public services, for example, are inadequate. However, the fact that success in Iraq is no longer being defined by the number of attacks the country suffers but by the standard of its services is a natural and welcome development, one that suggests Iraq has defied all the odds and is well on its way to becoming that flourishing, pluralistic state that few expected it to be, and one where the rule of law dictates over the rule of war.