VIA OXBLOG, some modest good news from Saudi Arabia. Oxblog also rounds up mostly good news from Iraq (which seems pretty consistent with this report from G in Baghdad), but says the Bush Administration is dropping the ball in Afghanistan.

UPDATE: Here’s more on Iraq:

Two months after the fall of Saddam Hussein’s regime, Iraq is widely depicted as a nation in chaos, with armed gangs dominating Baghdad’s streets amid a widespread breakdown of public services. Having returned from Iraq two weeks ago, I believe this picture is distorted. In fact, we may soon look back at the postwar looting as only a bump in a long road.

And I love this:

As soon as the oil industry begins turning a profit on exports, we should give every Iraqi family a monthly payment. This would instantly dispel the popular myth that the coalition’s intent was to seize Iraq’s oil assets. It would eliminate widespread dependence on government food rations and could jump-start the consumer economy.

Yep. The idea seems to be catching on.