Good news from... uh, Iraq?

No, the 200 insurgents smoked by our guys isn't what I'm talkin' about... although that's undeniably a bonus.

This is an important shift that reaches across Iraqi society...

Few are aware just how important technology has become in this conflict. I'm not talking about American laser-guided weaponry and their all-seeing drones flying above Baghdad 24 hours a day.

A quiet revolution has occurred since Saddam's overthrow. You didn't have broadband under the Baath party. You do now.

Millions of Iraqis own mobiles. Despite the violence, the phone companies have gradually expanded coverage - although their security budgets are astronomical.

There are still major problems in Iraq regarding safety and security, but this is a hopeful sign... once you let that hi-tech, free speech genie outta the bottle, it isn't that easy to stuff it back in.

A taste of freedom goes a long way.

RELATED: "Soldiers of Heaven" get their wish

Except instead of creating martyrs... the 'soldiers' made the donor list.

The insurgents planned to attack Shia pilgrims and clerics during ceremonies marking Ashoura, the holiest day in the Shia calendar commemorating the seventh-century death of Imam Hussein.

S.O.H. leader, a total squirrel... even by Iraqi standards

This religious romp was intended to take the lives of Shia pilgrims, but the good guys managed to change the erstwhile messiah's horoscope...

"He claimed to be the Mahdi," said Mr al-Waeli, adding that that the man used the full name Mahdi bin Ali bin Ali bin Abi Taleb, claiming descent from the Prophet Muhammad.

"One of the signs of the coming of the Mahdi was to be the killing of the Ulema (Islamic clerical leaders) in Najaf," he said.

Hey Jack... let's see you negotiate that.

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