Approx. 23 million people in Iraq, with 65% of those being Shi'ite.
One radical cleric and a few thousand of his supporters don't a "mass" revolt make. They are causing a stink, but I don't see a wave of people marching on Baghdad as of yet.
In any case, you asked about progress.
1) Hussein is gone, sons killed and a majority of his staff captured. More and more militants are getting caught or killed by the day (which has cost the lives of some of US and Coalition troops
).
2) Iraq has a governing council, representative of the ethnic/religious/social makeup (sans rabid Hussein supporters). This isn't without complaints and and issues (even from the council itself), but every budding government experiences growing pains.
3) Schools, roads and stores are being rebuilt, kids are being vaccinated, medical facilities are up and running, basic services are resuming throughout Iraq (not without difficulty, though) and construction continues, though at a slower pace that what most Americans would consider prudent.
4) New currency is in place and is being traded. While it remains weak against the dollar, it is no longer absolutely worthless. It still has a ways to go before reaching "peacetime" levels before the '91 war.
5) Iraq is beginning to establish an economic footprint for growth, though in it's infantcy stages. The US does have a problem with insurgents; no doubt about it. This is hampering any stable, lasting and large-scale growth in their infrastructure, but the FACT remains that growth is taking place and more people are getting back to work and resuming something that resembles daily normal life as each day goes by...
...except perhaps in Sunni-majority areas, which are apparently holding "negociations" with the 1st Marine Expeditionary force today and getting a lesson in the differences between "good" and "bad" behavior.
I fail to recollect where ANYONE in this administration, outside of it in the media or even liberals said that this would be a quick and easy excercise.
As bad as life was under Hussein for the vast majority of Itaqi people and having NO chance of it ever getting better while he was in power, things have taken a turn for the better. That's not to say that they are GREAT or even GOOD today, but they are better than when he was in power.
