By far, the biggest asset the to United States and the
International community at large, is the establishment of a democracy
in the middle east. Iraq is now well on it's way to establishing
a free, democratic government with free elections. The president
has remained steadfast in his resolve to aggressively engage
terrorists and those who support terrorist. He has never
faltered or wavered in his quest to insure and protect our freedom and
our nations interest in taking this battle to the enemy...
Good news from Iraq
Iraq Facts: 8/30/07
Iraqi leaders took
an important step towards reaching agreement on de-Baā€™athification,
provincial powers law, a draft oil law, and detainee issues.
On Sunday, Prime
Minister Maliki, President Talabani, Vice President Hashimi, Vice
President Abd al-Mahdi, and President Barzani:
·
Agreed to
establish a new power-sharing arrangement
·
Committed to
supporting bottom-up security and political initiatives
·
Advanced
agreement on several key legislative benchmarks including hydrocarbon
legislation, de-Baā€™athification, financial revenues law, and detainee
issues
·
Called for
the development of a long-term relationship with the United States that
will serve the common interests of both nations by combating terrorism
and bringing stability to the region.
Ambassador Ryan
Crocker:
The statement released by the five leaders yesterday is a positive and
encouraging message that the government is making all efforts to achieve
benefits for Iraqi people. I'm optimistic. I can see there is
progress.ā€¯
Iraqā€™s judicial
system is making progress.
(U.S. Embassy
Justice AttachƩ Jim Santelle, Col. Mark Martins, Judge Abdul Satar
Bayrkdar, Press Briefing, 8/13/07)
·
The judicial
system has increased judges nationwide from 400 post-war to over 1,000
today, all of whom worked as lawyers for at least 10 years
·
96 percent of
civil allegations from 2006 have now been resolved, the highest
percentage in the history of the Iraqi court.
·
In Rusafa, a
newly secured Rule of Law complex is now fully functional.
o
The complex
contains 4,800 detention spaces and will soon increase to over 7,000.
o
Iraqi judges
at the complex this year have already received over 2,000 cases,
completed more than 700 investigations, conducted more than 60 full
trials, and dismissed over 325 cases.
Last week in Baqubah,
the Iraqi Army sent money to the provincial government while the public
flour mill began processing wheat.
These small but
meaningful steps demonstrate that economic growth emerges as terrorists
are driven out.
(Rear
Adm. Mark Fox And Philip Reeker, Press Briefing, 8/26/07)
·
The Iraqi
army escorted $38 million from the central bank in Baghdad to Baqubah to
pay salaries and pensions to nearly 70 percent of the local residents.
·
560 tons of
imported wheat arrived in a 21-truck convoy August 16 from Baghdad.
·
The mill is
capable of producing 200 tons of finished flour per day and will employ
about 100 workers and several truck drivers – its reopening is the
result of a collaborative partnersh ip between the 3rd Brigade, 2nd
Infantry Division, Stryker Brigade Combat Team, and Diyala provincial
leadership.
The United States
government is contributing $30 Million to the UNHCR/UNICEF Joint Appeal
to provide educational opportunities for Iraqi children in Syria,
Lebanon, Jordan, and Egypt.
(Media Note, U.S. Department Of State, 8/28/07)
·
The U.S.
Department of State has made over $183 million available this fiscal
year to assist Iraqi refugees and internally displaced persons, directly
and through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).
·
The
contribution will help displaced Iraqi students with tuition, books,
supplies and uniforms and help fund teacher recruitment and training,
remedial classes, psycho-social services, upgrading of water and
sanitation services, building of new schools or upgrading of existing
structures, and advocacy campaigns encouraging school attendance.
Provincial
Reconstruction Team (PRT) leaders report security, economic, and
political progress in al Anbar province.
(Kristin Hagerstrom
And Maj. Lee Suttee, Press Briefing, 8/23/07)
·
In Ramadi,
weapons cache finds are up 200 percent since April, and there have been
over 100 days with no attacks (compared to 50-60 per day earlier this
year).
·
The mayor of
Ramadi recently signed $107 million in reconstruction contracts for all
of Anbar province – all the money coming from the Governmeent of Iraq.
Since President Bush declared an end to major
combat on May 1...
-
... the first battalion of
the new Iraqi Army has graduated and is on active duty·
-
... over 60,000 Iraqis now provide
security to their fellow citizens.
-
...nearly all of Iraq's 400 courts are
functioning.
-
... the Iraqi judiciary is fully
independent.
-
...on Monday, October 6 power generation
hit 4,518 megawatts-exceeding the pre-war average.
-
...all 22 universities and 43 technical
institutes and colleges are open, as are nearly all primary and
secondary schools.
-
, by October 1, Coalition forces had
rehabbed over 1,500 schools - 500 more than their target.
-
... teachers earn from 12 to 25 times
their former salaries.
-
...all 240 hospitals and more than 1200
clinics are open.
-
...doctors' salaries are at least eight
times what they were under Saddam.
-
...pharmaceutical distribution has gone
from essentially nothing to 700 tons in May to a current total of
12,000 tons.
-
...the Coalition has helped administer
over 22 million vaccination doses to Iraq's children.
-
...a Coalition program has cleared over
14,000 kilometers of Iraq's 27,000 kilometers of weed-choked
canals. They now irrigate tens of thousands of farms. This project
has created jobs for more than 100,000 Iraqi men and women.
-
...we have restored over three-quarters of
pre-war telephone services and over two-thirds of the potable
water production.
-
... there are 4,900 full-service
connections. We expect 50,000 by January first.
-
...the wheels of commerce are turning.
From bicycles to satellite dishes to cars and trucks, businesses
are coming to life in all major cities and towns.
-
...95 percent of all pre-war bank
customers have service and first-time customers are opening
accounts daily.
-
... Iraqi banks are making loans to
finance businesses.
-
...the central bank is fully independent.
-
... Iraq has one of the world's most
growth-oriented investment and banking laws.
-
... Iraq (has) a single, unified currency
for the first time in 15 years.
-
...satellite dishes are legal.
-
...foreign journalists aren't on 10-day
visas paying mandatory and extortionate fees to the Ministry of
Information for "minders" and other government spies.
-
... there is no Ministry of Information.
-
...there are more than 170 newspapers.
-
... you can buy satellite dishes on what
seems like every street corner.
-
... foreign journalists and everyone else
are free to come and go.
-
...a nation that had not one single
element-legislative, judicial or executive-- of a representative
government, does.
-
...in Baghdad alone residents have
selected 88 advisory councils. Baghdad's first democratic transfer
of power in 35 years happened when the city council elected its
new chairman.
-
...today in Iraq chambers of commerce,
business, school and professional organizations are electing their
leaders all over the country.
-
... 25 ministers, selected by the most
representative governing body in Iraq's history, run the
day-to-day business of government.
-
...the Iraqi government regularly
participates in international events. Since July the Iraqi
government has been represented in over two dozen international
meetings, including those of the UN General Assembly, the Arab
League, the World Bank and IMF and, today, the Islamic Conference
Summit. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs today announced that it is
reopening over 30 Iraqi embassies around the world.
-
...Shia religious festivals that were all
but banned, aren't.
-
... for the first time in 35 years, in
Karbala thousands of Shiites celebrate the pilgrimage of the 12th
Imam.
-
...the Coalition has completed over 13,000
reconstruction projects, large and small, as part of (a) strategic
plan for the reconstruction of Iraq.
-
...Uday and Queasy are dead - and no
longer feeding innocent Iraqis to his zoo lions, raping the young
daughters of local leaders to force cooperation, torturing Iraq's
soccer players for losing games...murdering critics.
-
...children aren't imprisoned or murdered
when their parents disagree with the government.
-
...political opponents aren't imprisoned,
tortured, executed, maimed, or are forced to watch their families
die for disagreeing with Saddam.
-
...millions of long suffering Iraqis no
longer live in perpetual terror.
-
...Saudis will hold municipal elections.
-
... Qatar is reforming education to give
more choices to parents.
-
... Jordan is accelerating market economic
reforms.
-
... the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded for
the first time to an Iranian -- a Muslim woman who speaks out with
courage for human rights, for democracy and for peace.
-
...he has not faltered or failed.
-
...Saddam is gone.
-
... Iraq is free.
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