Posted on 07/25/2007 9:22:28 AM PDT by rhema
In the American media, Iraq's steady progress toward security is frequently overshadowed by news of the latest act of mass terrorism. Yet for those of us who actually live here, progress is visible to all but the most irreconcilable skeptics. Just this week, Ashraf Jehangir Qazi, the United Nations' special representative for Iraq, announced at a news conference in Baghdad that Iraq had achieved, or at least started to achieve, 75 percent of the benchmarks it set for itself in the U.N.-led International Compact with Iraq.
The military force increase by the United States called "the surge" is only one element in the Iraqi and coalition strategy. The other elements are the political/diplomatic initiatives and economic progress - and the reality is that the strategy is working in spite of the monumental obstacles presented by international terrorists and difficult conditions inside Iraq.
Iraqi and coalition security forces are having major success against al-Qaida and some of the other groups that are the principal sources of the violence that aims to overthrow our young democracy. From al-Anbar to Diyala, from Nineveh to Basra, the atrocities of the terrorists against our people are backfiring. Increasingly, Iraqis are showing confidence in our steadily improving security forces by leading them to hidden weapons and terrorist locations.
Iraq is continuing to increase the size and capabilities of its forces in the expectation that soon it will be able to decrease its reliance on coalition forces for direct combat functions. In no other modern country has the creation of new forces been as rapid and effective as in Iraq. We also recognize that we have a long way to go. In a number of hot spots, we have not yet turned the tide, largely because of foreign interference. The most deadly weapons and explosives, including the improvised explosive devices, or IEDs, enter Iraq from Iran. Ninety percent of the suicide bombers are foreigners; half of them are Saudi nationals; and the majority of these bombers enter Iraq through Syria. Nearly 90 percent of their victims are innocent Iraqi civilians. This cannot continue. We must persuade our neighbors to prevent terrorists and meddlers from using their territories as entry points into Iraq.
On the political and diplomatic fronts, we are also making progress. We have a government that requires consensus to make decisions. Unlike the authoritarian regimes of the past, our democracy cannot act quickly against the wishes of its constituents - something our supporters abroad should celebrate, not criticize.
Domestically, we have made major progress in establishing good governance throughout our provinces. Seven of the 18 are already in charge of their own security at the provincial level, with the Iraqi and coalition forces in support if, and only if, provincial authorities call for them in an emergency. This has happened once among these seven provinces since they took over their own security.
The Council of Ministers is moving forward on legislation where there is sufficient consensus for action. Areas in which this is well under way include petroleum, constitutional revision, provincial elections and the budget. The debate is untidy. But the new system is working; we do not have a return of the "yes men."
Although we have had some major successes, Iraq is economically weak following decades of exploitation by the previous regime and militarily weak following the collapse of the former military machine. We need the help of the entire international community, especially our neighbors, to permit us to grow strong enough to cope with our domestic problems and become a self-reliant and positive, peaceful member of the region and the world.
In terms of our information campaign, we are countering the misinformation of the terrorists while working to remain transparent to the responsible media, granting them access to everything, including our military operations.
On balance, we are making remarkable progress, even on the so-called benchmarks. But much of this talk of U.S. benchmarks is misleading. Their components are part of the government program established by the prime minister and the policy council on national security in 2006, and certainly not the invention of the U.S. Congress.
We can only progress together. We urge and expect our good friends and steady supporters, especially the U.S., to continue to stand with us against the terrorists while we build the processes and improve the effectiveness of our new political system.
Mowaffak Rubaie is Iraq's national security adviser.
Yeah, as we build very, very slowly, and take vacation during the hot summer months...
Very good read and better since it comes from an Iraqi
I sense your frustation... however give it a break... they shortened the summer vacation already by half and the PM just asked them to forgo it at all.
So even if we win in Iraq, they will contrive to be defeated. In the 70's America's defeat in Vietnam was a deliberate strategy of the post-Nixon democrat congress. We had won the war, withdrawn from Vietnam, and left a functioning government that was successfully defending itself. When we withdrew, we promised ongoing equipment and supplies to the South Vietnamese. The democrat congress reneged on that agreement and cut off all supplies to the South Vietnamese. Shortly after that, NVA tanks were rolling into Saigon.
Even if we succeed in leaving a stable government with the ability to defend itself in Iraq, the dems will make sure that government is destroyed and replaced by a radical Islamist government. They did it in Vietnam and in Iran. They will do it in Iraq. And the Old Media will blame the defeat on Bush.
Sorry to be so gloomy. But that's the reality of dems and the reality of the political balance of power in America today.
I think we have to just accept that it’s probably going to be like Korea...we will be there for a very long time, having it suck down huge amounts of our defense budget...all the while our Navy will be getting thinner and thinner, and the Chinese will be getting stronger and stronger.
By achieving victory in Iraq, we will help Iraqis build a free nation in the heart of a troubled region, and inspire those who desire liberty -- those democratic reformers from Damascus to Tehran.
We will keep the pressure on them. We will stay on the offense. We'll fight the terrorists in Afghanistan and Iraq and every battlefront in this struggle. Yet, in the long run, we will defeat the terrorists and their hateful ideology by spreading the hope of freedom across the world. Our strategy to protect America is based on a clear premise: The security of our nation depends on the advance of liberty in other nations.
And we learned an important lesson: Decades of excusing and accommodating the lack of freedom in the Middle East did nothing to make it safe. So long as the Middle East remains a place where freedom does not flourish, it will remain a place where terrorists foment resentment and threaten American security.
President Bush On Independence Day At Fort Bragg, North Carolina 7-4-06
Message loud and clear to the perfumed princes who occupy our Congress. They stay up all night not passing meaningless legislation. Headlines like "Senate Fails to Pass Non-Binding Resolution" say it all.
High Volume. Articles on Israel can also be found by clicking on the Topic or Keyword Israel. or WOT [War on Terror]
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Iraq as a nation didn’t exist until 1920, they have no experience with democracy, they’ve been gangbanged by the Baath party for 40+ years, they have neighbors who are doing everything they can to bring the Iraqi govenment down.
Given these things I’m (pleasantly) suprised that they are doing as well as they are.
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