Aug. 8 marked the 100th day since the end of major military operations in Iraq. This is a good time to recognize the full meaning of the fact that 24 million Iraqis are free from oppression for the first time in decades.
Working closely with Iraqis, the international Coalition Provisional Authority is focused on security, economic rebirth, strengthening basic services and the establishment of an independent, democratic government.
Stability is enhanced by the fact that nearly 200,000 former Iraqi soldiers and officers have been paid their monthly stipends. The economy is strengthened by the fact that banks are opening throughout the country and a new currency is being urgently prepared.
Step by step, Iraqis' lives are improving as transportation is restarted, university students finish their exams for the year, food distribution systems continue working and more than 150 newspapers compete in a new marketplace of ideas.
Cultural life is reawakening, too. Iraqi athletes, including the famous soccer players, are playing joyfully, without fear of torture. The Iraqi Olympic Committee, previously the bastion of Uday Hussein's brutality, is reconstituted with free Iraqis.
Baghdad's symphony and theaters are reopening. The international community is focused on rehabilitating the marshlands in southern Iraq, where the ancient civilization of Marsh Arabs was almost destroyed by former president Saddam Hussein. And thousands of treasures from Iraq's National Museum have been recovered.
Under the transitional leadership of my good friend L. Paul Bremer, these and many more accomplishments have been achieved in 100 days.
The new Iraqi Governing Council was formed last month. This 25-member Council -- made of three women, Kurdish, Sunni, Christian and Turkmen representatives, and Shia -- is a first and important move toward Iraqi self-government.
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan praised the Council in a July report to the UN Security Council. This should not go unnoticed by critics who have highlighted the new Iraq's growing pains rather than its achievements.
"[The Council's] formation is an important first step towards the full restoration of Iraqi sovereignty," Annan said.
The UN special envoy in Iraq, Sergio Vieira de Mello, is working with the coalition in Baghdad to support the new council. He said the council can be seen as broadly representative of Iraq's constituencies and is a necessary part of moving beyond the reign of Saddam.
"With the formation of the Governing Council, we now enter a new stage that succeeds the disorienting power vacuum that followed the fall of the previous regime," de Mello said.
UN Resolution 1483 stresses, among other things, Iraq's right to determine its own political future and welcomes those who support the creation of an environment in which Iraq may do so.
US President George W. Bush called on nations of the world to support Iraq's progress, now that the Governing Council has been established.
"I urge the nations of the world to contribute -- militarily and financially -- towards fulfilling Security Council Resolution 1483's vision of a free and secure Iraq," he said.
Annan echoed that comment. "The people of Iraq are anxious for their country to become a stable, democratic and prosperous state. To succeed, they need the support of their neighbors and the region as a whole... A stable Iraq -- one that is at peace with itself and its neighbors -- is in our collective interest, particularly that of the region."
Bush has highlighted the aspirations of freedom-loving Iraqis, as well as the plan to achieve their hope.
"Soon," he said on July 30, "representatives of the people will begin drafting a new Constitution and free elections will follow. After decades of oppression, the people of Iraq are reclaiming their country and are reclaiming their future."
It isn't just world leaders and ambassadors who proclaim these successes; the clearest and most important voices are those of Iraqis themselves.
"The tension is reducing every day. We are seeing a change. People are starting to realize that the soldiers are not here to occupy Fallujah forever -- they're here to help us rebuild," said Taha Bedawi, mayor of Fallujah to The Washington Post on July 29.
Douglas Paal is the director of the American Institute in Taiwan.
The term “assassin’s mace” originates from Chinese folklore, describing a concealed weapon used by a weaker hero to defeat a stronger adversary with an unexpected strike. In more general military parlance, the concept refers to an asymmetric capability that targets a critical vulnerability of an adversary. China has found its modern equivalent of the assassin’s mace with its high-altitude electromagnetic pulse (HEMP) weapons, which are nuclear warheads detonated at a high altitude, emitting intense electromagnetic radiation capable of disabling and destroying electronics. An assassin’s mace weapon possesses two essential characteristics: strategic surprise and the ability to neutralize a core dependency.
Chinese President and Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Chairman Xi Jinping (習近平) said in a politburo speech late last month that his party must protect the “bottom line” to prevent systemic threats. The tone of his address was grave, revealing deep anxieties about China’s current state of affairs. Essentially, what he worries most about is systemic threats to China’s normal development as a country. The US-China trade war has turned white hot: China’s export orders have plummeted, Chinese firms and enterprises are shutting up shop, and local debt risks are mounting daily, causing China’s economy to flag externally and hemorrhage internally. China’s
During the “426 rally” organized by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party under the slogan “fight green communism, resist dictatorship,” leaders from the two opposition parties framed it as a battle against an allegedly authoritarian administration led by President William Lai (賴清德). While criticism of the government can be a healthy expression of a vibrant, pluralistic society, and protests are quite common in Taiwan, the discourse of the 426 rally nonetheless betrayed troubling signs of collective amnesia. Specifically, the KMT, which imposed 38 years of martial law in Taiwan from 1949 to 1987, has never fully faced its
When a recall campaign targeting the opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators was launched, something rather disturbing happened. According to reports, Hualien County Government officials visited several people to verify their signatures. Local authorities allegedly used routine or harmless reasons as an excuse to enter people’s house for investigation. The KMT launched its own recall campaigns, targeting Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers, and began to collect signatures. It has been found that some of the KMT-headed counties and cities have allegedly been mobilizing municipal machinery. In Keelung, the director of the Department of Civil Affairs used the household registration system
RSS