Now the effort will be to restore economic activity, get Iraqis back to work and to foster the development of an economic system based on freedom and private enterprise.
Small firms, which have the best chance of creating jobs quickly, will be key to fueling the needed economic recovery. And for the process to succeed, we will support Iraqi efforts to establish a clear commercial code, honest courts, low barriers to entry and transparent corporate governance arrangements.
These reforms will allow Iraq to regain full access to the global marketplace, opening the door to foreign investment that can provide much needed resources and empower Iraqis to modernize an economy that the former regime kept locked in the 1950s and 1960s.
At the same time, the coalition is working with Iraqis to ensure that a humane social safety net exists, lest the needed economic policies exacerbate political and social strains in the society. And we will ensure that all Iraqis, not just an elite few, share in the proceeds of Iraq's natural wealth.
All these steps -- whether addressing security concerns, political reform or economic advancement -- work together toward the goal of achieving Bush's vision of improving the lives of the Iraqi people after three decades of tyranny and oppression.
Douglas Paal is the director of the American Institute in Taiwan.
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